Arts agencies from Fairfax County, Arlington and Alexandria are forming a supergroup.
Unveiled Monday (August 8), the newly created Northern Virginia Local Arts Agencies (NVLAA) consists of ArtsFairfax, the Alexandria Arts Office, and the Office of Arlington Cultural. Its initial ambitions are modest, centered mostly on professional development, but the resources gathered can be a boon to the local art community.
“The more opportunities that are available and the cross-promotion that we can provide, getting the word out and reaching out to artists and organizations that could use this kind of support, benefits everyone,” ArtsFairfax Senior Director of Grants & Services said Lisa Mariam, noting that many artists work in the three jurisdictions.
The collective can trace its origins back to the pre-pandemic days of early 2020, when the Washington Area Advocates for the Arts approached all three agencies to see if they were interested in collaborating on workshops for artists, Mariam told FFXnow.
Formed in 1983, WALA is a nonprofit organization of volunteer attorneys who provide education, advocacy, and legal services to artists and cultural organizations in the D.C. area, according to its website.
The groups started planning a series of workshops that Mariam says were always intended to be virtual, as they would serve participants from across the region. That decision was fortuitous, however, after COVID-19 shut down meetings and in-person events in the spring of 2020.
The desire to collaborate resurfaced last year when ArtsFairfax invited its Arlington and Alexandria counterparts to an “Art of Mass Gatherings” symposium aimed at helping festivals prepare for emergencies. Although based in McLean, the event drew participants from all three locations over two days in October.
After that experience, staff in the different agencies began to discuss other ways to collaborate, especially for professional development, as local arts groups were trying to find their footing during the pandemic.
“It was really great for us, because we each have limited resources for this kind of programming,” said Mariam. “The sharing of costs as well as the logistical support involved in pulling these programs off and promoting them works very well with a collaboration like this.”
ArtsFairfax received nearly $1.4 million from Fairfax County for the current fiscal year, which began July 1. This included an increase of $250,000 over the previous year to strengthen the agency’s grant program. The organization also receives funding from state, federal, non-profit and private sources.
NVLAA will officially launch this fall with four online workshops:
09/14: DATA + STORY = IMPACT (PART 1)
Facilitated by Brighter Strategies
Nonprofits have countless stories to tell, and the stories are better with data! This workshop teaches attendees how to start collecting data to tell their story in a unique and compelling way every time.
09/28: DATA + STORY = IMPACT (PART 2)
Facilitated by Brighter Strategies
This is a follow-up workshop to a deeper dive into data collection and analysis, including personalized Q&A on techniques and methods for data collection, analysis and use.
11/09: E-COMMERCE PRINCIPLES FOR ARTISTS, MAKERS, AND PERFORMERS
Facilitated by Latela Curatorial
For artists looking to update their website or expand into e-commerce, this workshop will review the basic checklist of what is needed for an artist website, what collectors look for and art experts as well as how to use metadata appropriately to work for you.
Facilitated by Springboard for the Arts
Participants will learn how to prepare a simple business plan, in art-friendly language, to organize all the various aspects of their artistic practice and make informed business decisions.
All workshops are free, but advance registration is required.
While the collaboration is focused on professional development and networking at the moment, it may include “more programming-oriented collaborations” in the future, says Mariam.
“At this point, it’s not yet something that any of us have had the ability to really focus on, but the potential for that definitely exists,” she said.
