The idea is simple: to provide a quick and easy way for arts leaders to help one another in response to the challenges posed by Covid-19.

Arts and culture organizations are often super-efficient and operate with such small margins that “emergency funds” are either insufficient or non-existent. With such a prolonged pause before resuming business-as-usual, arts leaders are pressed to quickly think about new ways to operate, survive, and thrive.

There’s no one way to lead our arts organizations out of this tough time, but perhaps arts leaders can reach out to one another for additional support as we ask ourselves some pretty big questions about how to cope in this period of uncertainty and, more importantly, how move forward.

At its root, this project is about connecting two groups to share experiences with one another: (1) experienced arts leaders volunteers and (2) arts leaders who are seeking help.

This project was created by Jonas Cartano, an arts leader who sought and found the help of many friends and colleagues to build out this concept. It was designed with free or low-cost tools to make this project both user-friendly and affordable—the only significant cost was his time and energy. And, of course, the project would not be possible without the help and generosity of the arts leaders who stepped forward to volunteer to facilitate these conversations.

This is envisioned as an evolving project, a project in motion that can shift and respond to needs. If you have suggestions on other ways for arts leaders to connect at this time, please contact us.