Over a Christmas coffee meeting with my friend and fellow artist, Beni Malone, we joked about keeping track of all the hours we work without any expectation of getting paid. It might be for fundraisers, board membership or even administration work for our own companies. Suddenly the joke made good sense. Why not keep a log of that time?
It would help me answer those surveys asking me to estimate my volunteer work. The reality is that I want to have a solid answer. Not to brag about it. Not to justify doing less of it. Not to get paid for it. But because I get the feeling, more and more, that we live in a country that EXPECTS artists to work for very little.
At parties, I've had people say things like "well, the best artists rise to the top and if you can't make a living at it, why bother do it? Get a job that pays." My answer is something like "well, my job does pay but it is usually undervalued. Mostly by people who think you can't make a living at it."
In truth, I love the work. Besides money, I get paid with experience and that sometimes leads to another project.
I also love the whole spectrum of art and community and the way those two come together to make beautiful things happen. So I advocate, educate, administrate, organize, lobby, demonstrate, and participate in a wide variety of projects and efforts that are time-worthy. This is my investment in the arts.
I'm not alone. You're probably reading this because you are doing, or have done, the same sorts of things. Our nation actually depends on us to do all this as a labour of love. Survey after survey, study after study shows that artists contribute a good portion of their time and work in a volunteer capacity. We help other artists; we help almost anyone who needs it. When have you attended a fundraiser that didn't have an artwork auction or an artist performance? And that's just the public side of our contributions.
My log is simple. An Excel chart with 4 columns stating the date, the project, who I'm working with/for, and the time spent. At the end of each month, I'll tally them up.
Ann Connors of Magnetic North Theatre Festival suggested I start a blog to track my progress and encourage others to join me. So here it is. My first blog, my first log. I'd be thrilled to have some company on this maiden voyage so sign up and let's figure it out together!
