Artists and members and dues, oh my!!

Hey there,

So after procrastinating for a bit, I finally renewed my Theatre Communications Group membership today. I had an individual membership, which had lapsed, and which you can find more information here.

And how much was it? $35.

Part of my impetus to renew was personal, as theatre artist in general. But part of it had to do with my role as a Grant Manager at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, handling the individual fellowships for the performing arts and literary arts. And so in addition to wanting to take advantage of resources for myself, but I also want to be a resource for the individual artists who will apply and eventually be awarded.

So that means staying involved and informed in the artistic disciplines I and the fellows are trained and work in.

And that took me to sign up for an individual membership with Dance/USA. Again, just as much for myself, as I received my B.A. in Dance from the University of Maryland.

Membership due for a year? $100. But as the membership year begins in July, the due which is..."due" when you sign-up is prorated quarterly, so it only cost me $50.

And in case you were wondering, yes, I am a bit of a triple threat. I sing with Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, and it was actually the performing art I started out with soonest. I was a Washington National Cathedral chorister, singing soprano in 5th grade.

And so of all the music membership organizations that are out there, it seemed to make the most sense to sign up for an individual membership with Chorus America.

To be a singer member? $20.

In case you would like to see what other service organizations there are, if you're involved in the performing arts, check out the Performing Arts Alliance Member Organizations.

And last, but definitely not least, I updated my Fractured Atlas membership. And while the Individual rate is definitely affordable, at $9.50 a month, if you don't need to take advantage of their fiscal sponsorship or insurance, the community level membership provides you all the other benefits of the individual one, and for free!!

Sooo...all my membership dues at the end of the night? $105.

And let's say I did take advantage of the full individual ones for Fractured Atlas and Chorus America, as well as signed up at the beginning of the year for Dance/USA? That would still only be, let's see... $95 (CA) + $100 (DUSA) + $95 (FA) + $35 (TCG) = $325 total. Less than $1 a day.

Me with contact staff

Anyway, I say all this to suggest that no matter how busy working arts professionals get, that they maintain connected, informed, etc. with their discipline's service organization(s), whether it's local, regional, or national. Make the time, budget the money.

Side note: I'm going to see if, as an added benefit to being awarded our fellowship grant, we (at the local arts agency level) can actually take care of the fees for each artist's respective service organization and offer them a membership for the duration of the grant cycle.

We shall see.

Anyway, that's it. Just thought I'd share. Anyone have thoughts to share? Other tips for other artists? Challenges and/or solutions to taking advantage or even just finding resources like these?

Any questions?

Please leave a comment,

JR