Changing the Tune:
Building Resilience for the Folk Community
Changing the Tune is a new initiative to provide guidance and resources to the Folk Alliance International community in times of emergency. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, our first priority is to provide tools and best practices for adopting in-person precautionary measures, virtualizing events, and developing business continuity strategies tailored to your own audiences.
But the heritage of folk has long looked out for the safety of our performers and communities and documented the world through music in times of rupture and change. The work that this community does to set up mass gatherings, whether a music festival or a protest, is also a blueprint for how society might respond to future emergencies on a broad scale, from climate-related mass migrations to chronic homelessness to loss of power or shelter as a result of floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters. People in our community already have the skills and resources to be the first responders and leaders in times of crisis. Join us in uniting our abilities to help build a safe and resilient future for all.
This program is developed in partnership with Majestic Collaborations and made possible thanks to a grant from Performing Arts Readiness, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Learn more about this project here.
If you have questions or suggestions or would like to learn more about this project, please reach out to jenny@majesticcollaborations.com.
What is arts resilience?
Arts resilience is rooted in the recognition that creative communities possess powerful skills and resources to be leaders in times of crisis, ensuring their own safety and continued operations as well as potentially caring for their communities in times of need. At the same time, their capacity for effective response is often distributed across multiple entities which may not be in meaningful contact, and current industry practices are more likely to make performing arts organizations economically vulnerable to the impact of disaster rather than its first responders.
In this video, Majestic Collaborations co-founder Matthew Kowal explains a little more about how arts organizations can play a critical role in uniting their efforts and abilities to build resilience, the same goal shared in the Changing the Tune project within our network. The work that our member organizations do to set up mass gatherings, whether a music festival or a protest, is also a blueprint for how society might respond to future emergencies on a broad scale, from climate-related mass migrations to chronic homelessness to loss of power or shelter as a result of floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters, in ways that are centered around practices of community care, solidarity, and mutual aid.
COVID-19 Resources
We know it’s been an incredibly difficult year for many musicians and performing organizations. Our first priority in this project is to develop tools and resources for our member organizations to guide their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in December 2020, we’ll be providing resources on implementing safety measures, audience preferences, recommendations for hosting virtual and alternative format events, and the development of business continuity strategies, all specific to the needs of our member network.
If there are specific resources you’d like to see, or if you feel your organization has experienced unique challenges or successes over the course of the pandemic, please let us know by taking our survey for presenters.
In the meantime, check out this recently updated event reopening guide from the Event Safety Alliance, the Music Cities Resilience Handbook, and FAI’s COVID-19 Resource List for links to other informational materials and artist support services.
Changing the Tune is supported by
