Artists as advocates

Een inspirerende oproep in de Huftington die ik als musicus, en als coördinator van www.artistsunited.be volmondig onderschrijf. We zijn niet zwak en kunnen iets doen. We moeten iets doen! Nu. Over onze, over jullie hoofden circuleren weer onduidelijke, zo niet ronduit slechte fusieplannen en inkrimp scenario's. Laten we ageren. En laten we allemaal 'artiestadvocaten' zijn. Voor onze kunsten, voor onze jobs, voor wat wij in de maatschappij betekenen, voor de emotie en liefde en beroering waar jullie als kunstenaars voor zorgen. Wees niet stil, laat je horen. 

Wat Jennifer Rivera zo mooi verwoordt kan je toepassen op elk kunstdomein: elke dag kan je iemand aanspreken om over jouw kunst te praten. "Talk to people about what you do. Engage strangers in conversation and educate them about what it means to be an opera singer (or artist). Invite people to your performances. Your taxi driver. The waiter in your restaurant. The guy working in the bike shop. Your florist. Offer them discount codes or comps if you have them. Remind them that tickets can be extremely affordable." 

My answer is that we shouldn't feel helpless. We should agree to be part of the solution and make a commitment to advocate for our art form. 
What if every person who had training as an opera singer, director, stage manager or conductor was willing to join together and create an artistic revolution? What if each of us agreed to find someone who has never been to an opera and provide them free tickets? What if we offered to visit schools and talk to them about what we do? What if we used social media to tweet our congress people reminding them of the necessity of having arts supported in our society and the economic boon jobs in the arts can create in a community? What if we worked together creating new solutions that educate the public about what it is that we do and how and why they could potentially find experiencing opera enriching and entertaining?

Here's what you can do today:

- Visit the National Opera Week page on OPERA America's website. This link will give you concrete ways to participate in Opera Advocacy Day, October 29, and throughout the year.
- Use your social media platforms to ask your fans to participate as well. Artists and current fans of opera can come together to bring our message to a larger audience.
- Stay informed about the government's support of the arts. Tweet, call or write (send a letter through the Performing Arts Alliance) members of Congress and local representatives and let them know that the arts matter to you -- their constituents and voters. 
- Perform places that wouldn't otherwise hear opera. Not only does this give you an opportunity to perform, it gives a new audience a chance to hear an unamplified voice.
- Talk to people about what you do. Engage strangers in conversation and educate them about what it means to be an opera singer
- Invite people to your performances. Your taxi driver. The waiter in your restaurant. The guy working in the bike shop. Your florist. Offer them discount codes or comps if you have them. Remind them that tickets to operas can be extremely affordable.
- Give back to opera companies. If you can't afford to donate money (and I know a lot of artists definitely don't have expendable income -- believe me), buy tickets to their performances, retweet and share their social media blasts, send letters to the editor of the newspaper if you feel the company isn't getting enough press coverage and volunteer to spend an afteroon in a school singing for kids.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-rivera/artists-as-advocates-lets_b_8375036.html