What we’re about
A Message from Our Founder, Heidi Russell
Greetings Salonistas and Partners!
I hope this message finds you well and that 2018 is already bringing you amazing creative adventures and discoveries. Our journey together in raising up women’s artistry around the world continues to grow stronger with each passing year. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you, your creative work and life passions through our various salon series, collaborations, and explorations of each other’s creative work.
I extend my deepest gratitude to each of you for lending your time, talent, skills, ideas, and generous spirits in carrying the vision of our movement forward... We are certainly raising up Humanity through The Arts!
I invite you to check out the opportunities below to engage in as we launch into another new year for IWAS, leading up to our 10th anniversary! Please remember the Salon is here for you, as you discover what your time, needs and offerings are at any given time.
In addition to the projects and opportunities highlighted below, we will have more exciting offerings, projects, and resources blossoming as 2018 unfolds, developing more partnerships and projects throughout the world as we strengthen and deepen our current ones. Please reach out anytime with ideas, referrals, news, and opportunities. My heart, my door, and the Salon are always open. See you soon somewhere in the world, online or in person! May 2018 bring you and yours all that you love and sound health, sweet adventures and grand discoveries, life‘s abundance and dreams come true!!
Synergistically yours,
Heidi
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Come join a dynamic, global, collaborative, inclusive and social networking community supporting women in all the arts! Based in NYC for nearly a decade, International Women Artists' Salon is an established, cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural organization of women creating in the arts around the world. Its mission is to bring creative work by women to the fore of visual art, performance art, dance, theater, writing, as well as local communities around the globe through exhibitions and events, exchanges, regular, salon-style gatherings, and an online forum for members and interested parties. Our shared vision is to create a community of individuals and organizations with the resources and passion to gain critical visibility in the creative world for women artists of all backgrounds, ages, stages of career, and cultures, in every creative discipline. Thousands of women creatives and organizations are connected via social media and local events, here in NYC, and around the nation and world.
Be part of a Global Community supporting Women in all The Arts!
Please find below some information about International Women Artists’ Salon, our current programs and ways to engage and where we are headed.
International Women Artists' Salon is a cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural organization of women creating in The Arts around the world today. The aim as an organization is to bring creative work by women to the fore of each creative discipline arena as well as local communities around the globe through exhibitions and events, exchanges, regular salon style gatherings, and an online forum for members and interested parties. Our shared vision is to create a community of individuals and organizations with the resources and passion to gain critical visibility in the creative world for women artists of all backgrounds, ages, stages of career, and cultures, in every creative discipline. Thousands of women creatives and organizations are connected via social media and local events, here in NYC and around the nation and world.
Here are our current projects …
Salonista Gatherings
The monthly gatherings are cross-discipline to encourage understanding, sharing of resources and ideas, find synergies, support and collaborate. We are in the process of encouraging the startup of discipline-specific salons (ie. writers’ salon and sculptors' salons have begun) and interest-specific (ie. critical-review session) series. We are encouraging and supporting local Salon International {name of town} satellite development, with gatherings and events/exhibitions in locales around the world as well, following the templates and models we are developing here in NYC.
Salon Radio
Salon Radio, a project of International Women Artists' Salon, is a weekly 60-minute podcast show that features a women-founded or women-lead arts organization/group/special project/or collaboration as well as an individual solo woman creative of any discipline. We also research and present a sampling of news about what has happened the previous week for women creatives around the globe along with sampling of happenings that Salon members around the world are presenting in the upcoming week. Over the past five years, the show broadcasted live and we now have over 250 shows currently archived. Summer 2017 brought us to transition to a podcast structure on the PodBean platform at salonradio.podbean.com, propelling into our sixth season.
Salon Solo
Salon Solo is a program that promotes solo work by Salon members.
A visual art exhibition series – duration of three weeks; Past venue was Producer’s Club Theater in the Theater District of NYC (three years). We are currently looking for a new space.
A literature, film/video, and performance series – one evening presentation, once a month – looking for launch space.
Salon Solo On-Line will
continue onour blog.
Salon Lounge at Dixon Place
A monthly themed showcase of women's performance, literature, and film/video and visual art at our partner venue, Dixon Place in NYC, free event open to the public – going into our sixth year at Dixon for this series.
Most past shows are archived and viewable on our YouTube channel, International Women Artists Salon.
Join us live on the third Saturday of each month at Dixon Place, 161 Chrystie Street, NYC’s Lower East Side.
Annual or Bi/Tri/Quad-Annual Programs include:
· Exhibitions, conferences/panels, and events in collaboration with festivals, venues, and other organizations around the world.
· Salon sYmphoNY, going into our 7th annual showcase on International Women’s Day of March 8th each year. The showcase brings together around 25 international women artists living in NYC who pay homage to a woman creative from their chosen home country…truly a symphony of grace, inspiration, and incredible talent from 25 separate countries.
New projects coming in near future:
· Launch of IWAS Film and Video Festival
· An intimate evening with an Artist – joint fundraiser for artist, IWAS, and a foodies/chefs/bakers/restaurant
· Launch of annual mixed genre music showcase
· Launch of book series featuring women artists across all disciplines from around the world
· I've attached the original documents of my vision and goals for IWAS, which I founded in 2008.
Below is a link to our current public blog for your perusal. It is meant to be a self/peer reportage vehicle, so we encourage members to submit events, fundraisers, projects, articles, etc., as well as post your website/blog/youtube/etc. links. We are starting a documenting project as well to document all our members and will do special features, called Salon Ar{t}chive Project.
http://womenartsalon.blogspot.com/
The Economies of The Arts
Another of my missions within IWAS is to help change the economies of being an artist and arts group or organization, by laying ground work and encouraging each other, and hence guide society, to realize that artists, arts groups and organizations are strong economic contributors to a healthy society, not just a cultural contributor. My vision is that one day IWAS will be giving out grants, engaging in profit-sharing, be paying a full range of staff in all aspects of a social enterprise, and eventually even paying artists to be in our showcases and exhibitions. There is much work to be done, but I am confident that working within the current economic structure of the world we will effect change towards sustainability and thriving fulfillment as an artist, arts groups and organizations.
Make money with IWAS…We are currently looking for sponsors as well. I am offering 40% commission to anyone bringing in a sponsor, as well as 50% off if a member has a business to promote as well. I've attached the sponsor rate card for your information and passing along if you have connections that might be interested in helping to promote women's contemporary artistry worldwide.
Ways to assist IWAS growth and vision…As we are growing quickly in both numbers as well as programmatic activity, I have an open call for team members for the following areas: Curatorial, Editorial, Design, PR/Marketing, Community Outreach, Social Media, Events Planning, and Sponsor/Fundraising. I am also encouraging members to participate as coordinators/assistant producers/stage managers/content curators and editors/hosts/presenters for the various IWAS programs. Please let me know if you are interested in joining any of these teams.
I am attaching an article that gives an overview of our early growth.
How we currently communicate and connect...We currently use our Facebook fan page, a YahooGroup, and an email list (monthly newsletter in the making).
We are working on strengthening our social media to broaden our global reach and connectivity.
Please like and follow and SHARE wide our fan page to help build our audience:
https://www.facebook.com/InternationalWomenArtistsSalon
We are on Twitter and Instagram @womenartsalon.
And we are building our YouTube Channel as well under International Women Artists’ Salon.
Stay tuned for our interim website on WIX.
Our Future
I am currently in the process of taking the Salon to a wider global stage with a custom designed connecting platform - connecting women artists of all disciplines and women run/owned/supportive arts/cultural orgs/groups around the world, with support and encouragement to the development of local salons and local activity and exchange. I am in the quiet phase of fundraising, so if you know of any prominent women of financial means or others who might be interested in supporting this vision, please introduce us.
Next Steps
I look forward to learning more about your work, your creative and other life passions, and have your participation in building a dynamic community!
If you are on Facebook and/or Twitter and Instagram, please connect there too and share with your networks to help build our public fan base and supporters.
Please feel free to spread the word and invite other women artists of any discipline around the world. And contact me anytime with ideas, interests, questions, information.
Together we will raise up women’s artistry around the globe.
Happy creating and synergizing! See you soon and often I hope.
Creative cheers and best,
Heidi
