The Business of Art | Shearwater Productions

Landing the next one: 3 tips for marketing yourself

April 27, 2014

I have had a rash of opportunities lately, both ones I applied for and some where they reached out to me. This may seem obvious, but as artists, educators, community leaders, we’re typically always looking for our next gig. But we too often forget that what begets success, even in the face of what looks like failure, is less WHO we are than HOW we are. Duh, right? Yet, I know that at least two of my current projects came to me, not because I was the “best” (most stellar, most talented), nor even because I am “very good” —

Funding Olympics, Cutting the Arts

February 5, 2014

It’s Olympic time! Here’s the crazy thing — yes, I love the Olympics. I love watching them. I love that occasionally, people I know are involved, and I can route extra hard for them. I love the power and grace of the human form focused with intention…it is so beautiful, and for me, so very artistic, and I don’t just mean figure skating. What an excellent opportunity for the youth of the world to see the connections between sport and art, between strength and grace! And since the Olympics are supposed to foster peace and understanding, it’s a great chance

Labor and creativity: Changing spaces changes where you are

September 1, 2013

This week, I want to remind you of what I have just been reminded of—that a shift in our physical working space or place manifests in a shift or working thinking and an increased capacity for creative problem solving. As an arts-in-ed fanatic, I know (thanks to neuro-research) that using arts modalities to teach academic content uses multiple neuro-pathways, creates emotional engagement, and is based in interrogative process, rather than passive information consumption. The amazing Gary Anaka, a leader in the area of brain research and thinking processes, says that when the body is moving, the brain is engaged, and

A group of editors around a table working

Theatre Ed: making it happen

July 14, 2013

I have spent the weekend with 15 driven, crazy, garrulous, impassioned, over-scheduled people who have one thing and one thing only in common: the belief that all children benefit from theatre education. We work from noon on Friday till 10:30 p.m., 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. We work in committees, we work as a large group, we go to drinks at 10:30 and inevitably talk shop (usually social justice issues in art accessibility). We do the heavy duty work in prep for our annual Educators’ Conference (in NYC this year)

Holly Adams reading a script into her mic

Tips for Creating a Better Script for your Business Photo-Montage

May 3, 2013

One of the things I do is Voice Over for webmercials, video, e-learning, and audiobooks. I have been the Voice Talent for real-estate, nature documentaries, and construction companies. Frequently, the person creating the script is not familiar with writing for this medium. It makes more work (and some frustration) for everyone. So, whether you have a montage of your arts event, your company’s 25th celebration, the trees in your park, or the activism in your school, check out these tips before creating your script for the narration. Step 1: Time Watchable time limit is three minutes, and most quick web

Artists and Aging

March 11, 2013

This past weekend, I met a man who is a jouster (sigh!). I had been invited to join a joust-training team years ago, but the commute was too far to make it work, and I had been PINING to do it ever since. I have always loved adventurous, physical things, and I do enjoy both sword fighting for stage and horse-back riding. So of course I want to joust, right? Doesn’t matter that I am female, relatively small, or just had a mid-forties birthday….oh crap, maybe that last one does matter. For the first time in my life, I am

Holly sitting with her table for a mystery dinner

Married To My Work

February 17, 2013

So you may have noticed that for the first time in the year I have had this blog, I missed a posting!! Don’t worry, dear reader, it won’t happen again. Here’s what happened…. You see, I have been carrying on a long-standing affair that finally took over my life…..with my work. AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! I know, I know….. I never thought it would happen to me, either! You see, work started off as a small part of my life, nothing to side-track me from my roles as loving wife and mother. Just the occasional secretive business call during a dish-to-pass, nothing noticeable. I

The Importance of Downtime

November 30, 2012

I am normally pretty driven. Even when I feel sick or depressed, I get up, put one foot in front of the other, or boogie half awake in the shower, muttering the ‘song’ Dory sings in Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming…just keep swimming.” There is a part of me that feels ultra responsible for my family, my art, my community, my work, my granddogs, everything around me. Not that I am important to it all, but just that it is important for me to keep doing as much as I can. Sometimes, however, it’s like the time I was speeding

Holly Adams in her Longhorn tee-shirt in front of her desk

Biz and Art: Tips for bouncing back from failure

November 23, 2012

So, there you are, gearing up for another busy month. As usual, “work on website” and “go to networking event” and “get business cards” move to the bottom of the “to-do” list. They can, right? Face it–your schedule is full! But then business trauma hits—your project is cancelled. The sponsor has withdrawn, a school loses its funding, a theatre has to cut back its budget, or a community organization is cutting the department that contracted you. How do you turn these moments into business success? There’s a few things you can do to get ahead of the game. How to

Fear of the Face Plant: surviving creativity

September 2, 2012

I recently saw a posting on Facebook with a list of 11 qualities creative people possess or actions they tend to take. Number 2 on the list is “Willing to take risks”, number 9 is “Experiment” and number 5 is “Make lots of mistakes” . . . all of which are, of course, directly related. While I had to admit to all 11 (some happily and others ruefully), it was these three and their inter-relationship that jolted me out of a blue funk and back into a clarity. “I have of late, and wherefore I know not, lost all my

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