One-line solution summary:
We will provide 5 artists with 1000 stipend and a 2 week stay. They will create a new work that we will premier in our annual magazine.
Pitch your solution.
The problem we are solving is the lack of creative art space. Our project, NEST 2 week artist residency provides a 2 week stay at our newly built cob visual arts studio in Forestville Ca at the NEST, with an artist stipend of 1000 to pay for supplies for 5 Native artists in various mediums to create new work or expand an existing project. Our solution will provide 5 artists with the opportunity to advance their careers by completing new work. Artists will also have a chance to premier their work in our Native Youth focused arts magazine SNAG Magazine. We are a part of a network of resilient hubs in the Bay Area, with other groups doing similar work, if scaled and through our networks, we could solve the issue of lack of creative art space, and shift to a new paradigm of abundance and our artist community thriving.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
The scale of our problem is global, but on a local level in the Bay Area where our organization laid its roots since 2003, we have watched as our local governments green lighted the tech companies to move in, banking on the promise of jobs, and chose not to tax those companies. We watched over the last decade as working families, and the arts community was pushed out by increased housing costs and the city lost many of its long term beloved organizations and creative art spaces and venues. Today San Francisco is the most expensive place in US per square foot, and nearly a third of Californian’s live at or near the poverty line, in addition there is over 35,000 homeless people thought the Bay Area. With the advent of the covid era, art spaces and organizations have been impacted even more with closure, and event cancellations. Our solution provides 5 Native artist with the opportunity to bolster their careers in a healthy environment, and nurture themselves and new work or expand current projects. We plan to build two more buildings with music and dance studios, healing arts space, our offices and more short and long term artist housing.
What is your solution?
We will offer 5 Native Artist a 1000 stipend for supplies, and provide a free 2 week stay in our newly built visual arts studio at the NEST Community Arts Center. The stipend may be used to support artist supplies, and for other needs during their stay. We will select 5 Native artists in the following mediums; visual arts, dance, music, photography, film, and innovation/new media. In addition artists will be offered the opportunity to premier their work in SNAG Magazine, and have an immediate audience of 10k of our subscribers and followers. We will provide a clean and healthy environment with electricity, hot water, community kitchen, with heating and wifi. The artist participants will be required to bring their own technology needed for their stay or to create their work.
Strong preference will be given to Native-led solutions that directly benefit and are located within the Indigenous communities. Which community(s) does your solution benefit?
Our solution is Indigenous lead and based in my Pomo homelands in Sonoma County, CA. Our project will focus on artists based in the Bay Area, with an emphasis on CA Native artists, and also will serve tribal members from throughout the America’s. The artists we select will mid-career professional working artists. Our solution cuts to the heart of the artist we serves needs, by helping them financially with a stipend of 1k we will give artists an opportunity to expand in their careers and create new work or grow an existing project. Further exposure in SNAG Magazine will also provide them with an outlet an audience of 10k leading to many more opportunities.
Which dimension of the Fellowship does your solution most closely address?
Increase access to jobs, financial capital, and skill development opportunitiesExplain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.
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In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Forestville, CA, USAWhat is your solution’s stage of development?
Growth: An organization with an established product, service, or business model rolled out in one or, ideally, several communities, which is poised for further growth.Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.
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Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Ross Cunningham
Please indicate the tribal affiliation of your primary delegate.
Pomo
Is your primary delegate a member of the community in which your project is based?
YesWhich of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new business model or process that relies on technology to be successfulDescribe what makes your solution innovative?
Having a space of that we own, creates numerous opportunities for growth. We created the space specifically for the purpose of launching artist careers, and providing a space to incubate new and innovative artwork that pushes that will be a catalyst towards our collective liberation. The arts although sometimes viewed as insignificant, accounts for 90 percent of US exports. We will continue to uplift artists and create more space for artists, expanding our residencies, and offerings in our space.
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
Our core technology is the technology used to create the various mediums our selected artists will employ in developing their new work. From visual arts, dance, music, photography, and film, to innovation/new media.
Provide evidence that this technology works. Please cite your sources.
Nest Crowdfunder film - which shows some of the artist we work or collaborate with currently.
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
Does this technology introduce any risks? How are you addressing or mitigating these risks in your solution?
With any creative work there are risks, but mostly our tech employed is safe, and most importanlty we provide a safe space to create.
What is your theory of change?
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Select the key characteristics of your target population.
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
How many people does your solution currently serve? How many will it serve in one year? In five years?
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What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and -- importantly -- how will you achieve them?
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How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?
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What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year and in the next five years?
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How do you plan to overcome these barriers?
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What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
How many people work on your solution team?
2 part time staff.
How long have you been working on your solution?
18 years
Why are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
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What is your approach to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership team?
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Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?
Individual consumers or stakeholders (B2C)Why are you applying to Solve?
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In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Please explain in more detail here.
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What organizations would you like to partner with, and how would you like to partner with them?
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Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
Yes, I wish to apply for this prize
Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prize to advance your solution?
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Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The ASA Prize for Equitable Education? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
No, I do not wish to be considered for this prize, even if the prize funder is specifically interested in my solution
Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for the Innovation for Women Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
No, I do not wish to be considered for this prize, even if the prize funder is specifically interested in my solution
Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The AI For Humanity Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
No, I do not wish to be considered for this prize, even if the prize funder is specifically interested in my solution
Solution Team
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Solution Name:
NEST 2 Week Artist Residency