Made HERE: Season 1

For the issue of Creative Real Estate, MADE HERE explores performing artists rehearsing in bank vaults, taking over Best Buy stores, and living in converted warehouses. Performing artists have always breathed life into New York, and as the city evolves, so does their role within it. From the birth of Off-Broadway in the ‘50s, to the controversial performance art of the ‘80s, to the East Village squatters in the ‘90s, to the Williamsburg, DUMBO and Bushwick migrations – artists have been an integral factor in the cultural dynamism of the city’s fabric. Despite their crucial role in neighborhood renewal and sustainability throughout the five boroughs, New Yorkers in the performing arts have a storied history of struggling to support their commitment to create complex live art in one of the fastest-moving and competitive cities in the world.

Seeking Space
Finding space to rehearse and perform in New York City’s competitive real estate market can be daunting. Whether they are scraping together rent, fixing up a raw warehouse, or foregoing walls altogether, nomadic artists have been challenged and inspired by the creative pursuit of space.

Artistic Homes
Securing permanent space in New York City changes the work and lives of performing artists. From lobbying congressmen for funding to fixing leaky ceilings, artistic homes require a new set of skills and impact the artistic process in subtle and striking ways.

Uncommon Sites
New York performing artists have a talent for finding, fixing-up, and fighting for space in unlikely places. When traditional theaters don’t fit the bill, these artists can be found in abandoned banks, walk-up apartments, and even an unwitting Best Buy.

For the issue of Day & Night Jobs, MADE HERE explores performing artists and the myriad things they have to do to support their art. Specific employment-related data about performing artists are scarce, but we refer to 2000 U.S. Census data and the 2008 NEA report on Artists in the Workforce. Artists are twice as likely to have earned a college degree as other members of the U.S. labor force, though they receive relatively less financial compensation for their educational level. Artists are 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed than the average worker. Underemployment is common in the arts, with one-third of artists working part-time; actors, dancers, and musicians experience high seasonal unemployment. The median annual income of artists is $30,000 – $6,000 less than that of other “professional” workers; dancers have the lowest median annual income—$15,000. Artists struggle to make ends meet and live below the standards of the rest of the American workforce. Despite the challenges, artists have a strong desire to create and innovate.

My Other Jobs
From cleaning toilets to working on Wall Street, these artists have done just about everything to balance the budget. Finding the right job that pays while enabling creativity and flexibility is a challenge for New York City artists where the rent is high and artist earnings are scarce.

Artist Teachers (this video link is currently broken; please check back later)
Teaching can be a crucial source of regular income. For these artists, it’s also inspiring, important work that engages a different part of their creative selves.

Creating Opportunities (this video link is currently broken; please check back later)
When the members of Chinese Theatre Works had a hard time juggling jobs and rehearsals, they took matters into their own hands. Now, with one member owning her own small business, the companies’ artists have an understanding boss and the flexibility to balance their work and art.

In the first two issues, MADE HERE explored the challenges of finding space and earning a living. In this issue of Family Balance, MADE HERE takes a look at how artists balance the demands of maintaining relationships and having families.

Artistic Couples
Balancing a relationship with an artistic career requires grace under pressure. For these artistic couples, passion and hard work is the key to meeting the dueling demands of love and art.

The Family Business (this video link is currently broken; please check back later)
For this family, performing is more than a job—it’s a family business. Valda Setterfield, David Gordon and their son, Ain, have shared a life creating, critiquing, and collaborating on work that has, at times, nearly driven them mad and brought them closer together.

Parenthood (this video link is currently broken; please check back later)
Raising a child in New York City is always a challenge. For performing artists the balancing act can get especially creative. Whether adding your kid to your cast or child-proofing a tour bus, these families are finding ingenious solutions despite limited time, space, and money.

MADE HERE explores the importance of activism in the performing arts. The artists in this issue have used their creativity to define their places in the world, while building and sometimes healing a community. They are bold risk-takers who deliver political messages and sometimes break the rules, but often with a healthy dose of humor.

Community
These artists are connecting the performing arts with issues relevant to citizens of New York City and the world. At the heart of their bold work is a civic dialogue about gentrification, class, race, neighborhood politics, and community building.

Without Permission (this video link is currently broken; please check back later)
Art is a platform where ideas can be discussed freely outside of the mainstream. Street theater, public interventions, online performance, and community-run spaces are some of the ways these artists express their citizenship without having to ask someone in a corner office for the time, space, and resources they need.

Artist as Activist (this video link is currently broken; please check back later)
These artists are activists, but they aren’t just signing petitions. By moving their audiences with compelling stories, they build communities, wrestle with important sustainability issues, and make social and political change.

For the final issue of Season One, MADE HERE addresses the various applications and impacts of technology in the performing arts. Some artists have figured out particularly innovative ways to use technology in their performances. Some have been able to replace their office or even rehearsal room or stage because of technology. And opinion is split about whether technology, both onstage and online, has been a good or bad thing when it comes to audience attention span.

Onstage
Technology has dramatically transformed the way we communicate, socialize, and participate. In the age of digital video, social media, and more, these artists are wrestling with the inescapable effect of technology on how to tell compelling stories about the human experience.

Online
With the proliferation of low-cost democratic tools online, everyone can be their own producer, publisher, and marketing team. For these artists, new technologies are enabling an exciting freedom to create and disseminate work on their terms for new audiences.

Audience (this video link is currently broken; please check back later)
In a time of 24/7 connectivity, these performing artists are wrestling with how our new participatory culture is affecting the expectations of live audiences. Some embrace the change. Others work against it. What they share is a belief in the lasting importance of live performance and that people will always crave shared experience in a room with other people.