creating economy for tranformative arts & the changemakers and practitioners who want to get paid

this past weekend i attended the first ever HOLISTIC APPROACHES TO ARTS EDUCATION conference at the berkeley site of jfku. i'll be participating in their MA program in Transformative Arts and one of the things that might become my thesis (and my future) is this idea of creating economy for transformative arts & the changemakers who practice the craft.

in my enthusiasm throughout the sessions of the conference and the community we found with each other, i was shocked by the conversations of the last day. as in all changemaking conferences or experiences that last three days and an evening, there are the BLARING REALITIES of moving back into the outside world where your community vanishes and no one you see on monday morning has any idea of what you experienced on saturday night--and there you are, in the loneliness of the circumstances in which you find yourself, working to keep your art job by pretending to not be such an "artist".

and so i want to start a public conversation about how to create a profitable economy for transformative art and artists in community--a franchise, perhaps (ala starbucks--but for the soul) that works holistically for individuals, groups, community and the wider world.

any ideas?