Continuous Project Altered Quarterly | June 2024
Growth Planning
To be an artist in public—to not only self-identify as an artist but to also be recognized by a field of peers through exhibitions, critical interpretation, and other forms of public attention—requires establishing and maintaining a parallel practice. This is the practice of tending to your infrastructure, opportunities, and communities, and it thrives on the same engagement, care, and discipline you give to your art practice.
Attending to the parallel practice honors the significance of your art practice and allows you to think more expansively and accurately about your studio operations and relationships. An intentional approach to the parallel practice equips you to find and participate in the interdependence that so many of us crave, seek, and need to express ourselves; grow our practices; and sustain our life’s work over time.
Growth planning is a structured process designed to envision, assess, and plan the operational infrastructure, opportunities, and communities that support your creative practice or business. As a practice unto itself, growth planning organizes your parallel practice for self-determined growth. Inspired by conventional strategic planning, the practice of growth planning yields a detailed overview of past accomplishments, current challenges and opportunities, and future goals. It’s a process that emphasizes emergence, creativity, flexibility, and freedom within structure. As a practice, growth planning enriches your work and evolves with you over time.
There are eight areas of growth planning:
VISIONING is a practice for envisioning growth that anchors growth planning in a milestone or set of milestones to plan toward.
ASSESSMENT is a structured reflection on the past and evaluation of the present circumstances, resulting in a clear starting point for growth planning toward the vision.
MONEY extends ASSESSMENT into the area of finances.
DEVELOPMENT opens up space for imagination into potential areas for growth.
PLANNING is a template for organizing the growth plan.
VALUES & CULTURE is guided introspection leading to a north star narrative of the world you’re building within your work.
OUTREACH explores your community(ies) and the way(s) you communicate with them.
OPERATIONS is the documentation of the tools, systems, procedures, and protocols you use in your parallel practice.
These areas are intentionally modular and open-ended, allowing the overall process to generate a personalized document or set of documents specific to your work and needs and to integrate growth planning into the ongoing cycles of your parallel practice. Embracing growth planning as a continuous project that operates in tandem with your art practice reduces overwhelm; improves focus, outcomes, and resilience; allows for values-driven decisions; and helps you stay aligned with what’s most meaningful in your work.
I hope you'll join me this fall for the fifth cohort of the Continuous Project Growth Planning Workshop.
Continuous Project
Updates
In April, Continuous Project turned five I've been quietly celebrating this milestone by reflecting on my work so far; refining my vision for this practice; tuning up my internal operations; and envisioning what's ahead.
Over the past five years, I've worked with almost 300 clients in private consulting, group consulting, and workshops. These folks are artists, gallerists, writers, architects, all kinds of designers, and other creative business owners who are seeking honest, insightful, compassionate thought partnership to navigate the opportunities and challenges they face in their life's work.
I've also taught my Parallel Practice workshop and seminar in 10 BFA and MFA programs, both locally and beyond. My students have shared their dreams and fears in our seminar sessions and studio visits, asking candid questions about the life's work ahead of them.
Six group consulting cohorts and four Growth Planning Workshop cohorts have brought groups of (mostly) strangers together to discuss their life’s work and explore the possibilities of applying growth planning principles to the way they operate their studios and businesses. These group experiences are nothing short of inspiring, as we challenge ourselves and each other to discuss aspects of our life’s work that we don’t often have the forum to talk about.
I am so honored to work with each and every one of my clients and students, and I'm boundlessly grateful to you for your dedication and vulnerability; for trusting me as a partner on your journey (one that often has no map); and most of all for doing the amazing, important work you do in this world. THANK YOU.
This fall, please join me for the 5th cohort of the Continuous Project Growth Planning Workshop. It's going to be awesome :)
Happy Summer Solstice!
