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Vision Driven Artists (VDA) exists to put more resources and opportunities into the hands of Philadelphia-based artists and arts organizations, with a specific focus and emphasis on supporting systematically marginalized artists and communities.
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Last night’s workshop was excellent - thank you, Brittany! E. Muhammad was such a good speaker. I came home brimming with ideas and enthusiasm for planning my next show and tour.”
- Katie, Workshop Attendee and Artist
Founder & Director
Brittany Campese has been working in the nonprofit sector for 15 years and combines her education in women's studies and nonprofit management to provide holistic support to change-makers and artists. She is dedicated to social justice, and her goals are to help build skills and secure resources with individuals and communities that are doing the most visionary work. Brittany seeks out and listens to the voices, opinions, and ideas of people at all levels of power, starting conversations from points of strengths and assets. Because people learn and process information differently, she utilizes diverse teaching methods. Collaboration is central to her values and practices.
Brittany resides in West Philadelphia with her musician/composer partner, their wild/sweet/hilarious toddler, and an aloof cat. She volunteers as a coordinator of the Philly Childcare Collective and enjoys listening to music, dancing, eating delicious vegetarian food, drinking all of the coffee, and hanging out with the kids on the block.
Brittany resides in West Philadelphia with her musician/composer partner, their wild/sweet/hilarious toddler, and an aloof cat. She volunteers as a coordinator of the Philly Childcare Collective and enjoys listening to music, dancing, eating delicious vegetarian food, drinking all of the coffee, and hanging out with the kids on the block.
Program & Outreach Assistant
Kristal Sotomayor is a bilingual documentary filmmaker and Film Scholar Fellow at Scribe Video Center where she is working on a short documentary about the undocumented immigrant community in Philadelphia. In addition, to working with VDA & Scribe, Kristal is also a Production & Programing Intern at the award-winning documentary film series POV on PBS. Kristal is bringing her past experience in social media marketing and program/event planning, to help expand and improve the reach of VDA!
Sounding Board
To ensure that our work is relevant and useful to our target demographics, we have a Sounding Board that helps develop and implement programming, provide organizational support, and keep eyes and ears on the varied and ever-changing Philadelphia arts scenes.
Sounding Board members include Alex Smith, Brittany Campese, Goda Traukumaite, Ren Liam, Betty Leacraft, Dominique Matti (baby Theo), Lynda Black, Rebecca Fabiano (pictured here). Members not in the photo include Rodney Camarce, Karen Smith, Donna Blicharz, Brittnie Knight, and John Morrison. Bios coming soon!
Sounding Board members include Alex Smith, Brittany Campese, Goda Traukumaite, Ren Liam, Betty Leacraft, Dominique Matti (baby Theo), Lynda Black, Rebecca Fabiano (pictured here). Members not in the photo include Rodney Camarce, Karen Smith, Donna Blicharz, Brittnie Knight, and John Morrison. Bios coming soon!
Our Story
Vision Driven Artists was created because Philadelphia artists kept showing up, asking for more resources.
In 2012, when Brittany first started teaching workshops for nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia, she kept noticing more and more artists in the room. During conversations with artist friends, she realized that her experiences in the nonprofit sector could directly translate to the arts, and she had a lot of "industry secrets" that artists wanted to hear. She approached Gina Renzi, a longtime arts advocate and Director of The Rotunda in West Philly, to find out if she wanted to host a workshop for artists. Gina was thrilled and asked Brittany to host 12 months of free workshops for artists and arts organizations, which would be fully funded by The Rotunda. In our first year, we saw 350 workshop attendees! Our artists applied for and won grants, they collaborated on projects, shared space and materials, and expressed a renewed sense of hope and excitement for their work. Since then, VDA has been committed to finding more and more creative and sustainable ways to increase resources and opportunities for local artists and arts organizations. We've partnered with dozens of individuals and organizations, and have been adding programming "on demand" as we get to know what artists want and need. In 2017, Vision Driven Artists officially became a fiscally sponsored program of Culture Works Greater Philadelphia.
Vision Driven Artists was created because Philadelphia is a city with abundant resources that are unevenly distributed and difficult to access.
If you pay attention, you will quickly see that resources and opportunities for the arts in Philadelphia often go to the same people and organizations year after year. According to The Atlantic, “The current state of the arts in this country is a microcosm of the state of the nation. Large, mainstream arts institutions, founded to serve the public good...have come to resemble exclusive country clubs. Meanwhile, outside their walls, a dynamic new generation of artists, and the diverse communities where they live and work, are being systematically denied access to resources and cultural legitimation.” Americans for the Arts reported that white people comprise 86% of all executives at local arts agencies and 83% of all arts administrators. VDA is working to change the uneven distribution of funding and opportunities from many angles: education, direct funding, resource sharing, and advocacy. We prioritize the acquisition and distribution of resources to artists whose identities and life experiences have systematically kept them from being first in line (e.g. people of color, poor people, queer, trans*, gender non-conforming folks, formerly incarcerated individuals, survivors of abuse, artists without "formal" education, etc.).
Vision Driven Artists was created because we need art and we need artists to survive and flourish.
The deep and real truth is that art is essential to our survival and understanding of cultures that are not our own. A world without art is devastating to imagine, and a world full of the same art created by the same people is boring and stagnant. It is urgent and integral that we hear diverse voices and see images that were created from different peoples' perspectives and experiences. We need the untold/silenced stories to be revealed and new ideas for change to be elevated.
In 2012, when Brittany first started teaching workshops for nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia, she kept noticing more and more artists in the room. During conversations with artist friends, she realized that her experiences in the nonprofit sector could directly translate to the arts, and she had a lot of "industry secrets" that artists wanted to hear. She approached Gina Renzi, a longtime arts advocate and Director of The Rotunda in West Philly, to find out if she wanted to host a workshop for artists. Gina was thrilled and asked Brittany to host 12 months of free workshops for artists and arts organizations, which would be fully funded by The Rotunda. In our first year, we saw 350 workshop attendees! Our artists applied for and won grants, they collaborated on projects, shared space and materials, and expressed a renewed sense of hope and excitement for their work. Since then, VDA has been committed to finding more and more creative and sustainable ways to increase resources and opportunities for local artists and arts organizations. We've partnered with dozens of individuals and organizations, and have been adding programming "on demand" as we get to know what artists want and need. In 2017, Vision Driven Artists officially became a fiscally sponsored program of Culture Works Greater Philadelphia.
Vision Driven Artists was created because Philadelphia is a city with abundant resources that are unevenly distributed and difficult to access.
If you pay attention, you will quickly see that resources and opportunities for the arts in Philadelphia often go to the same people and organizations year after year. According to The Atlantic, “The current state of the arts in this country is a microcosm of the state of the nation. Large, mainstream arts institutions, founded to serve the public good...have come to resemble exclusive country clubs. Meanwhile, outside their walls, a dynamic new generation of artists, and the diverse communities where they live and work, are being systematically denied access to resources and cultural legitimation.” Americans for the Arts reported that white people comprise 86% of all executives at local arts agencies and 83% of all arts administrators. VDA is working to change the uneven distribution of funding and opportunities from many angles: education, direct funding, resource sharing, and advocacy. We prioritize the acquisition and distribution of resources to artists whose identities and life experiences have systematically kept them from being first in line (e.g. people of color, poor people, queer, trans*, gender non-conforming folks, formerly incarcerated individuals, survivors of abuse, artists without "formal" education, etc.).
Vision Driven Artists was created because we need art and we need artists to survive and flourish.
The deep and real truth is that art is essential to our survival and understanding of cultures that are not our own. A world without art is devastating to imagine, and a world full of the same art created by the same people is boring and stagnant. It is urgent and integral that we hear diverse voices and see images that were created from different peoples' perspectives and experiences. We need the untold/silenced stories to be revealed and new ideas for change to be elevated.
CONTACT
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brittany@visiondrivenartists.org
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address |
CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia
1315 Walnut Street, Ste.320 Philadelphia, PA 19107 |
