Nuts and Bolts

Everything you need to know about beginning a partnership: what to think about when planning a project; how to choose an artist; what to put in a budget; how to evaluate impact; and much, much more!

Laying the Groundwork

Why Municipalities and Artists Partner

Artists’ and municipalities’ different perspectives, skills and resources can create something bigger together than what they can do alone.

Structuring Your Partnerships

M/A partnerships are formed for different reasons, have different scopes, scales, and administrative structures— some variables to consider.

Creating a Strong Partnership

How to build a relationship that’s grounded in common values and goals, and use differences as points of connection and learning.

Power Dynamics

How power factors into partnerships and artists and municipal entities can bring their respective powers into play in positive and productive ways.

Getting It Done

Choosing Artists and Agencies

In any relationship, it’s important to match partners’ interests, values, and background. Some things to think about when choosing a partner.

Getting to Know Each Other

Artists are from Mars: Municipalities are from Venus: getting past misperceptions and stereotypes of your partner and creating mutual understanding.

Developing a Project

Important things to think about when developing a project and working with communities.

Sustaining Partnerships

Strategies for creating capacity and municipal buy-in so that M/A partnerships become the norm, not the exception.

The Nitty Gritty

Funding

Sources, strategies, and considerations for funding partnerships and projects.

Budgeting

Elements of and equity in budgeting for M/A partnership work.

Contracts

What to include and common concerns in M/A partnership contracts.

Communications

Promoting your partnership and project effectively.

Evaluation & Documentation

Understanding the impacts of your work and making the case for M/A partnerships.