This weekend Melinda Rice and I worked on a draft of a OK Music Lesson Plan to be used at a music education site this fall. Melinda has extensive experience working with organizations such as Harmony Project that teaches music to underserved youth, so she was a good resource to have in planning our curricula around OK Music’s “themed improv” methods. A lot of the ideas listed in the plan come out of the things that we’ve developed together as group while doing gigs around the Los Angeles area as performing musicians. Seeing the possibility that these methods might be applicable within educational contexts, however, we have begun to formulate these ideas into educational goals with clearer and more directed objectives.
The overview for OK Music's lesson plan, using improvisation as its main vehicle for meeting certain educational goals.
This plan is geared toward programs with kids enrolled in music education programs, but I think that the scope of the overall goals are broad enough that we should also be able to modify it toward other types of events. I’ve gotten suggestions from people that something like this could find its place in school fundraisers, after-school programs, or even business workshops and events.
As mentioned in the excerpt to the left, the overall mission for OK Music is to “create spaces for people to participate in musical creativity.” To be more specific, the goal is to teach and develop skills of confidence, communication, and flexibility to those participating in our events. We feel that musical improvisation can be a powerful vehicle in arriving at those objectives, while being a transformative experience for those involved with the process.
I recently attended UCLA’s 2011 Enteprepreneurship Conference and sat in their “Edupreneurship” seminar which covered topics and issues relating to new ideas developing within educational institutions and educational business sectors. There were representatives from both private and non-profit organizations, but everyone’s end goal for what they were doing were remarkably similar to one another — schools want their students to succeed, while businesses are in need of employees who take initiative, be adaptable to changing contexts, and are able to work effectively within group environments. (Many of the problems that exist within schools and the workplace, in a lot of ways, is a result of this disconnect.) The means of getting there may differ from organization to organization, but it’s largely within this middle ground where a connection of mutual interest might become a possibility.
Right now I’m looking into organizations such as Partnership for Los Angeles Schools and Network for Teaching Entreprenurship as possible leads for finding support for our projects. As I start to network with more people around the LA area, however, I think this list will start to grow as time goes on.
Financial Issues and Resolutions
By now it should be no secret that California’s state budget is currently in crisis, and the practice of public institutions cutting back on their spending costs have now become the norm. Following the gradual (but very slow) recovery of the economy, private schools are likely to show signs of recovery sooner than its public counterparts. In the post-economic crisis world, however, people tend to be more skeptical and are less likely to spend money on items that exist outside of their core budget.
The panelists at the edupreneurship seminar were very upfront about the fact that the vast majority of schools in Los Angeles currently do not have the means to pay for the types of events that OK Music might be interested in putting on. A couple of solutions were proposed, however, which seems like viable ones:
Crowdfunding
Use crowdfunding/microinvestment strategies to raise money per event. Target local audiences who have a vested interest in seeing the quality of their school’s education improve.
Business Sponsorships
Find sponsors who might be interested in providing the funds necessary to put on the event, in exchange for advertisement opportunities. Many companies also have budgets for charitable giving. (Sponsors will have to be chosen carefully to avoid conflicts of interest.)
Fundraising
OK Music can perform and workshop as part of a larger fundraising event for institutions looking to raise money for a particular purpose. This approach is more common among working musicians who are used to providing entertainment for various occasions or events.
Grants
Look for government and private foundations who might be interested in sponsoring OK Music’s educational goals.
In general, the consensus seems to be that artists will have to take a more active role in the organizational aspects of putting on an event in order to find regular work. The days where musicians could make a living by just showing up to gigs might become a thing of the past, except among the lucky few who have careers that are already well-established.
The post-economic crisis world has, in a general sense, prompted a sense of urgency in the utilization of new and sustainable models that might be applicable for future use, and the educational sector does not stand as an exception. For better or worse, a lot of things are changing right now and things are likely going to look and operate very differently in the near future.
Any other ideas? Leave a comment below (or contact us directly at contact@okmusic.me) if you might have something to add.
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