We are so excited to present this exciting series of conversations this fall as part of our Buttress program! All of the conversations will take place virtually and the video will be available for anyone unable to attend in real time.
These events are supported in part by the Somerville Arts Council, a program of the Mass Cultural Council.
These events are supported in part by the Somerville Arts Council, a program of the Mass Cultural Council.
In 2014 Monkeyhouse realized that we weren’t the only members of our community who frequently felt like there were gaps in our knowledge about being a successful artist and that mentorship opportunities were few and far between. As a result we created Brown Bag Lunches, a series of curated conversations where artists could ask questions and share resources in a low stakes, community building environment.
As the name suggests, the goal of Brown Bag Lunches is for all participants to bring their knowledge to the table and to encourage the belief that none of us have to do this alone. While not every event happens in the afternoon (or involves eating meals), they each begin with the premise that every one of us adds value to our community. Even events with special guests brought in to share their specific knowledge leave room for everyone’s voice to be heard.
Topics range from accessibility to grant writing to ways of dealing with rejection. Through these conversations pods of artists have popped up who help read each other’s applications and provide invaluable feedback; artists have written and received their first grants; and lifelong artistic and personal relationships have been developed. Special guests for Brown Bag Lunches have included Charles Baldwin (Mass Cultural Council), Andrea Blesso (Boston Center for the Arts), Morganna Becker (NEFA), and Kelsey Griffith (Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention).
Whether you make dances or dictionaries, we invite you to join us for the next Brown Bag and help build a stronger, more sustainable arts community.
As the name suggests, the goal of Brown Bag Lunches is for all participants to bring their knowledge to the table and to encourage the belief that none of us have to do this alone. While not every event happens in the afternoon (or involves eating meals), they each begin with the premise that every one of us adds value to our community. Even events with special guests brought in to share their specific knowledge leave room for everyone’s voice to be heard.
Topics range from accessibility to grant writing to ways of dealing with rejection. Through these conversations pods of artists have popped up who help read each other’s applications and provide invaluable feedback; artists have written and received their first grants; and lifelong artistic and personal relationships have been developed. Special guests for Brown Bag Lunches have included Charles Baldwin (Mass Cultural Council), Andrea Blesso (Boston Center for the Arts), Morganna Becker (NEFA), and Kelsey Griffith (Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention).
Whether you make dances or dictionaries, we invite you to join us for the next Brown Bag and help build a stronger, more sustainable arts community.
but·tress
/ˈbətrəs/
verb
1. provide (a building or structure) with projecting supports built against its walls.
2. increase the strength of or justification for; reinforce.
Monkeyhouse’s Buttress program provides professional development support for choreographers, dance artists and dance organizations through a series of public and private programs. Through support from the Somerville Arts Council we have been able to offer 40 hours of individual mentoring on administrative issues that are rarely taught in college programs, e.g. fundraising on social media, nurturing relationships with presenters, and writing effective alt text. Fall 2022 we will be offering a series of Brown Bag Lunches: Curated Community Conversations on topics like planning your grant application calendar, the value of access doulaship within the arts for those in and out of the Disability community, and practicing self care as a freelance artist. Monkeyhouse will also provide two group grant writing sessions in the lead up to the busy fall application season.
Through our Covid Collaborations Monkeyhouse has supported over 115 artists and arts organizations since 2020. Our mentoring has a proven track record of helping local artists to receive grants, adapting to new methods of presenting work, and writing dynamic press materials. Buttress ensures artists can sustainably grow and develop with the support of our entire community behind them.
/ˈbətrəs/
verb
1. provide (a building or structure) with projecting supports built against its walls.
2. increase the strength of or justification for; reinforce.
Monkeyhouse’s Buttress program provides professional development support for choreographers, dance artists and dance organizations through a series of public and private programs. Through support from the Somerville Arts Council we have been able to offer 40 hours of individual mentoring on administrative issues that are rarely taught in college programs, e.g. fundraising on social media, nurturing relationships with presenters, and writing effective alt text. Fall 2022 we will be offering a series of Brown Bag Lunches: Curated Community Conversations on topics like planning your grant application calendar, the value of access doulaship within the arts for those in and out of the Disability community, and practicing self care as a freelance artist. Monkeyhouse will also provide two group grant writing sessions in the lead up to the busy fall application season.
Through our Covid Collaborations Monkeyhouse has supported over 115 artists and arts organizations since 2020. Our mentoring has a proven track record of helping local artists to receive grants, adapting to new methods of presenting work, and writing dynamic press materials. Buttress ensures artists can sustainably grow and develop with the support of our entire community behind them.
Schedule
Tuesday, September 6th @ 8pm EST
NEFA, National Dance Project, and Other Fall Grant Opportunities
Cheri Opperman, NEFA
Wednesday, September 7th @ 12pm EST
Creating & Presenting Accessible Art on an Accessible Budget
Charles Baldwin
Tuesday, October 4th @ 8pm EST
Mindset Matters: Shifting the Lens
Kelsey Griffith
Wednesday, October 5th @ 8pm EST
Presenters Are Just People - Tips on Marketing & Networking
Sarah Duclos
Thursday, November 10th @ 12pm EST
Winter Grants/2023 Grant Prep
Jessica Roseman & Kim Holman
Saturday, November 12th @ 6pm EST
Access Doulaship
JJ Omelagah
NEFA, National Dance Project, and Other Fall Grant Opportunities
Cheri Opperman, NEFA
Wednesday, September 7th @ 12pm EST
Creating & Presenting Accessible Art on an Accessible Budget
Charles Baldwin
Tuesday, October 4th @ 8pm EST
Mindset Matters: Shifting the Lens
Kelsey Griffith
Wednesday, October 5th @ 8pm EST
Presenters Are Just People - Tips on Marketing & Networking
Sarah Duclos
Thursday, November 10th @ 12pm EST
Winter Grants/2023 Grant Prep
Jessica Roseman & Kim Holman
Saturday, November 12th @ 6pm EST
Access Doulaship
JJ Omelagah
All events are free and open to the public, but registration is greatly appreciated!
Guests
Cheri Opperman has worked for over a decade with the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, working with artists, funders, agents, and organizations to support the creative process and the distribution of live dance performance across the nation. Previously she taught, created dances and mentored dance theater majors at Emerson College. She has worked as a program assistant at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Visual Arts Program. Cheri was a co-founder and co-director at Green Street Studios in Cambridge, MA, where she taught advanced technique and repertory, and help to create and support activities in its black box theater. As a member of Concert Dance Company of Boston, Cheri performed in works by Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham, Bebe Miller, Mark Dendy, Deborah Wolf, Lucinda Childs, Kei Ta Kei, and Laura Dean among others. As a long-time company member of Susan Rose’s DanceWorks, she performed and taught throughout New England, New York, and Arles, France. With Young Audiences of Massachusetts, Cheri performed and taught as an artist in the schools. Cheri has worked with numerous Boston-based choreographers, institutions, and studios throughout her 30+ year career. She holds a BFA from the Boston Conservatory. Cheri currently lives in Somerville, MA with her family and their new puppy.
Charles G. Baldwin (he/him/his) is the Access and Inclusion Program Officer for the Mass Cultural Council. He leads the UP Initiative (UP for Universal Participation) which provides professional development in Universal Design principles for cultural organizations seeking to move “access” from a regulatory obligation to a policy for inclusive community engagement. Out of the office, Charles is an educator, illustrator, stage designer, and puppeteer.
Kelsey Griffith, MS serves as the Mental Skills Specialist at The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, an affiliate of Boston Children’s Hospital—Division of Sports Medicine. She received her BA in Dance from Muhlenberg College, and MS in Exercise Science & Sport Studies–Sport and Exercise Psychology from Springfield College. A former gymnast-turned-dancer, Kelsey understands that training the mental game is essential in unlocking one's full potential. Her work aims to help each athlete navigate the maze of mental challenges associated with sport and performance to better reach self-determined goals and optimal performance.
Sarah Duclos is a freelance choreographer and dance educator, based in New Hampshire, who holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Theatre and Dance from the University of New Hampshire. As a young dancer, Duclos worked directly with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange during their two-year residency leading up to The Shipyard Project - sparking a lifelong interest in site-specific, community-based dance work. While studying at UNH, Duclos founded Neoteric Dance Collaborative (NEO) a multi-disciplinary dance company with a mission to build community through the art of dance. NEO has particularly focused this community-building mission in rural and suburban areas of New Hampshire and southern Maine, developing audiences for dance where there were previously none. NEO has performed Duclos’ choreography on stages in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and at City Center in New York City. Duclos has worked as a freelance performer and choreographer, for both theatre and concert dance, and as a dance educator, notably working as a master teaching artist for Boston Ballet’s Education and Community Initiatives, a faculty member at Phillips Exeter Academy’s Department of Theater and Dance - where she served as Interim Director of Dance during the 2015-2016 academic year and internationally as a dance facilitator at the Abhainn Ri Festival of Participation and Inclusion in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. She specializes in teaching classical ballet (Vaganova method), choreography and composition, dance history, inclusive dance for movers with disabilities and is one of the first dance educators in the world certified to teach all five levels of Giordano jazz technique. Duclos was appointed to the juried New Hampshire Arts in Education Roster in 2016 and she launched an online ballet curriculum for adults called Couch to Ballet in 2019. She is a full scholarship recipient in National Arts Strategies and the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy 2020 cohort. You can explore more of her work at http://www.vimeo.com/neotericdance
Jessica Roseman (she/her) is a choreographer, solo performer, movement educator, and a mother. She was appointed to New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Regional Dance Development Initiative to help build sustainable choreographic landscapes. Jess is a New England States Touring Artist, and the inaugural Artist in Residence at Lexington Community Farm. Her community-based NOURISH dance projects instill social change by inviting deeper physical connections to our selves, each other, and our environment. NOURISH has earned numerous social justice grant awards, offering participatory dance engagements for specific populations and places, including at historic Boston landmarks and community gardens; with intergenerational families, professional dancers, and with Black mothers.
Recent presenters of Jessica Roseman Dance include: Now + There (MA); Art Assembled (MA); Engine (ME); deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum (MA); Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (MA); Northeastern University (MA); Bearnstow (ME), Cambridge Public Library (MA); freeskewl; The Dance Complex (MA); Coppin State University (MD); and Movement Research (NY). She resides in unceded Massachusett & Pawtucket lands known as Lexington, MA with her twin tween children.
Recent presenters of Jessica Roseman Dance include: Now + There (MA); Art Assembled (MA); Engine (ME); deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum (MA); Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (MA); Northeastern University (MA); Bearnstow (ME), Cambridge Public Library (MA); freeskewl; The Dance Complex (MA); Coppin State University (MD); and Movement Research (NY). She resides in unceded Massachusett & Pawtucket lands known as Lexington, MA with her twin tween children.
Kimberleigh A. Holman is an artist working interdisciplinarily in dance, theatre and light, and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Luminarium Dance. Her work gravitates to the exploration of human social interaction and behavior, both real and fictitious, miniscule instances or broad patterns, through comedic, dark, sensory or abstract narrative. As a mover and maker, one of her biggest considerations is authenticity; she hopes to enable those performing her work to find the ability to be present in the performance space and hopes to inspire viewers to react in genuinely felt ways of their own. Kim excitedly creates around these principles while making interdisciplinary work for stage, landscape, and atypical spaces that excite her.
With Luminarium, Kim’s work has been shown at many Boston venues including such landmarks as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Public Library, and the Boston Opera House. Most recently, Kim was awarded the 2021-2022 Boston Dancemakers Residency, where she is creating new work titled Common Circus as an artist in residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. In the last two years, Kim was twice-awarded The Boston Foundation’s LAB Fund and NEFA’s New England Dance Fund, for both her upcoming work Common Circus, and ongoing project Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing. Her work has been supported through The Dance Complex's CATALYSTS residency and grant opportunities from many local grantmakers (Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston Cultural Council), including the New England Grassroots Environment Fund for her work activating a contaminated stretch of water in her hometown. Kim is frequently hired as a guest artist at Boston-area universities, and enjoys working as a movement consultant and collaborator with local theatre companies (Company One, Sleeping Weazel, Fort Point Theatre Channel). Kim earned her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts (Performance Creation) from Goddard College. More at kaholman.com.
With Luminarium, Kim’s work has been shown at many Boston venues including such landmarks as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Public Library, and the Boston Opera House. Most recently, Kim was awarded the 2021-2022 Boston Dancemakers Residency, where she is creating new work titled Common Circus as an artist in residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. In the last two years, Kim was twice-awarded The Boston Foundation’s LAB Fund and NEFA’s New England Dance Fund, for both her upcoming work Common Circus, and ongoing project Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing. Her work has been supported through The Dance Complex's CATALYSTS residency and grant opportunities from many local grantmakers (Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston Cultural Council), including the New England Grassroots Environment Fund for her work activating a contaminated stretch of water in her hometown. Kim is frequently hired as a guest artist at Boston-area universities, and enjoys working as a movement consultant and collaborator with local theatre companies (Company One, Sleeping Weazel, Fort Point Theatre Channel). Kim earned her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts (Performance Creation) from Goddard College. More at kaholman.com.
JJ Omelagah (they/them) is a seasoned Access Doula with over a decade of experience. JJ started as a care provider for individual loved ones in 2011. As they interfaced with disabled communities more frequently, they started to provide access support for many different community members. Eventually, people recognized their capacity to support collective access for small and large group gatherings as well. JJ has been an Access Doula for a variety of social gatherings, Sins Invalid events, DJCC, Dancing Freedom classes/workshops, East Bay Church gatherings, Movement Liberation workshops, and most recently at the 2022 Dancing Disability Lab. They currently serve as the executive manager at Embraced Body, a Disability Justice organization where they support building collective access for all of the staff members and for community events.
In addition to their work as an Access Doula, JJ is also a transgender vocal artist, trained Reiki practitioner, Ifa initiate, Disability Justice and LGBTQIA+ activist. They are also experienced in customer service, nonprofit organizations, case management, conflict resolution, and volunteer management. All of these skills support them being a well-rounded Access Doula.
When they aren’t working or singing, JJ enjoys spending quality time with their family, traveling, swimming, and spending time in nature.
In addition to their work as an Access Doula, JJ is also a transgender vocal artist, trained Reiki practitioner, Ifa initiate, Disability Justice and LGBTQIA+ activist. They are also experienced in customer service, nonprofit organizations, case management, conflict resolution, and volunteer management. All of these skills support them being a well-rounded Access Doula.
When they aren’t working or singing, JJ enjoys spending quality time with their family, traveling, swimming, and spending time in nature.
Accessibility
All events in this series will be held on Zoom. Automatic captioning will be on for all conversations and video and a document of resources will be made available after the event.
If you have any additional access needs please let us know! You can email Nicole (Nicole [at] MonkeyhouseLovesMe.com) or let us know when you register. Some access needs take time to implement, so please let us know two weeks in advance and we will do our best to accommodate you.
All conversations are free and open to the public.
If you have any additional access needs please let us know! You can email Nicole (Nicole [at] MonkeyhouseLovesMe.com) or let us know when you register. Some access needs take time to implement, so please let us know two weeks in advance and we will do our best to accommodate you.
All conversations are free and open to the public.
Special Thanks
- Somerville Arts Council
- Cheri Opperman
- NEFA
- Charles G. Baldwin
- Mass Cultural Council
- Kelsey Griffith
- Sarah Duclos
- Jessica Roseman
- Kim Holman
- Andrea Blesso
- Boston Center for the Arts
- JJ Omelagah
Please take a moment to say thank you to the Somerville Arts Council for supporting Monkeyhouse as we support our broader dance community! Let them know why programs like Buttress and the Brown Bag Lunches are important to artists in and around Somerville!
