Body and Soul: Rebecca Fitton: Rethinking fiscal sponsorship and equity

Rebecca Fitton (photo: Sarah Annie Navarette)

 

Rebecca, a mixed-race Asian American person with messy short brown hair smiles. Their hands are in the pockets of a short-sleeve, navy corduroy jumpsuit.

In this episode of Body and Soul podcast, dance artist and administrator Rebecca Fitton (she/they) presents insights from her research into the ways current systems of fiscal sponsorship maintain the status quo of power and fail artists.

Listen to her Body and Soul episode via Spotify, and watch her film, Best Practices (2022).

Transcript of this episode

Rebecca Fitton is from many places and peoples. She nurtures community through movement, conversation, and food, strives to equally prioritize her multifaceted roles as an artist, administrator, and advocate.  Fitton works as Co-Director/Director of Operations and Development for Bridge Live Arts and as the Director of Studio Rawls for artist Will Rawls. She has previously produced multi-disciplinary works for J. Bouey, zavé martohardjono, and FAILSPACE. From 2017-2021, she worked with DELIRIOUS Dances/Edisa Weeks to coordinate community gatherings focused on abolition movements. She was a Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee member from 2018-2020 and participated in Dance/USA’s Institute for Leadership Training in 2021. Their writing has been published by Triskelion Arts, Emergency Index, In Dance, The Dancer-Citizen, Etudes, Critical Correspondence, and Dance Research Journal. They hold a BFA in Dance from Florida State University and an MA in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin. rebeccafittonprojects.com

Study of fiscally sponsored NYC dancemakers announced [AUDIO]

State of NYC Dance: Discovering Fiscally Sponsored NYC Dancemakers

presented by Dance/NYC

September 7, 2012

at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center

We are in discovery mode, and this is a call to action."
--Lane Harwell, Executive Director, Dance/NYC

 Do you know it's Friday, and we're all here talking about research?"
--Anne Coates, VP, Arts and Cultural Development, Municipal Arts Society

As dance journalist Pia Catton noted in her recent article, "More Dance Companies Scrapping the Old Funding Model" (Wall Street Journal), independent artists without nonprofit status are increasingly turning to fiscal sponsors as a sustainable means of managing the legal and technical requirements for fundraising and accounting. The following audio provides data and follow-up discussion around Dance/NYC's study conducted in partnership with five New York City fiscal sponsors serving movement-based art:

Foundation for Independent Artists 
Fractured Atlas
New  York Foundation for the Arts 
New York Live Arts 
The Field

This community forum was presented at the 92nd Street Y's Buttenweiser Hall. The recording includes presentations and remarks by, among others, John-Mario Sevilla (92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center), Lane Harwell (Dance/NYC), Ian David Moss (Fractured Atlas), Anne Coates (Municipal Arts Society), Jennifer Wright Cook (The Field), Alexander Thompson (New York Live Arts), Eleanor Whitney (New York Foundation for the Arts), Mara Greenberg (Pentacle), Dianne Debicella (Fractured Atlas) and Victoria Smith (Dance/USA).

Click here to download audio file [1:32:43]