Build, Sustain, Adapt, Innovate
Alyson Pou Arts Consulting provides consulting and coaching services to support you in fully realizing your vision and purpose as an organization or individual.
Organizations
Building Capacity strengthens your organization’s ability to perform well, sustain, adapt and innovate. Your mission and vision are the driving force that gives your organization purpose. Establishing clear strategies and action plans provide the road map to get there. I would be honored to assist you on your journey.
Consultation is available in the areas of:
Mission, Vision, Strategy
-Strategic Planning
-Organizational Planning
Program delivery and Impact
-Program Design
-Program implementation
-Program assessment and evaluation
-Programs for artists
Relationships and Resources
-Communication + Marketing
-Fund Development + revenue generation
-Leadership Development
Selected Clients:
-New York Foundation for the Arts
-CEC ArtsLink
-New York Arts Program
-New York State Council on the Arts
-Stephen Petronio Dance Company
-CREATE Arts Council
Advisor/ Panelist:
-Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
-National Endowment for the Arts
-Dance/USA
-New York State Council on the Arts
-New York Foundation for the Arts
-Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
-New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Contact me to discuss your needs and goals.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
— Maya Angelou
Individuals
Alyson Pou Arts Consulting is here to support you in your purpose.
I understand the depth of commitment it takes to be an artist, the value artists bring, the challenges we face, and the isolation we feel.
My consulting and coaching practice is dedicated to working with you to define success on your own terms, set goals of your own choosing, and adopt strategies and tools that will help you articulate your vision and purpose, expand visibility, nurture relationships, advance your career and build a satisfying sustainable life.
I created a program that has provided business and life management skills to more than 15,000 artists in 700 communities nationwide. I have worked with and watched scores of individuals as they rise with courage and commitment to create the life they want. You can do this!
Contact me to discuss your needs and goals.
The Tool Kit
Strategic Planning - Goal Setting - Time Management - Marketing Strategy Communication Skills - Fundraising - Income Strategies - Financials
Strategic Planning – Helps you assess where you are, set your priorities, unravel challenges and create a step-by-step plan to fulfill your purpose, vision and goals.
Goal Setting - Turns your vision for the future into reality using concrete plans and actions to help you get there, one step at a time.
Time Management – One of our most precious resources is time and we often feel there is never enough of it. Understanding how you use and manage time can help you be more productive with less stress and more satisfaction.
Marketing Strategy – Begins with you, what you want to share and the kind of relationships you want to seek and sustain so that choosing and using the tools of visibility, like website, social media, and email, are integrated into your creative practice and not a chore.
Communication Skills - Storytelling in all it’s forms is how we share the meaning of who we are and the value of our work. Verbal skills like Public Speaking, Pitching your work, negotiation + meetings, as well as writing skills for artist, like statements, grants, proposals, correspondence, are key to accurately representing yourself and your work.
Fundraising – Pursue the types of fundraising that make sense for you. Research, identify, and pursue sources that match your objectives. Build a strategy that is diversified and expresses the quality and character of your work.
Income Strategies – Most artists have multiple sources of income and are also seeking to balance time for creative work with job and family responsibilities. Budgeting for life can help you determine how much you need to earn each year and what your hourly rate needs to be as well as determine how you want to strategize monetizing your creative skills.
Financials – Knowing your basic financial situation can free up a lot of attention and anxiety. Review of basic financial management including segregating personal and artistic finances, the pros and cons of work with advisors and consultants, and translating grant narratives into line item budgets.
Testimonials
“Amazing expertise on running a non-profit residency! Invaluable as a consultant!” -Piper Dorrance, Founder Freehold Arts Exchange
“Alyson brings enthusiasm, creativity, an extensive background, and thoroughness to her work in an organizational setting. She is expert at big-picture thinking and isn’t afraid to get deep into the weeds of implementation. Her fresh perspective and sober analysis of the nitty-gritty details combine to make a well thought-through program both structurally sound and true to its mission.” -Yvan Greenberg, Stephen Petronio Dance Co.
“Alyson has a deep understanding of the needs of artists living and working today and is adept at creating the tools and resources they need to thrive.” -Susan Tranbaugh, Associate Director of Development & Partnerships Creative Capital
“Alyson is a phenom: super smart with uncanny instincts, deeply experienced at helping creative folk thrive, and a genuinely great person.” “I've watched her in rooms filled with artists and seen her guide them to an understandings of their potential and power.” -Brian Tate CEO, Tate Group
“I am currently working on a complex and politically loaded art project and contracted Alyson to assist me in clarifying my vision. Her acute listening skills and insights helped me address challenges and balance my larger vision into manageable steps. I was able to set a multi year plan and articulate goals and outcomes that could be accomplished within the first year of my project.” -Jerri Allyn, Artist, Educator, Activist
“Alyson strategized with me on further developing and funding my large-scale project. She is generous with her time, insight and experience. Her enthusiasm has really inspired me as I contemplate taking this work to the next level, and her practical knowledge of fundraising has helped me clarify and frame my thinking and writing as I begin the grant application process.” -Kathy Westwater, Choreographer
About Alyson
“As artist, arts professional, and advocate I am passionately committed to working with artists and organizations to build a strong, sustainable community. The recent pandemic has confirmed my belief that we are all radically interconnected and that it is more important than ever to act together on our individual and collective vision and purpose.” -Alyson Pou
Career Highlights
CREATIVE CAPITAL: a national organization that supports the work of innovative artists.
Director Grants/Service, Director Professional Development Program
· Oversaw the awards process of more than $12 million to 242 artists’ projects.
· Created the Professional Development Program, an education model and curriculum that provided business and life management skills through workshops, webinars and coaching to more than 15,000 artists in 700 communities nationwide.
CREATIVE TIME INC. Commissions and presents ambitious public art throughout NYC.
Director of Programs:
· Expanded mission to include performance art, dance and theatre.
· Produced the first Performance in the Park aka Summer Stage
· Worked with 100s of artists to commission and produce public art projects across New York City including Flagship programs Art on the Beach, Art in the Anchorage, and Art on 42nd Street.
Artistic Awards, Grants and Fellowships
New York Dance and Performance Award (aka The Bessie Award)
National Endowment for the Arts
NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs
Art Matters, Inc.
Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art
The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
The American Antiquarian Society
Henderson Award for Poetry
Selected Exhibitions/Performances
The New Museum
The Bronx Museum
Dancespace Project
Artists Space
Performance Space 122
The High Museum of Art
Commissions from Deutche Bank and the Atlanta Arts Festival