Dig into New England's Free Directory
of Creative Enterprises and Artists
April Showers and Self Care Flowers
Creatives, take care.
onstage, a woman hangs up different colored underwear on a laundry line hanging over a colorful table with flowers and a washing bin
Sussy Santana's"The Cycle of Life"
Our recent newsletter talked about tapping into our connections to each other as a means of rejuvenation. Our focus this month is about caring for the self during a time where some may need to be reminded that your value is not in your productivity. Read on for some self care resources, opportunities to share and learn, as well as new featured profiles.
Tech Tip: Care and Share
Put Your Own Oxygen Mask On First

If you've been on an airplane, you've heard the announcement: if there are changes in cabin pressure, put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others. The creative sector is an ecosystem with value in economic impact and empathetic impact. And...you can only give your best to your work and to others by giving your best to your self first. Here is a short list of some resources in the region aimed at giving self care support to creative individuals (and organizations):
woman in red dress with straw hat moves toward a pile of staked chairs on a floating wooden platform in the water of a quarry
Alana Rancourt Phinney performing in T"he Quarry Project" by Hannah Dennison | Photo by Julia Barstow
Share and Learn

Let's tap into CreativeGround as a place-based creative community resource and learn from each other. Let us know how you're taking care of yourself and your community and we we'll continue sharing such resources back with you in future eblasts and blogs.

We acknowledge that the BIPOC members of our community, especially our Black and Asian colleagues, are experiencing exacerbated traumas due to existing systems of oppression compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. See what resources NEFA has gathered thus far to share with you to support your work and recovery:
Not sure where to begin? Or if you already have a CreativeGround profile?

New Featured Profiles
We have a fantastic new cohort of Featured Profiles on CreativeGround. Read our blogpost to dip your toes into their worlds, then check out their profiles to learn more about them, and/or get some inspiration for your own profile updates.
print of Adam and Eve-like figures covered in botanical tattoos hold up a dead serpent while overlooking mountains covered in smog and explosions
"Serpentine Explosions" by Zdzislaw Sikora
Feature Profiles
woman playing electric version of traditional stringed instrument called komungo
beautifully and colorfully dressed Black cast members dance joyfully onstage
a group of artists are piled into a canoe for a camping trip
many dancers in rustic-looking earth-tone attire move their bodies in the middle of a dirt-looking stage set
Fabiola smiles while playing an acoustic guitar in front of the ocean
print of an artwork depicting a jester shielding himself from light with his arms
stage performance vignette of hands reaching through branches to hold onto another pair of hands
Is your profile feature-worthy?
Calls to Dig Deeper into CreativeGround
  • Submit your interest in being a Beta Tester for the new site
  • Fill out this form to:
  • Nominate a profile to be featured on the website
  • Indicate your interest in blogging about the sector
  • Including: as a creative, what are you doing to take care of yourself (and/or your community) at this time?
  • Indicate your interest in being a Community Cultivator
  • Are you doing something that isn't listed as an Activities/Services option on your CreativeGround profile? Let us know.
Additional Resources
Your CreativeGround Neighbors are Looking to the Future of Dance in New England
Regional Dance Development Initiative (RDDI): New England Now is happening (now-ish). This initiative will focus on abundance, health, and collectively building a future filled with opportunities for New England dance to thrive, while engaging with twelve individual artists and their networks across the region. Read about the cohort and panelists involved.
photo of bronze carving of penguins in a tower like structure depicting their dive into water
Peter Bowe's "Cascading Penguins"
NEFA's monthly opportunities blog lists upcoming regional and national deadlines for grants, professional development, gigs, and more.

Regional Opportunities

Your State Arts Agency


National Opportunities

National Endowment for the Arts

Additional National Highlights
CONTACT
Morganna Becker (she/her/hers)
Community Engagement Coordinator, Creative Economy
CreativeGround@nefa.org | 617-951-0010 x535
A project of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), CreativeGround is brought to you through ongoing partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Office of the Arts, the Maine Arts Commission, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, and the Vermont Arts Council.
At the New England Foundation for the Arts, we believe that one of the roles of the arts is to make the invisible, visible. We also believe that it is not the responsibility of those who have been made invisible to remind us that they are still here. Therefore, as a committed ally, NEFA acknowledges that the ground on which we work is the traditional land of the Massachuset and Wampanoag people; we honor their ancestors past, present, and future, and recognize their continued existence and contributions to our society. 

NEFA also acknowledges that all the places that our distributed staff live and work, and where we provide support and hold events, are Indigenous lands. We offer our respect to the Elders – past, present, and future.
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