Hi everyone! Aliza Franz here checking in during my seventh week as an Arts Management Apprentice with Dunamis Boston.
To start off, here’s a little bit about me:
I am currently a freelance performance artist living in the Boston Area. I semi-recently graduated from Skidmore College where I received a BA in Psychology with a double major in Dance: Performance and Choreography. Outside of dance, my artistic passions include embroidery, collage art, henna art, and photography. I’m also a major foodie, come to life with a little bit of sunlight, and am the proud mother of my betta fish, Sanjeev. As I’m sure many of us can agree, this past year or so of living through a pandemic definitely wasn’t the easiest and thus, led to some pretty intense burnout on my end. I began to question how I was supposed to pick myself back up after graduating during a pandemic and putting my dance career on hold for a year in a city where I didn’t have many peers. When I first heard about Dunamis Boston, and the Arts Management Apprenticeship Program, I thought, this is exactly what I need- a community/network of BIPOC creatives and mentors, and the opportunity to be a part of something larger than myself again.
My time with Dunamis has reignited my passions for learning, advocacy, creativity, and collaboration. The team supports and encourages our ideas and constantly challenges us to think bigger so as to not limit our own potential. Throughout my time here, I have learned new things, approached familiar subjects with different lenses, challenged myself to think outside the box, and adapt quickly when required to. One of my favorite parts of this Apprenticeship has been creating my own capstone project alongside my peers, and seeing how tangible it is to have equity, diversity and access ingrained into the very foundation of these different kinds of programs and institutions we are envisioning.
The past week and a half with Dunamis have definitely been the most nerve wracking as we gear up towards JP Porchfest 2021! My role for this festival is Volunteer Coordinator. This is the first time in which I’ve been involved in any major organizing and has been such a wonderful learning on the job experience. At this current moment, I feel like we’re in the calm before the storm. Excited to be in the middle of the chaos this weekend at Porchfest and to see what we’ve all been working so hard on come to fruition. Definitely grateful to get to work with such a wonderful team and support local communities, businesses and artists in the process.
That’s all for now!
