Choose954 Podcast Episode 46 With New ArtServe Executive Director Craig W. Johnson

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pra3-GYQV78&list=PLOQvdw7d0cd9RZZkd2lZy2hmrnJv-cfLI&index=55

Evan: So we are back here on the Choose 1954 podcast, episode 46, with new ArtServe Executive Director Craig W. Johnson here at the executive boardroom at the ArtServe office on Sunrise Boulevard. If you didn’t know about Choose 1954, we started a social movement to cultivate culture and community here in Broward County, where I’m from, to keep people in the know with all the great things that are going on and make this a better place to live. The point of the podcast is to connect you with amazing people like him, doing incredible things in the community. This podcast is brought to you by the Thousand Mermaids Artificial Reef Project, creating artistically crafted artificial reef modules to help save the reefs, create research opportunities, ecotourism, and countless other benefits for our oceans. To find out more, you can log on to www.nasa.gov.

Craig Johnson: Senator, high-level first, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it very much. My name is Craig Johnson. I’m the new Executive Director of ArtServe. I came to 954 by way of Orlando. I’m originally from Jersey—so much joy, easy boy! I don’t know that. I’ll tell you a story about that if you want to hear it. But I landed in 954 because I had been running a nonprofit for 17 years in the Central Florida area. It was a dance incubator, so a similar model as ArtServe, being an arts incubator but with a focus on dance. After 17 years of running that organization and doing some great things in the Central Florida community with regard to expanding the diversity of the language of dance in Central Florida, when we arrived 17 years ago, it was just a ballet company. There was no modern or contemporary dance, and frankly, that ballet company was 90% Caucasian. So it was a very specific agenda of mine to showcase how we can celebrate diversity and inclusion in the arts by way of dance. Over 17 years, we incubated 15 professional modern and contemporary dance companies, the area’s first African-American dance company, and the area’s first Indian-American dance company. Having accomplished that in Central Florida, I decided I wanted to do something new. I wanted to do something beyond the dance arts. I did my research and decided it was time for my next big adventure. I specifically landed on Broward County because I was really excited about where the arts were progressing across the county. Broward County is in this really crazy, good vibratory place where artists are taking root here, there’s excitement about collaboration, working together, and experimenting. So I knew it was the right time and the right place. When the ArtServe opportunity opened up, I said, 'I’m going right there,' applied for the job, and two weeks later, I landed at ArtServe.

Evan: And one of the things that maybe people don’t know or appreciate is a lot of your job has to do with fundraising. It’s great that we’re able to leverage your experience and resources, having been a fundraiser for nonprofits, raising funds and building community. So you thankfully bring that experience to the table, and also from another market. We definitely appreciate that. How did you initially get involved in the arts or develop an interest in the arts?

Craig Johnson: Okay, I’ll take you way back. I started my undergrad studies as a theater major. This was in New Jersey, at Rutgers. Actually, no, it wasn’t Rutgers, it was Montclair State University. I started out as a theater major. It was my dream to be an actor or performer. I quickly realized I was a terrible performer. I was a horrible actor and just did not have it. I was humble and honest enough with myself to admit I wasn’t good enough, so I decided to pursue another avenue. I was trying to figure things out and listened to some of my mentors. I was a good student, strong in the sciences, so I switched to a biology major. Figured I’d do something practical. I wouldn’t have listened to that advice now, by the way, and we’ll get back to that when we talk about arts in public schools because I think it’s really important to give young people access to understanding that there are great potential careers in the arts. But that said, I transferred over to a biology major and ended up relocating to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. I loved the campus, the program, and the studies. I graduated from Rollins with a degree in biology and went on to medical school for two years—I'm not lying—two years at Columbia University. In my second year of medical school, I had an awakening.

Evan: What was that awakening?

Craig Johnson: I was doing a short-term residency project, believe it or not, in Israel. I’m not Jewish, I have no Jewish roots, but I was in Israel testing the efficacy of pneumococcal vaccination in indigenous populations. I was working with the Bedouin population out in the Negev Desert. What I realized was I was much more interested in what the villages were doing in the evenings with their communities. They were getting together, playing music, drawing, and teaching their kids how to use art to express their daily experiences—using art as a healing instrument. And I thought, 'That’s really cool! I want to do that!' I had no idea you could actually connect the arts to something bigger than just aesthetics. I was inspired by that. That summer, I said, 'I’m leaving medical school and returning to the arts.' I wanted to do something that brought the arts to the community in a way that uplifts and transforms it for the better. So from there, I founded the Center for Contemporary Dance in Central Florida, with the mission of broadening the language of dance and leveraging dance as an instrument for celebrating diversity and inclusion in our communities. And 17 years later, here we are.

Evan: Amazing. I can speak for myself, and probably for you too, having spent one night in a Bedouin tent on Birthright—I don’t think I’ll ever do that again—but it was a great experience being out there in the desert in Israel. Did you have that experience with the Bedouins, where they were playing music and celebrating the arts around the fire?

Craig Johnson: Yeah, they were really embracing that part of their culture, celebrating together as a community.

Evan: It’s crazy how those experiences led you to where you are today. So, thankfully, a position was available, all the stars aligned. Tell us, from your perspective, about ArtServe and what you’re doing there now.

Craig Johnson: Sure! ArtServe has been in our community for 30 years. We’re one of the nation’s original six arts incubators. Our mission is building the foundation of culture across Broward County. For 30-plus years, we’ve been providing critical resources and support systems for independent artists across the county, allowing them to make their way successfully into the creative services industry. Now, as we build on that legacy, we’re developing ArtServe 2.0, positioning ourselves as a creative laboratory. We’re bringing artists together with community stakeholders and businesses, sitting them around a table—just like here in this boardroom—and creatively thinking about new ideas and approaches to leverage the arts to impact areas like childhood education, health and wellness, social change, and environmental awareness. We want to use the arts as part of the solution to some of Broward County’s greatest challenges.

Evan: That is attempting, and we will successfully unveil a new vision for the organization's future. So we're in this really interesting place, much like the county itself, where it's in this vibratory place of change and shift. ArtServe is rolling out a world-class artistic season and a new residency program where ArtServe will directly support independent artists and the development of projects that link their arts to the kinds of outcomes we discussed earlier, like childhood education and social change. We're also ensuring that we pursue education and outreach initiatives that emerge from unique collaborations between artists and community stakeholders in areas of education, social change, and childhood education—all that great stuff.

That said, I want to be clear that HOME is squarely a philanthropic effort. We are attempting to raise $300,000 over the next year in order to support these new initiatives and really rally the community into the idea of leveraging the arts as an opportunity to create change and contribute to the solutions we need in order to make Broward County the best possible place to live.

Craig Johnson: Well put! And do we plan on raising $300,000 that night? Probably not. It’d be great if someone decides to strike a quarter-million-dollar check, but it is a ticketed event, and we're asking for a $75 donation per ticket, however you want to consider it. The donation goes directly back to the mission. And, obviously, there’ll be drinks, champagne, and delicious gourmet bites from Tula Bistro and Garden. Our champagne sponsor is Zarb Champagne that evening.

Evan: Okay, that's awesome. So just come on out and spend some time amazed. Both Tula and Zarb have sponsored previous events of ours. Tula hosted the VIP reception for Fort Lauderdale and Zarb did the opening reception for the "Empty Spaces" exhibition recently. All great people in the community.

I’m glad you mentioned the philanthropic effort. We are hoping, all of us in support, including Phil Dunlap at the Broward County Cultural Division and ArtServe, that people will engage, connect, and support the arts in ways they haven’t done before. Those who haven’t engaged in the past might find the new mission, direction, energy, and buzz to be rewarding and fulfilling because you guys are serving such a great purpose. We’ve talked about this on previous podcasts. In Broward County, we don’t really have an arts incubator or a residency space like Fountainhead or Bakehouse that our friends in the south have in spades.

Craig Johnson: Yeah, that probably has put us behind the eight ball and stunted growth in developing Broward as a cultural destination, realistically.

Evan: Exactly. So, with new direction from you at ArtServe, new direction from Phil Dunlap at the Cultural Division, and new direction from other key figures like Joe Cox at the Museum of Discovery and Science, it’s coming at a good time. Plus, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission is now more supportive of the arts. Commissioner Glassman previously worked for the Cultural Division, and with Dean Trantalis for the arts, it’s a very good time for Broward County. There’s buzz, energy, and need. And this doesn’t even mention the 20,000 condo units being developed in downtown Fort Lauderdale! Most of these people are relocating here from well-cultured markets and will expect arts and culture beyond just going to the beach.

Craig Johnson: Exactly. If we don’t have those things in place, we can attract talent all day long, but retaining that talent—skilled workers, engineers, developers, artists, coders—that’s where having a thriving creative economy really matters.

Evan: That’s exactly what we’re trying to do at Choose 954, Art Fort Lauderdale, and Zero Empty Spaces. We’re honored to be part of your new initiative with HOME at a really good time.

Craig Johnson: Amen! We’re in this together. It’s a really exciting time for Broward County right now. However you choose to get involved with the arts—whether it's liking, sharing, tagging on social media, showing up to an event—it’s about engagement. Like Tim Massis always says, “The only way we’re going to build a creative community is to show up to other people’s stuff.” If we do this in silos, it won’t work.

Evan: Totally agree. I’m encouraged by the increased attendance at Creative Zen recently, and the turnout at the opening of "Zero Empty Spaces"—hundreds of people came out. It was packed and crazy!

Craig Johnson: Yeah, and you made a great point earlier. What I want people to know about ArtServe is that we host over a thousand events a year. And personally, I’m committed to diversity and inclusion being central to what we do as an arts organization, not just in terms of the population we serve, but also with the disciplines we present. It’s not just visual arts, it’s dance, theater, performance art, and more. If we don’t cultivate an environment of experimentation, there’s no newness, no innovation. That’s really where we’re headed.

Evan: That’s so important, especially for disciplines like performance art or video installation, where multidisciplinary artists don’t always fit into traditional boxes. ArtServe really serves a great purpose for those artists.

What do you want people to know about arts in public schools?

Craig Johnson: When budgets are cut, the arts are often the first to go, especially in public schools. In our Western culture, we don’t yet have the appreciation for the arts that exists in other cultures, like the Bedouins, for example. Part of our mission is ensuring that we make our programs accessible to public schools. We’re working to ensure that public school students, especially those from Title 1 schools, have access to our programs, whether through field trips or teaching artists going into the schools. This is really important to me. Had I had greater access to the arts in my public school, I might have figured out much sooner that I could be an arts administrator, rather than finding out in a Bedouin tent!

Evan: Exactly! And you guys are succeeding in making that happen. There are so many free events, workshops, and opportunities here at ArtServe. We’re excited to be partnering with you.

Craig Johnson: Thank you so much. It's great to be part of this community, and we’re really looking forward to seeing everyone at HOME on August 22nd.

Evan: Absolutely. We’ll be there! Thank you so much for your time, Craig.

Craig Johnson: My pleasure. Thank you!