DAY OF THE EVENT!
Project Winterfood Tonight! GDES Gallery 1509 W. Main from 7pm - 10pm.
Tonight's the day of the show! Last minute things! Trying to get all the unexpected sorted out!
Things are always going to go wrong and things are going to happen unexpectedly. Despite my parts of the group being done for the show, some of the things that we were under the impression of being completed had snafu'd and needed additional attention. And since many group members had class between class and the show, I stuck around and did whatever tasks were necessary to get things working, regardless of what group they were "assigned".
So What?
When pulling together a show, things will happen, and teamwork is needed to make things function properly. AND THE RAIN! BLAH!
Now What?
At the moment, working on pulling it all together!
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ETA: Post-Show Entry
What, So What, and Now What?
I believe the show was a success! Since many students were occupied right before the show started, I filled in some other roles to get things going well. Met many of the community partners, tried to act as "good hostess" since many people approached me for information as to what was going on. (Which after welcoming and greeting them, I promptly turned them over to Christina G. since she had been in contact with them and had the actual information they needed, hah..)
I'm always a little surprised at being able to pull into a more leader-like role in situations like these, since I would not really classify myself as such. I ended up being in charge of selling art and raffle tickets as well -- despite the initial system of hour-long shifts, it eased more into me commandeering that ship and my co-group members assisting. I need to remember that I do in fact have skills in taking charge of things, leading, and getting things accomplished, since I tend to forget that and shy away from roles with those duties. But, when it comes down needing someone to fill that role, I am perfectly capable of doing it, and should give myself a little more credit.
Speaking of art, we sold a fair bit of art on opening night! This was a great part of Project Winterfood, since the project was to not only promote and raise awareness of the benefits of local food, but to also showcase art and creative work for the cause. All the art was donated to the show, which people viewed and purchased, with all the funds being donated to the Central Virginia Food Bank and Gallery 5.
I think that was one of the coolest parts of the projects -- everyone was able to do something the liked to do to help the cause and it was beneficial for everyone. All the donors/sponsors/partners were able to get promotion for helping us out. Some of the community partners were present at the show to educate and promote as well. Artists were able to donate art to a good cause, while being able to be featured in a show (without application fees or juried selection process). Our audience was able to enjoy a great evening of art, music, and sample food, learning more about local seasonal foods in the process. And patrons who purchase art not only got some great pieces, but those funds further went to help the cause.
We raised $235! (oh, and two of my own pieces sold! with a commission to make another apple-cozy for someone after finals week. and I won a book in the raffle! ....I'm not sure if I should have been disqualified due to being an event organizer, but... eh! I'm excited about the book, since it's a cookbook focusing on using foods that are in season, which is a perfect follow-up for this project.)
All in all, it was great to be able to participate in this project from start to finish, being able to see it form and take shape from the initial proposal to final event, and all the steps in between. Through work on the project, different steps in the process changed from how we initially anticipated, and learning how to adapt to changes became critical. Working on a real project with a real purpose was infinitely better than just creating theoretical pieces as class exercises. Sure, you can design a Call for Entries flyer or promo piece for class, but how effective will it be in the real world?? This whole experience of working on the project showed me what you can accomplish with a group of people passionate about a cause. I am much more likely to be active about a cause, since this project showed that small things can add up to big things, and look what we all pulled together in just under two months.
I think one of the most exciting parts of the evening for me was when I received a text message from an acquaintance, not knowing my involvement with the project, asking if I would be going to Project Winterfood. !! To me, that showed that we had reached people, the cause was important to people, and that they were promoting and spreading the word on their own. I remember feeling a sense of excitement seeing that text message, saying "hey! I'm totally part of that!!"
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