How to end a project with integrity
Saying goodbye to my gallery project
Happy end of the year!
Speaking of endings, it’s ok for it to be time to bring a creative project to a close. How to do it gracefully and meaningfully? I might have a good example below.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been softly facilitating a gallery and project space in my studio building. With much gratitude, I’m bringing the project to a positive and well-timed close.
Over 40 artists showed their work at Soft Projects in the span of 16 (group and solo) art shows, and 20 public events were held.
The vision for this project started with me and my friend Avery sitting on the floor and feeling inspired and it took off with help from our collaborators Stephen and Amy. Bringing it to a close is bittersweet, but mostly sweet, because I feel I’ve learned a lot and I’m proud of myself for trying something different, sticking to the core intention, and not going beyond it.
What I learned personally:
It is both a beautiful and complicated thing to have an unconventional vision for an art exhibition space. What I felt most excited to offer was a low-key, welcoming, accessible, space for folks to have fun creatively and show their work, and to bring people together locally in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Avery and I were passionate about making it a space that never made anyone question their sense of belonging. With the help of Stephen, we renovated a studio space into a fresh blank space with nice floors, white walls, gallery quality lighting, and our intention for artists of any level or background to use free of charge and invite people to.
Just look at this before and after:
It was very important for there to be no elitism or capitalism, no urgency, and no stress for both the artists and facilitators. We were also deliberate about not really having an online presence and seeing what could happen just by word of mouth, which turned out to be extremely viable, and a testament to how much less we need social media than we think.
The name soft was perfect.
Since the modern western world is run on urgency and capitalism, there doesn’t seem to be a universal model to follow for what we were trying to do. My hope was that as soon as someone entered the space, they totally got it. And that was definitely the feedback we got from most.
Supporting artists costs money. It seems that in order to truly support artists especially as a grassroots or personal endeavor, one might need to go into it being comfortable with the possibility that they may end up at a net loss, but maybe only financially. My favorite part was witnessing the joy in others hanging their own shows and feeling proud of themselves. Joy is a different kind of currency.
But unfortunately joy doesn’t always pay rent! When I became the sole renter for the space, this project was intentionally not a profitable endeavor. It was an experimental attempt at a local creative offering. I knew I could only provide a space the way I wanted to if I fronted the payment out of pocket myself and didn’t try to make any money or involve any complicated funding. I simply wanted to offer it for free, and I also knew I didn’t have enough time or energy to manage any sort of financial gymnastics.
How did I fund it myself? I used profits from my business Worthwhile Paper to pay for the gallery rent. It was $475 per month. Part of the reason I am not able to continue investing this project is that Worthwhile no longer has extra play money after the economic impacts of 2023 on many small businesses, including mine. My energetic resources have shifted too, with a deepening call for my attention toward my other current outlets for both creativity and service.
Closing the project has been an exercise in staying true to my values. This project was never meant to try to be something it isn’t. I know deeper now how important it is for me to stick to my vision and know when to let go if the vision is no longer fulfillable by its original means. I am incredibly proud of myself for knowing from the beginning that the vision had clearly defined boundaries, and for following that through with integrity.
It’s totally ok and totally cool for something to run its course and end. Bringing this to a close feels respectful and honest to the project. It’s like when a really good TV show doesn’t keep churning out the seasons and dragging the story along just for the sake of continuing. It’s closing out intentionally right at the sweet spot, with a beginning, middle, and end. I am happy with what lessons I learned and know I have some experience that I could bring to other collaboration projects that might surface in the future. Nothing is lost.
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Collaboration tips from my experience:
Give and receive details in writing. Although the experiment was meant to be informal with a lot of creative freedom, requiring written project proposals and agreements can prevent misunderstandings. Sometimes chatting in person isn’t enough, and plans can evolve without both parties being aware.
Pre-answer as many questions as you can. I provided easy resources for artists and collaborators involved in each show or event with all of the details about the space, building, boundaries, logistics, and what specifically is being offered and expected from both parties. Being clear from the get go and offering complete instructions and information eliminates many questions, saves energy, and facilitates harmonious relationships. Creating a google doc that I could send anyone involved was a great way to do this.
Communicate the vision in visuals. Creating our google slide deck that includes the mission and values for the project and what the space can accommodate complete with visual information and photos was a great practice for getting someone really tuned into what the whole things really is at its core, to clearly see what to expect, and be on the right page from the beginning.
I’m really grateful that I had the means to gently facilitate a project in with boundaries, in a way that worked when it did, and for everyone who participated, helped me, and came out to an event. And the thing is, Ypsilanti really does need art spaces and creative community. As much as I wanted to be a person to run a public space, and feel I could be, I’ve had to intentionally set restraints with myself around this project because I know what kind of output I’m capable of generating if I put my whole self into something, and how much energy and time it would require. I’m fairly confident I could have made Soft Projects into a whole thing if I chose to, but, it would have been at the cost of compromising several of my other goals and offerings as well as my availability to show up to any of it with fulness.
Cheers to deep knowing. Cheers to always learning. Cheers to making aligned choices. I’m wishing a lot of that for all of us in 2024 and looking forward to sharing some exciting things, and also being fully open to mystery and unexpected surprises this coming year!
In creativity and gratitude,
-Kristen
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Links for you:
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“Joy is a different kind of currency.” So so good! ❤️ Also, thank you for inspiring me to come to this Substack space. I am brand new here after reading your instagram stories on why you’re stepping back from that platform, and am grateful you posted that. Excited to explore this more and trying to step away from the chaos of instagram too!