How your support helps
Providing sustainable income opportunities for Artist-Entrepreneurs
Your support-- whether it's through donations, volunteer work, or by using our services-- allows us to continue serving our communities through our artistic passions ... while also laying the groundwork for a more stable future.
Our collective model solves the problems that many independent artists face: loneliness, economic instability, barriers to educational opportunities, and lack of access to the supplies we need to do our art.
By operating as a team, we cheer each other on, share resources, cross-train in each other's skillsets, and work together to accomplish more than we could do independently. However, there is more work to be done to ensure MetaMovements can sustain itself in the long term.
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For more than a decade, we have been proud to create amazing programs for our clients, while also growing as artists & professionals. In an ideal world, we would choose to continue operating as a collective, serving our communities, and developing our skills indefinitely.
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The COVID pandemic, however, has reaffirmed something we've always known: as long as our services are restricted to in-person activities, we are vulnerable to forces beyond our control. In addition to the pandemic, we have seen how political and economic crises, and hurricanes and natural disasters can prevent our ability work.
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With your support, we leveraged the momentum we had built over decades and took our collective model to the next level-- developing sustainable income streams that will withstand the ever-fluctuating markets of the tourism, entertainment, and nonprofit industries.
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For more information on our long term vision: click here
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Read on to learn about how we approached the COVID-19 pandemic, how the process continues today, and how you can help!
Our collective
during Covid-19 & After: Resilience + Sustainability
COVID-19 impacted all of our members across the US, the DR, and Cuba. Events, classes, and trips were canceled around the world. This had a devastating impact on the income of self-employed artists and entertainers like us.
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For the members in the US, many were able to find income through temporary work, grant funding, or other types of aid. Our extended MM family in Cuba and the DR have been in need of resources to support their lives and continue their work.
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In Cuba, the government provides for basic needs; however, the combination of living under an embargo as well as the after-effects of a pandemic has created critical shortages for food, medicine, and hygiene products, making the costs of daily living much higher.
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In the Dominican Republic, there is no safety net for artists or others who earn income through tips or gig work. The artists in our collective earn their income through tourism, leaving them in a vulnerable economic position when this is interrupted, as it has been repeatedly due to the pandemic and hurricanes.
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However, our collective has remained strong and interdependent. Now we need your help to take our work to the next level, as we work towards a sustainable model that will offer employment opportunities and support to all collective members in spite of the barriers that will continue to arise.
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How you can help
We currently need donations, volunteer support, and help spreading the word about our trips and programming, while we lay the groundwork for a more sustainable future.
Artists' urgent needs:
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Opportunities to earn income to continue making a living as artists: remotely and in-person
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Funding to cover the costs of remote work and international communication (internet, telephone, and telecommunication devices.)
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Training to widen their client base and connect to a greater audience in the world market:
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English language
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Filming & editing
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Entrepreneurial skills, such as marketing and social media
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Teaching pedagogy
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Emergency funds for moments of crisis, both personal and country-wide
Short-term goals:
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Ongoing and continued employment opportunities for the members of our collective, both virtually and in-person
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Payment for phone, internet, and other telecommunication needs
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Professional development opportunities ​and moral support
​Long-term goals:
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Stable monthly income for members of our collective
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Ongoing professional development
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Virtual revenue streams that are sustainable through embargos, pandemics and other barriers to our income
Our vision for the future
In addition to returning to our in-person services like classes, travel programs, and events, we would like to create an online membership-based learning platform where artists stay connected with their students and supporters year round.