CRISIS RESPONSE
Creating a nationwide network of arts responders and using “Blue Sky” time to mitigate against the impact of future disasters.
Over the last 25 years, the number of arts and culture communities and creative economies around the country that have experienced the devastating impact of a large-scale human-made or natural disaster has risen dramatically. There have been enormous and often permanent losses whenever catastrophic events have occurred. With significant support from The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and in partnership with Air Collaborative, NCAPER has developed the Crisis Analysis & Mitigation (CAM) Coaching Program for Arts Responders. CAM coaches’ purpose are to build deep relationships and trust between the emergency management and the arts and creative sectors to build stronger, more resilient, ready communities that serve everyone well.
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20 coaches, many embedded in state and local arts councils and arts service organizations, are trained and certified to coach distressed communities in developing or expanding mitigation efforts using the arts and creativity. Twelve more coaches will be recruited and trained in 2024. Rather than waiting for another disaster to occur, NCAPER’s CAM network coaches will be able to work with affected communities as part of the mitigation process to be better prepared for the next disaster. AIR Collaborative’s values and training workshop design are tailored for CAM, focusing on arts responders’ learning and practicing techniques of facilitating diverse community groups. The training approaches community recovery through the development of creative responses designed to mitigate future disasters and build preparedness. Arts responders use techniques to guide groups to develop their own unique and creative ways of reducing the risk that recurrent disasters pose to their communities.
These techniques come to life in three community workshops:
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1: Engage, to spark understanding and collaboration between creative and emergency manage sectors and individuals
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2: Gather, to expand partners and meet regularly to share resources, develop community preparedness and readiness plans, and identify mitigation topics for a Shift Mitigation Workshop
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3: Shift, a multi-day hands-on workshop where certified CAM Coaches help small teams use collaboration skills, design thinking, and business planning to create small, locally implementable mitigation projects.
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Developing these relationships before the next crisis is key. All disasters are local. Crises happen in a specific place, and local resources will provide immediate help. People must first rely on local community resources and work locally to build community resilience.
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CAM is an NCAPER and Air Collaborative project through a significant grant from The Emily Tremaine Foundation. This project is also made possible with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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