How do I join?
STEP #1: Email a bio statement to your upcoming employers to print in their programs, and/or include a statement on you personal website (options for both found below).
STEP #2 (Optional): Email sonja.tengblad@gmail.com to have your headshot, bio, and supported orgs listed on the Beyond Artists website.
Bonus actions: See below!
PROGRAM BIO OPTIONS
Different options based on word count or what you want to include:
1) “ [Your name] belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donates a percentage of their concert fee to organizations they care about. Tonight, she is donating to [organization, followed by information if you want].”
For example, “[Your name] belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donates a portion of their concert fee to organizations they care about. [23 words] Tonight she is donating to Better Angels, an institution that cultivates bipartisan conversations nationwide. www.better-angels.org.” under 40 words total
2) “[Your name] is a member of Beyond Artists and is supporting [organization] with this performance.” ~15 words
3) “[Your name] is a member of Beyond Artists. www.beyondartists.com.” 8 words (9 with website)
If you are a composer, director, or visual artist, you can change “concert fee” to commission or project fee.
Alternatives to financial giving - and how to list this in your bios - are listed in the FAQ section.
WEBSITE BIO OPTION
“[Your name] belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donates a percentage of their concert fees to organizations they care about. He supports [org, org, and org] through his performances.”
BONUS ACTIONS
It would be appreciated if you would track your giving so that we can tally our combined annual gifts. Please send to “beyondartists@beyondartists.org” in December (you know, between Messiahs and Nutcrackers …).
If you feel comfortable, ask your employer to match your donation and that you will add this publicity to your bio line if they like (i.e. “[Your name] is supporting [org] with a matched donation by [employer].” Some have been more than happy to do so.
Email a blurb about why you support your chosen org(s) so that we can include them in our artist profiles on social media (beyondartists@beyondartists.org). An example is:
“Singer Sonja Tengblad says this about why she supports Better Angels through her performances: “Reading Bill McKibben’s article ‘How Extreme Weather is Shrinking the Planet’ when my son was 4 months old is what finally made me understand the severity of the climate crisis, and act on it. However, I realized that since it’s become so politicized (even though it was a republican issue in the 90’s), there is no way we can acquire the extreme level of government intervention we need without bipartisan action. While the mission of Better Angels isn’t to change anyone’s political views but to simply get people talking to one another as humans, I’ve seen what their workshops can do to for effective bipartisan communication. Yes we need this at the legislative level, but if we can create a movement of this as constituents, that will do powerful things as it moves up the ladder of engagement.
I’ve also since learned about the organization No Labels and specifically their Problem Solvers Caucus that works with actual lawmakers on bipartisan legislation. So check them out too, and support one of the 200 nonprofits like these that have surfaced since the 2016 presidential election. We need to stop dehumanizing one another and start solving our problems, and this is why I’m happy to raise awareness of their work through a simple mention in my performance bios and a portion of my fee.”
Tell your friends and colleagues!