Residency:
Definitions & Processes
Inquiry Arts broadly defines residencies as
a series of gatherings that achieve an encompassing purpose.
This purpose emerges from, and reflects, the specific people served, together with Inquiry Arts’ values and inquiries.
Inquiry Arts residencies draw on expertise in multidisciplinary performing arts, pedagogies of listening and gathering design, and technology of questions to cultivate curiosity and catalyze the conversations, explorations and relationships, people want — or need.
What is the process for residency design?
1. LISTEN
Residency/facilitation design starts with site visits to build trust, relationships, mutual excitement and understanding of needs and aspirations around which the residency will be built.
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Trust, relationships and enthusiasm are cultivated through structured gatherings like listening sessions with community stakeholders and leaders, as well as unstructured time for organic relationship-building, unexpected conversations and participation in the community’s day-to-day.
To bring community members into some of the questions and themes most alive for the artists and designers, site visits also frequently include interactive explorations of artists’ relevant work.
Just as people, circumstances and communities are distinct, so too are their needs.
This means that the purpose driving residency design is likewise distinct and specific.
2. REFLECT
Inquiry Arts listens actively and communicates clearly to ensure that the residency purpose and definition of success aligns with community partners.
3. DESIGN
The residency purpose acts like a mission statement, guiding design decisions and resource allocation.
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Gathering formats to achieve the residency’s purpose include — but are not limited to — listening labs, story circles, workshops, dinners, choral/string collaborations, community portrait live documentaries, conversations, celebrations, lectures and site-specific flash happenings — sometimes magical, playful or whimsical, often participatory and always unexpected — that take stories, questions and themes out of the halls and into public spaces. Performance itself becomes an instrument towards the residency purpose.
4. IMPLEMENT
The Inquiry Arts team brings the design to life with artistic and production excellence.
5. EVALUATE
Residencies provide opportunities for Inquiry Arts and for community partners to learn more about the people served and about ways to effectively serve them.