Commons-Based Approaches

HowlRound defines commons-based approaches as practices that promote relationality, cooperation, horizontal and decentralized decision-making and networks, bottom-up activity, and peer-to-peer sharing of infrastructure, material goods, knowledge, and ideas. Content in this section directly addresses practices of commoning from around the field. Dive in with essays on the promise of the commons, the birth of a climate commons, and how a commons becomes a selection committee.

The Latest

The Set of Practices We Call Home

Essay

The Set of Practices We Call Home

by Kaneza Schaal

11 April 2024

Blessings and Provocations from the 2024 Under the Radar Symposium

Essay

Blessings and Provocations from the 2024 Under the Radar Symposium

by Ashley Malafronte

8 April 2024

We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID

Essay

We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID

by Taylor Leigh Lamb

21 March 2024

An illustration of a woman in a green dress holding a stick up to a circular light above. She is surrounded by plenty of these lights, each connected by lines.

Commonplaces

Matthew

Glassman

Essay

Commonplaces

Notes on a Future That Has Already Happened

28 June 2021

Matthew Glassman shares his commonplace—a collection of quotes, poems, reflections, dreams, doodles, images, and more, and a portal to reach forward to our future selves and for our future selves to reach back to us.

Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

Essay

Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

9 June 2021

Join us in welcoming Jacqueline, our new Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

Left: Three actors in black with two of them sitting on the ground and looking down. The actor in the center looks up and sits on a higher level. Right: Three actors standing side-by-side.

When Arts Presenters and Creative Independent Producers Come Together

International Presenting Commons

(IPC)

Essay

When Arts Presenters and Creative Independent Producers Come Together

3 June 2021

The International Presenting Commons shares a statement on how and why arts presenters and creative independent producers have come together to sustain and evolve a commitment to international cultural exchange and engagement.

blue and yellow map of the southern states with text virtual roots weekend.

Alternate ROOTS’ 2021 Virtual ROOTS Weekend

Alternate Roots

Video

Alternate ROOTS’ 2021 Virtual ROOTS Weekend

Southern Soil: Collective Learning in Harmony with the Land

Friday 14 May to Sunday 16 May 2021

United States

Alternate ROOTS presented its first-ever Virtual ROOTS Weekend livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 14 May 2021 to Sunday 16 May 2021.

portraits of Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly.

SEGAL TALKS with Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly (NYC)

Segal

Center

Video

SEGAL TALKS with Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly (NYC)

Join us for a conversation about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the Time of Corona

Thursday 6 May 2021

United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS with Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly (NYC) livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 6 May 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

An illustration of multiple hands assembling a broken art piece.

Reimagining Public Theatres as Collectively Organized Cultural Institutions

Zenkő

Bogdán

Essay

Reimagining Public Theatres as Collectively Organized Cultural Institutions

28 April 2021

Zenkő Bogdán believes public cultural institutions should be redefined from the perspective of the people around it: it’s artists, employees, and audiences. As an exercise, she has begun to reimagine a future public theatre’s rules of organizing and functioning—and wants each and every reader of the document to participate.

The author, Chris Mayers (left), and Rachel Nicks (right) in a hospital scene for the play WAR.

Art at Work

Chris

Myers

Essay

Art at Work

Class Consciousness and the Transformation of the World

20 April 2021

Chris Myers talks about the importance of class politics and makes a case for why artists ought to reckon with it, both as creative people and just plain workers.

Red Eye Theater's seven artistic directors.

Collective Leadership

Essay

Collective Leadership

A Conversation with Red Eye’s Artistic Directors

1 April 2021

The co–artistic directors of Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis talk about shifting to a collaborate leadership model with a horizontal structure and consensus-based process, backdooring their way into traditional funding structures and resources, and more.

Livestreaming a Performance: OUT Dance Project Virtual Tour

Beyond Boom and Bust

Video

Livestreaming a Performance: OUT Dance Project Virtual Tour

Connecting rural queers across regions in Oregon through story and dance

Thursday 25 March to Sunday 28 March 2021

United States

Beyond Boom and Bust presents OUT Dance Project Virtual Tour livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Thursday 25 March to Sunday 28 March 2021.

three people posing for a photo in an ikea warehouse

Obvious Agency and Creative Cooperative Futures

Essay

Obvious Agency and Creative Cooperative Futures

15 March 2021

Arianna Gass and Daniel Park share their experience restructuring their company into a worker cooperative and what benefits this model offers.

a bright yellow burst with the following words on individual lines: information, inspiration, invitation. then, "the ghostlight project"

Community Roll Call

The Ghostlight Project

Video

Community Roll Call

One part teach-in and one part pep rally to share the many organizing efforts happening in our community

Monday 1 March 2021

United States

The Ghostlight Project presented Community Roll Call livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 1 March 2021 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

a large group sitting in a circle watching a staged reading

How Sustained Support for Playwrights Impacts Artistry

Essay

How Sustained Support for Playwrights Impacts Artistry

National Playwright Residency Program Evaluation 2020

1 March 2021

Alexis Frasz and Holly Sidford of Helicon Collaborative share their findings from the most recent assessment of the National Playwright Residency Program.

Devising Our Future Through a Commons-Based Approach

Jamie

Gahlon

Essay

Devising Our Future Through a Commons-Based Approach

16 February 2021

Jamie Gahlon, HowlRound’s director, kicks off the Devising Our Future series by reflecting on the necessity of working together now to co-envision and co-create the future we need for the theatre field.

a group marching outside with a banner that reads "NEVER AGAIN IS NOW"

Inventing Worlds

Blair

Nodelman

Essay

Inventing Worlds

What Theatremakers Bring to Organizing

1 February 2021

Blair Nodelman discusses why theatremakers are well suited to deeply understanding the political machine and work toward dismantling the status quo, creating a more equitable and community-based iteration of governing.

School of Resistance episode twelve poster.

School of Resistance—Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence

NTGent

Video

School of Resistance—Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence

What Would a Truly Caring World Look Like? With Edna Bonhomme and Anne Jung

Thursday 14 January 2021

Brussels, Belgium

What would a truly caring world look like? NTGent presents School of Resistance, Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 14 January 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 18:00 CET (Brussels, UTC+1) / 20:00 TRT (Istanbul, UTC +3).

Write the Software and Let the World Have It

Essay

Write the Software and Let the World Have It

Forty Years of Internet Performance

14 January 2021

In this article for the Performing the Internet series, Miller Puckette and Onyx Ashanti get together for a conversation about the changing landscape of multimedia technology in the arts, how technologically mediated performance practices have taken on new relevance in the post-COVID era, and more.

Cuban woman with headphones talking in a video conference.

How to Produce a Livestream Event, Part 2

Vijay

Mathew

Essay

How to Produce a Livestream Event, Part 2

A Beginner’s Guide to Using the Commons-based OBS Studio Live Broadcast Software

14 October 2020

HowlRound’s cultural strategist, Vijay Mathew, offers a part two to his guide on how to produce a livestream, this time focusing on the commons-based OBS Studio.

Modeling Solidarity: Theater As Political Action

CAATA

Latinx theatre Commons

National Black Theatre

Perseverance

Theatre

Honolulu Theatre for Youth

Moses Goods

Video

Modeling Solidarity: Theater As Political Action

Part of Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists’ ConFest Virtual Series

Monday 14 September 2020

United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists presented a panel discussion Modeling Solidarity: Theater As Political Action livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 14 September 2020 at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC-), 3 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC-), 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7), 5 p.m. MDT (Denver, UTC-6), 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5), 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

How We Grew a Student-Centered Anti-Racist Movement at Our Institution of Learning

Essay

How We Grew a Student-Centered Anti-Racist Movement at Our Institution of Learning

10 September 2020

Tatiana Gil, Micah Rosegrant, Viviana Vargas, and Ciera-Sadé Wade—members of the Boston University School of Theatre Anti-Racist Student Initiative (BU SARSI)—speak to how, after a public outpouring of testimonials from former and current students of BU’s School of Theatre—detailing racism, sexism, ableism, and more—they rallied together to innovate ways of addressing the white supremacy within the school.

Crowdsourcing Theatre Practice in a Time of COVID

Essay

Crowdsourcing Theatre Practice in a Time of COVID

20 August 2020

Barbara Fuchs and Elena Araoz share information about their new projects that attempt to make sense of the transformations to the theatre field and put a call out for artists to help chart these transformations.

(Canceled) Reshape Intensive Zagreb

RESHAPE

Video

(Canceled) Reshape Intensive Zagreb

A meeting of art practitioners actively rethinking and reshaping organisational models for the arts sector in the EuroMed region

Monday 9 March - Wednesday 11 March 2020

Zagreb, Croatia

Event Canceled: RESHAPE presents the Intensive Zagreb meeting livestreaming from Zagreb, Croatia on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 9 March to Wednesday 11 March 2020.

Meanwhile: Becoming Porous

Essay

Meanwhile: Becoming Porous

Mientras Tanto: Hacia La Porosidad

21 November 2019

Robert Duffley, Una Chaudhuri, Georgina Escobar, Eli Nixon, Adilson Siqueira, and Brontë Velez reflect on the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics convening that took place in Mexico City in June 2019.

Center for Cultural Innovation's inaugural AmbitioUS convening

Center for Cultural Innovation

Video

Center for Cultural Innovation's inaugural AmbitioUS convening

Encouraging alternative economies and a fresh social contract for artists and cultural anchors

Wednesday 23 October 2019

Oakland, California

Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) presented the inaugural AmbitioUS convening encouraging the development of burgeoning alternative economies and a fresh social contract in ways that artists and cultural anchors can achieve financial freedom. Livestreamed from Oakland, California on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 23 October 2019 at 8:30 a.m. PDT (Oakland, UTC -7) / 10:30 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 11:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 15:30 UTC +0 / 4:30 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 17:30 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).

Trade Show Business

Charles

M Pepiton

Essay

Trade Show Business

Rethinking the Commoditized Theatre and the Public Space

22 October 2019

Charles M Pepiton discusses professional theatre’s commercial roots, how mission statements of non-profits today focus on social engagement, community-based development, and more.

A group of theatre artists sitting around a conference table with a projector screen in the background.

The Promise of the Commons

Essay

The Promise of the Commons

10 October 2019

In honor of World Commons Week 2019, a working group of eleven US-based arts and cultural makers share their vision on how adopting a commons-based approach can help transform the arts into a more equitable and just field.