Thank you for sharing your stories with us! Please note--you must complete this process all at once, so we're sharing all of the questions below so that you can copy and paste them into a Word document and work on them at your leisure. Then just come back here and paste them in!
All of the questions are optional, so answer on the ones that speak to you (though of course we hope you'll answer the lot).
You'll be able to select whether you want to answer the Artistic Leader or the Patron set of questions on the next page. We will periodically be sharing excerpts of answers to these questions at http://www.theatrebayarea.org/intrinsicimpact.
Thank you!
These are the questions asked of artistic/executive leadership. All of them, again, are optional--take a look through, copy these over to another document, and take your time answering them, then come back and paste them in.
Say a little about your organization. What is its age, its size, the nature of its programming? What is the mission? How do you think about the organization?
How do you currently collect audience feedback? Is it funneled to artistic staff, or is it mostly for marketing purposes?
When you think about season selection, how do you think about your audience? Do you think in terms of a particular impact that you'd like to have on an audience over the course of the season?
What are some of the ways right now that you hear from audiences about what their experience was at the show? How do you know if a show is working?
Think about a particular show in your most recently completed season—what is/was the show, and what was the reason, way back when you were deciding on it, that you made it a part of your season? Did it meet those needs?
When you talk about the "audience" you're thinking about when you program, who do you mean? Everyone? Subscribers? Single ticket buyers? What does this say about your organizational aims?
Has input from your audience ever instigated a change in programming or direction?
For you, what is the role of the audience feedback in the making of art?
Anything else you'd like to add?
These are the questions asked of patrons. All of them, again, are optional--take a look through, copy these over to another document, and take your time answering them, then come back and paste them in.
Tell a little bit about who you are, what your work is or was and then, more generally, how you define yourself and what you see as the most important people and things in your life right now.
What are the hobbies or causes about which you are especially passionate besides art?
How do you express yourself artistically? How does that make you feel?
Take a minute before you answer this one. Just think through this. Maybe close your eyes. Is there something across all those hobbies, some set of convictions or beliefs or principles that are tied up in those things, that are fundamental to you? That explain why you do all these various things and why they are the things that make you happy and passionate?
Which artistic forms are you most passionate about? When did they come into your life, and in what way?
What is one of your earliest memories of engaging in art, either as an artist or as a spectator? Go into as much detail as you can.
What is one of your most intense, complete memories you have of seeing a piece of art? Go into as much detail as you can possibly remember, not just about the experience itself, but about how it felt, and what it was like, and why you think that that particular event is so strong in your memory.
Is there an artistic experience that you can think of that, in a way, big or small, you think actually changed you or changed your life, or changed the life of someone that was with you, or set you on a different path?
What needs or wants does art fulfill in your life?
Do you consider yourself "passionate" about the arts? What does it mean to be a passionate audience member, and why, in general, are the arts important?