These are my notes from a lecture by Mark Allen, former founder and director of Machine Project space in Los Angeles (RIP). I took these notes down in longhand in my notebook during the Common Field Convening in Los Angeles, 2017, and have condensed and transcribed them here.

Take your own Documentation!

• Mark Allen spends 20% of budget on documentation!
• institutions won’t necessarily care about same design/aesthetic/shots/etc
• Design and make your own documentation
• you never want to be in a position where you have to ask the institution for access to the documentation!

General Notes

• how will your work be communicated to the world?
• don’t just accept cultural capital. how will you be paid?
• find scale of budget first. is this $500 or $5000? - for example. Is budget flexible?
• if you have an org, make sure your org gets at least 20% toward your admin
• might be a boss that likes you but their employees might not
• key is be friendly with everyone, meet them, and build those relationships
• make sure people get compensation (money, food, whatever it is)
• these companies/orgs sometimes have a hierarchy of who should get paid, etc. if the institution is not looking out for it, you should advocate for your artists, partners, etc
• you have a power at the beginning of the relationship particularly to advocate for more equitable relationships
• be creative in reaching audience - what is needed? door-to-door? radio? etc
• project doesn’t work for you? bail! :)

Contracts

• these institutions have legal team - so review contract and make sure to read it and maybe even write your own!
• review the boilerplate legal contracts
• ask for what you want!
• Book: Heather Bin Darcy Bendari’s book - ART WORK - has info on writing and reviewing contracts
• take your time to review the contract
• Alternatively, even create a Memo of Understanding, such as in an email
• “Hey, great meeting today. Just to follow up, here’s what we talked about to do. …….”
• If your deliverables change in course, you may want to revise contract with the institution! and that’s okay
• other idea: what are the things i care about? call those things ‘my artwork’ and include them in the work, potentially even in the display.

Identify what everyone brings to the partnership

• what does the institution want out of this?
• bringing audience? specific press?
• what are the unconscious expectations? let’s get them out on the table
• Be transparent! if you can
• cynically you should consider what an org is trying to get out of the partnership - should you do the project? think about their goals. what would they be getting out of this relationship.