By Chester Winowiecki
The 10th annual, "Break It Down/Make It Better", a conference for artistic professional development, was held at the Woodbridge N. Ferris building of Kendall College of Arts and Design in Grand Rapids on March 22, 2024. The full daily schedule for this past year and many previous years can be found at the website: https://breakitdownmakeitbetter.org/ but in brief, the day consisted of a welcoming panel, 3 block sessions, lunch and a late afternoon gathering. The historic building is well suited to the event, with plenty of room and parking (while costly) spots can be found close by at many lots and garages. Payment and registration are completed on-line up to a few days before the event at a cost of $50 (with fees). This cost includes a box lunch with options that can be chosen during registration. There is an early bird price (which expired before the event’s schedule was announced) and there is a discount for students. Registration the morning of the event only involved being checked in and making a name tag for one’s self. A majority of the day was spent on the second level in one large staged room and 5 smaller rooms. Bathrooms were easily accessible and elevators are available.
Several arts organizations, mostly from West Michigan, provided handout information at small folding tables along the main corridor with representatives to meet and answer questions. The information was available throughout the day and available between sessions. The Opening Remarks and Keynote Panel was held in the largest room which has a stage and some PA equipment. Music was performed by Jessica Wolfbird (a presenter that afternoon) while attendees gathered and some coffee was offered at the back of the room. Zachary Trebellas, Director of Avenue for the Arts, made some opening remarks and was the MC for the panel that followed focusing on momentum: “how to find and sustain creative success.” The panel was a very thoughtful and engaging discussion between artists and professionals, but perhaps a bit short due to starting a little late (this was the day of the seasons last big snow, if you remember.)
We then broke up to attend the first session block in which there were 5 sessions to choose from. No prior registration was necessary so some of the sessions were very full and others sparsely attended. I’ll withhold descriptions of the sessions that I attended but refer you to the listing and descriptions on the website. I appreciated the variety of topics from personal to community, from skill building to informational. As in many such situations, you may find an interesting subject offered by a so-so presenter and vice versa. Overall, I found the sessions that I attended to be engaging and informative and I’m glad for the experience. I believe all the presenters are volunteers, in that they were not compensated for their time beyond free attendance to the event, but I may be mistaken.
Lunch was held in the first level in a long room referred to as the “Living Room” with many small tables and chairs in a bistro-like setting. This encouraged spontaneous gatherings of 2-6 people which many took advantage of. My lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich, small bag of chips, an apple, two cookies and canned drink. A very good and filling lunch and a great value added to the day as this could have easily cost me $10-15 and taken quite a lot longer than the 45 minutes allotted for lunch. There is a gallery and technology lab on the first floor and attendees can wander throughout the building between sessions.
After the third session, the day concluded around 3:30 with some closing remarks by Zachary and an invitation to attend a Happy Hour at AllArtWorks gallery across town. I left at this point, as it was still snowing and rush hour was about to start but I do appreciate the opportunity to gather more informally with the other attendees. I was left with at feeling of just getting settled and wishing there were at least one more block, perhaps with repeats of some of the earlier offerings, as there were often more than one session I would have liked to attend in each block.
While I do have some criticisms, I feel that the day was well spent and a good experience overall with subjects and offerings to appeal to artists at any stage in their career. It did seem a bit small but I also feel the size and scope are appropriate to the cost of the event. I do plan on attending this year with hopes that the event will grow in scope and scale and provide more opportunities for artists to gather, meet and learn.