By Briona Arradondo, J-Lab Intern
Eleven arts organizations in Oregon have stepped up to the plate to support the not-yet-launched Oregon Arts Watch, both with subscribers (more than 30,000 members) and financial commitments (more than $45,000 from the groups).
While the number of subscribers exceeds the projected goal of 25,000 individuals prior to launch, the financial contributions are lower than the hoped-for $65,000.
As a result, OAW’s Barry Johnson now plans to appeal to individual project donors in the community beginning this month.
Johnson’s initial plan was to work with arts organizations in Portland to convert their membership into subscribers of Oregon Arts Watch — with the organizations picking up the discounted price. He sees it as his mission to convince members that, in year two, they should subscribe as individuals.
“If Oregon Arts Watch is going to be sustainable, it will be because the members want to support it,” said Johnson.
Meantime, OAW is working to assemble a team of volunteer journalists to discuss work-flow, hosted blogs, payments and an arts wire.
As OAW works to bring together its resources, it is also developing a partnership with legacy media outlets in Oregon. Johnson notes the editor of The Oregonian is willing to work with OAW, and OAW is discussing a potential partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Johnson hopes to pay freelancers a professional fee, low at first, that may rise based on the organization’s financial footing.
OAW is also working to complete a 501(c)(3) application and have registered with the state of Oregon as a non-profit corporation. With volunteer legal and accounting help secured, OAW has already recruited two members to fill the board of directors and are working to find more candidates.
OAW is making a list of design suggestions and technical requirements for the website, and is hoping to get an initial site up launched in the next few months.
You can read a conversation between Barry Johnson and Michael Anderson in Columbia Journalism Review.
