Good afternoon everyone,
This is Douglas Hurt, the Arts Education Director at the Oklahoma Arts Council. First off, I would like to thank you all so much for a wonderful event. I am excited to see such a positive perspective on the Arts Council roster, our agency and the services we offer.
Some of you were interested in the list that I gave out regarding Good Contracts. Before I hand this to you, please be aware that contracts are need specific. There will be some parts of this you will use and some parts you won’t. There will be additions that you need to make to your contract that do not enter into the conversation here. Also be advised, I am not a lawyer. If you need a very specific contract that covers more things than you can possibly imagine, you might consider hiring a lawyer to help you draft one. The advantage is that a good lawyer will think of things you will not. The disadvantage is that it will probably cost you in the neighborhood of $100 per hour for their services. But it is something to think about…on to the list!
In my experience a good contract is your best friend…it could include:
CONTACT INFORMATION: both yours and the site you are working with. If it is at all possible, get a number specifically to call in case you cannot make it the day of the event. Teachers are busy and usually cannot answer their phone in a classroom so you will need to know how to get a hold of them.
EXPECTATIONS: this is where you and the site decide (together) what you will be teaching, how you will be teaching it, what goals do you have in mind for the students and how you are going to measure if you reached those goals. The following will elaborate on these categories.
LEARNING GOALS: Ask yourself, what do I want them to learn from this experience that they don’t already know? Is it a method for creating artwork like writing in a certain poetic meter or drawing with chiaroscuro? Is it vocabulary from your discipline like pan, tilt, cut, fade, dolly, or perhaps line, shape, color, form, or texture? You need to decide when you develop your residency what you want the learners to learn.
PROJECT OUTLINE: This will be a brief description of what you will be doing with the students, how long it is going to take, if you are doing multiple projects and when those occur. It is your plan. You cannot build a house with out a plan. You can’t cook a five star meal with out a plan, why would you enter the classroom with out a plan?
PROPOSED INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS: Another brief description, this is the how of your teaching. Are you going to be talking to a whole group? Are you going to be addressing them in small groups? Is your instruction one to one? Are you going to teach by demonstration, or guide them in developing their own artwork?
MEASUREMENT: How are you going to evaluate what the students have learned? This is an art form all its own and perhaps one of the most challenging. It just does not seem fair to have to grade artwork sometimes. However, if you are in a school, they care about grades. The care even more if the agency giving them money to do your program demands them to provide proof that the students are actually learning things about art. This is different from having an art experience. Plan out how they will be graded. There is much more to say on this topic, but no more space. I will plan on doing another blog specifically on methods of evaluating the fine arts, hopefully soon.
EMERGENCY SITUATIONS: This is your plan for what will happen if there is severe weather, the school is evacuated, there have a family emergency, transportation problems or some other BIG issue that keeps you from fulfilling your contract to the site. Are you going to reschedule? Are you going to cancel? If so, what will the school do to replace your program? Think out ahead of time how to handle these difficult situations and you will not be stressed out trying to decide how to handle them if they do occur.
OWNERSHIP OF PRODUCED WORK: Decide ahead of time who owns the work you are creating. If you are doing a performance with the students this refers to any tangible recordings or sound recordings of your project. If you are a visual artist or creative writer, this refers to the physical works of art the students create. Usually these will belong to the students themselves, or occasionally the school site. Clear up any confusion ahead of time so both you and the site know what to expect after the residency is over.
RELEASE TIME OF PRODCED WORK: This simply answers when the students or teacher or school or the artist will get their work back after a project. This is especially important if you are working on any portion of the project after your classroom hours with them.
FEES: This is the clearly outlined portion of your contract concerned with money. How much will you be paid? If hourly, how many hours will you work? For what services? When will you be paid? Who is actually writing the check? Is an invoice required by the school district? What is the last possible day they need that invoice to process your check by the correct date? To get paid when and how much you want, write a smart contract and hold them too it. Many of you have stated, from experience, that many schools may need gentle reminders about this. Reminding them is always a good idea.
TIMELINES: This might be included in your project outline. If it is not, include it separately. This will be a plan for when you will be visiting the school to perform each portion of your residency. Include preparatory work you do as well as post-residency work. This needs to have dates, times, and locations. Make it as simple or as in depth as you want.
SIGNATURES: This is important. Your contract needs to be signed by you, by the classroom teacher(s) you will be working with and by an appropriate administrator. These signatures will be very helpful in case legal action needs to be taken
MAKE COPIES: Make sure that both you and the site you are working with has a copy of the contract with the signatures on it. How long do you keep them? My suggestion is to ask you accountant and/or lawyer, but a good rule of thumb is at least 2 years and as many as seven.
Wow, is this enough information? As always, if you have any questions you can call me at 405-521-2023, I am here to help. There are literally hundreds of books and websites out there to give you very in-depth information regarding contracts. Dig a little, take what you need and leave the rest. If in doubt, hire a lawyer. Until next time, keep up the good work!
Douglas Hurt
Arts Education Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
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