Guest Editorial: Groundswell Gains Through Independence--and Collaboration

What is it that Groundswell does?  We're so happy to say that we don't yet know.

We're a collective that has produced work at the intersection of art and activism for four years, and in that time we've primarily worked noncommercially to produce art works, a journal, a blog, a barter network, materials for movement organizations, and more. We are all-volunteer, worker-owned and run, and we exist outside of traditional funding structures. It's only recently that we've begun to engage ideas about how we can better structure ourselves, both for our longevity, and to better relate to our friends and allies.

photo: Fertile ground for collaboration: Groundswell and sprout talk public space and transportation

The story of our beginning is simple enough; we were housemates in Amherst, MA, sharing locally brewed beers and vegan treats while we discussed art and activism. Now, we've nearly tripled in size, and call ourselves critical cultural producers, a term we crafted to be as wide and all-encompassing as possible. Our five members work in fields as varied as education and new media, and Groundswell is the umbrella under which our collective and independent works are gathered. The collective grows and shrinks in size, scope, and capacity, as we add members and find new ways to relate to those who've moved on. It's a process of continuous learning, invention and reinvention.

In our search for the most facilitative way of organizing ourselves, we discovered that, in all our difference and fluidity, there are three thematic strands that we could follow through all of our work:

Artist-Led Infrastructures – We are interested in creating structures that can grow strong, large, and independent, and whose intent is radically transformative. To date, these efforts have tended towards distribution networks for self-publishing artists, and alternative funding models.


Collaborative Production – Each work by the collective is situated and embedded in a collaborative and relevant production process, often funded by those who the work benefits, and initiated by collaborators. 


Providing a Narrative – Future actions and organization of critical cultural production hinge on our reaction to and analysis of contemporary works, theories, and strategies.  Groundswell catalogs these elements online, amplifying, and connecting like-minded workers with creatives, activists, and participants.

These themes are distinct, and each could be a mission statement on its own. To tie them together, we needed a structure that would preserve our autonomy and further our communal way of creating work. It also neededto be flexible enough to accommodate five members that are geographically separated.

More, we wanted to keep our endeavor as noncommercial as possible, and this meant funding Groundswell from within. This consideration is partly based on our goals, and partly a practical concern.

We've learned from other like-minded organizations, indeed some started by our close friends, that your mission can start to creep away from you when seeking out foundation funds, and the bureaucracy of running a formal organization— even a nonprofit, especially a nonprofit— can outstrip your best efforts at self-governing. Rather than chase the day's hot topic, altering our mission and proposals to fit the dictates of grant writing, we looked to established organizations created by and for their membership, and there are many. Descriptions range from community micro-granting to "surfing on surplus", and groups borrow models from traditional cooperatives and lesser-known exchange traditions, but there is always an inherent critique and creative spirit in these ideas with which we sympathize.

Put another way, the way in which we find especially meaningful, being committed to radical social change necessitates creating that change in the here-and-now, and planning for our sustainability by helping to build the institutions that give us support. Our recent efforts at building an online store and barter network make use of already existing connections within our field, and through it we offer guaranteed syndication and financial support, however small, to fellow artist/activists.

More concretely, Groundswell sustains itself through a grassroots approach to fundraising. We rely on the efforts of our all-volunteer membership, contributions from supporters, and revenue from original works. Our store is modeled after mutual aid cooperatives, and we bartered for, or purchased at cost or wholesale discount, works by other artists. While we are not influenced by the profitability of the work, only the importance and quality of the work itself, it provides us with a pillar of support in the form of earned income, which is cycled back into the organization to fund further projects.

The same idea of self-sufficiency can be seen in how we've funded our journal. Via Kickstarter, we promised donors copies of the work that they were funding. Once we reached a critical mass, our printing costs were covered, and selling out our short run would guarantee we had cash on hand to print the next edition.

Collaborations and alliances with like-minded organizations have been particularly fruitful, especially for exposure to our shared constituency, and for planning events and happenings. The relationships that have blossomed out of organizing talks and performances, clothes swaps and book meets are prized, and help us to create meaning in surprising places.

Cautiously, one of those places into which we are stepping, is the world of fiscal sponsorship.  Some established nonprofits offer fledgling or otherwise informal organizations the use of their tax-free status, in exchange for a percentage of the funds raised by that group. In the spirit of doing-it-together, and recognizing our needs and desires to extend our work to new areas, we've chosen to dip our feet into both worlds simultaneously, becoming both nonprofit and informal.  A potential parent organization, funded by our activities, will capably handle the administrative necessities, leaving our hands free to continue our work, while making us eligible for other sources of funding.

It's this process of becoming, of adaptively evolving, and finding strange shapes and spaces in which we fit that leads us to state with uncertainty what Groundswell is and does, and we've found a wonderfully weird and satisfying way of being together in the world!