ISLAND Master Plan 2007 Page 1 of 10

ISLAND

3 Year Master Plan 2008-2010

+ Long Term Vision

5870 Cottage Drive

Bellaire, MI 49615

phone: (231) 480-4515

fax: (501) 635-9279

Co-directors:

Amanda Kik

Brad Kik

Board of Directors:

Misty Flahie

Hilary Wilson

Marty Heller

Michelle Ferrarese

John Lindenmayer

Susan Fawcett

  1. Summary
  2. What is ISLAND?
  3. art + ecology + community = a small place
  4. our mission and vision
  5. our story, benefits, values, philosophy & definitions (the nitty gritty & the “why?”)
  6. Where we are now? (a Phase I Overview)
  7. general overview/summary
  8. events and workshops
  9. community outreach
  10. financial snapshot
  11. Brad & Amanda’s roles and time
  12. property search
  13. What do we do once we get the property? (Phase II planning)
  14. general overview/summary
  15. property design and planning
  16. pattern languages
  17. permaculture
  18. misc
  19. events & workshops
  20. financial needs
  21. Where are we in five years? (Phase III planning)
  22. What does a “finished” ISLAND look like?
  23. calendar
  24. life on the land
  25. residency
  26. internships
  27. other components... (retreats, on-site fundraisers or other events)
  28. the homestead
  29. life in the community
  30. workshops
  31. events
  32. misc.
  33. roles and processes
  34. staff
  35. board
  36. advisory board
  37. volunteers
  38. technology
  39. Brad & Amanda’s roles & time
  40. partnerships
  41. How we’ll get there
  42. strategic planning
  43. internal and external environmentl
  44. critical issues
  45. SWOP
  46. specific objectives, timelines and performance standards
  47. marketing and community building
  48. branding
  49. marketing plan
  50. financial goals and fundraising strategy
  51. need for (and cost of) consultants
  52. budget and goals for next 3 years
  53. long term budgets and goals
  54. technology planning
  55. financial plan
  56. fundraising plan
  57. grants
  58. other resources

2. What is ISLAND?

The Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design is a non-profit organization, based outside the 1500 person Village of Bellaire in the northwest corner of the Lower Peninsula in Michigan, that works to integrate work being done in the fields of art, design, architecture, ecology, community self-reliance and homesteading education. While this may seem overly-large in scope, our work narrows the purpose of this work by focusing on place, and in particular on the question “how can we live well in this place?”

The purpose is not to answer that question directly, but to use it as the catylyst for a lifetime of related questions about the role of land stewardship, engagement with the community, environmental responsibility, decentralized economics, art making and engagement with the arts in making a life and a home.

[BK1]

Wendell Berry, Kentucky farmer, writer and advocate of small places, defines a series of questions which guide ISLAND:

Can we change the ways we live and work so as to establish a preserving harmony between the made and given worlds? Or, to make that question more practical and immediate: Can great power or great wealth be kind to small places? Can the necessary industries subsist upon their natural sources without destroying them? Can the life of a farm or working forest be made compatible with the local ecosystem? Can city and country live and trade together to their mutual benefit? Can an urban economy vouchsafe the health and prosperity of its suppliers, its consumers, and its neighbors?[1]

ISLAND’s process to “live these questions” specifically involves: (bullet point this stuff?)

  1. an artist residency program, defined by the Alliance of Artist Communities as the place “where artists can go simply to work on their art. They provide artists with the opportunity to create new work and encourage risk-taking and innovation in the art and ideas essential to our human progress. In short, they are research-and-development labs for the arts.[2]” The ISLAND residency program will serve up to 12 visiting artists at any given time, and will fit the standard residency model with a few exceptions. One, that there will be a non-toxic supplies policy, limiting traditional photography and some print making/painting activities; two, that during some of the residency slots (see our calendar) artists will share the property with interns studying sustainable living and farming, guests, community members and others (though they will have no obligations beyond the dinner hour to interact with these guests); three, that all artists will be invited to consider the questions above as part of their work. That invitation will be extended to them as part of the application process, and an artist’s unwilligness to do accept that invitation will not be counted against them in the application process. [BK2]
  2. internship and volunteer programs based on the property, acting as service learning opportunities based on a mixture of ecology or design study and chores around the homestead;
  3. organizing workshops, exhibitions, conversation and performances in or with the community, including teaching of homesteading skills, permaculture, natural and green design;
  4. hosting a library of titles related to these skills and practices;
  5. partnering with other non-profits, community groups and local businesses on events, workshops, retreats, etc.;
  6. explicitly and publicly stating the values that we embody as an organization and maintaining policies based on those values.

mission & vision

to integrate the practices of art, natural design and sustainable living in order to

  1. answer the question: “how do we live well in this place?”
  2. create a compelling living model of an ecologically sound, community centered and culturally vibrant place.[BK3]

ISLAND’s purpose is to show people, through the power of art and of the natural world, that a life of depth, beauty and ecological blah blah is the fucking way to go.[BK4]

benefits & story

The simple version is this:

  • commercial life (culture) is a life of ubiquitous distraction, disconnected from depth and importance. It’s bad for the soul and the intellect, and promotes isolation, fear, greed, unhealthy desire and mistrust leading to anger, inhumanity and violence (against others, ourselves and the land);
  • the foundations of this life – agriculture, design, engineering, building practices, land use planning, the industrial model, specialization and technology – are flawed, which creates and reinforces this flawed culture;
  • our largest failure is our inability to imagine a better version of life. We need to recreate the above to create a new and better way to live;
  • people KNOW this, but don’t know how to get to it. We need artists and spaces that explore these ideas in both concrete and conceptual ways, and that can communicate in as many ways as possible the good news to the world
  • in other words, we can imagine the worst case scenario(s) but need work imagining and creating the best case scenario – community self-reliance, connectedness, etc.[BK5]

values

Authenticity: Everything looks like what it is. There is no doublespeak and no euphemisms. Implicit in authenticity is respect for oneself, our fellow beings, and the land.

Sustainability in all things:

Local First: Community self-reliance is dependent, interestingly, on individual interdependence. Our organization promotes local first, an idea that supports local business and community. We are proud of where we live, and show this by shopping locally to support the economy and community; to encourage variety; to receive personal service; and maintain the unique identity of Northwest Lower Michigan.

Frugality: We do not "consume solutions" when we can do it as well ourselves. Frugality is an essential component of good design, and a natural response to understanding that we live in a world of limits. The more we understand the specific effects of our actions (on our soil, our watershed, our community) the more likely we would choose not to consume. Only by removing those consequences from sight can we engage in this behavior.

Approach zero waste: We approach zero waste by not buying products that are over-packaged, reusing materials, and recycling those materials that are past usability.

Compassion: Everything and everyone has a place. Compassion means awareness and empathy without pity. Compassion is the highest value we can strive for. Implicit in compassion is wonder--contagious curiosity about the world and our fellows in it.

Empiricism: While we maintain great respect for those who have gone before us, we will make decisions based on experience, experiments, and our unique situation. We find what works, at this time, in this place, for these people.

Philosophy & definitions

Art: The production of art is more than taking brush to canvas, pen to paper, back of hand to forehead, or bow to string. Given the time and space, Art will bubble up from depths in the earth, and forms pools that benefit us all. Without art production, our communities are culturally crippled. It is ISLAND's desire to support the work of artists and art in all its forms.

Art provides us with an alternative way of exploring ideas--of not simply seeing in new ways, but seeing in ways that are impossible to otherwise achieve. Dialogs are sparked and ideas are reshaped. Art does not stand alone, but is interdisciplinary in nature. In an experimental environment like ISLAND, it is imperative that ideas are fully and deeply explored; art is one tool with which this task is undertaken.

Natural Design: First and foremost, we are all designers. Specialized design (such as the architecture taught in most universities) is merely one more tool in a vast toolbox – design is a language that we all share. Good design is a natural result of a slow and thoughtful interaction between person and place. Influences: Christopher Alexander, Victor Papanek, Janine Benyus and David Orr. “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sustainable Living: Sustainable Living is defined in many ways; the one we prefer comes from The Sustainable Living network (

Sustainable living is an approach to social and economic, indeed, all activities, for all societies, rich and poor, which is compatible with the preservation of the environment. It is based on a philosophy of interdependence, of respect for life as well as non-living parts of Nature, and of responsibility for future generations.

ISLAND believes that sustainable living is a natural law being resisted, unsuccessfully, since the advent of the industrial revolution; that technology alone will not create a sustainable world, and that it is equal parts culture, intellect and practice. Influences: Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Helen and Scott Nearing.

Land Ethic: It’s very important to the program to have a written, concise and very clear land ethic – a document that outlines our responsibilities to the land as a partner in our program.

This land ethic will include:

  • having a careful and thoughtful discussion of the value of indigenous flora and fauna versus the value of Permaculture arguments for expanding beyond native plants. In either case, to seek a wild and balanced set of ecosystems on the ISLAND property and to eliminate non-native aggressors.
  • learning the history of the land, in geologic terms and terms of natural succession, native use, settler use and present use.
  • committing to learning how to use the land, using Permaculture and other progressive land-use principles
  • not reducing resources (e.g. clear cutting, mining)
  • mapping inputs and outputs (e.g. sunlight, seed, water, crops, etc.)
  • not polluting, our land or anyone else’s
  • maintaining useful habitat for wildlife
  • working towards zero waste

define permaculture

Where Are We Now? (A Phase I Overview)

summary

we’ve begun making ourselves known in the community through our library, events and partnerships. We’re working on purchasing ISLAND’s lifetime home. We’ve grown our board. We’re engaging in development for ourselves and our board. We’ve begun asking for money. We’re slowly building technological infrastructure (computers, etc.), we’ve visioned A LOT about the specifics of the program come phase ii and iii, our present level of work is sustainable

we haven’t been able to do anything on the land (duh), we haven’t raised MUCH money, we haven’t been able to grow our publically accessible library, we’ve been slow organizaing events (because of the land purchase), we have a lot of fundraising to do, a lot of technology/tools to acquire, more design work to do (specfically phase ii), need to implement a volunteer program, find more community partners, increase our mailing list.

events & workshops

4 major events (Jacke, Katz, preconference 1 & 2)

board retreat

library at Unity

benefit concert

conferences/courses/personal development (AAC, leading bold change, board retreat, classes, land institute, farm conferences, bioneers, etc.)

talks (CHX/AAC), community leadership (recycling & parkside)
land purchase

community outreach

every event has had a partner – even the board retreat! we’ve found the low hanging fruit and engaged with them, made friends, begun to develop some name recognition around the 5 county area. our name intrigues people. most of our events have been held either in leelanau county or traverse city and we have a desire to move things to our neck of the wood. risk of losing some of our business supporters (list?) by moving away from them. businesses here are overasked – need a flexible and creative fundraising strategy focused on creating value for those businesses, finding well off individuals and connecting beyond our community based on a broader message. building technological networks and networks through the AAC. what can we do for networks around ecology and design? working on a permaculture guild, have taken on leadership with recycling and arts in antrim county. brad has left a lot of the organizations he used to work with in TC, leaving some gap there but with good feelings and connections still there.

financial snapshot

we’ve had two approaches to financial sustainability, though overall ISLAND still works on a very limited budget and is extremely dependent on funding from B&A. The first approach is to make all events self-supporting, through donations at the door (we also want to keep events as accessible as possible) and business sponsorships ($150-$200 average). The second is to raise money in small amounts through letter writing and benefit concerts. These approaches tend to keep us in the black but do not accumulate cash. For standard expenses (stamps, brochure printing, etc.) Brad & Amanda often have to donate money. We are donating $1000.00 this year, and also have covered expenses which will in the future be covered by ISLAND (software, travel expenses).

Numbers from board retreat

brad & amanda’s roles and time

though it wasn’t intentional, brad & amanda’s roles have become fairly well deliniated:

Amanda: Administration (gets paycheck for other jobs)

•budget

•fundraising

•spreadsheet

•technology

•library database

Brad: Programming (volunteer/some paid work outside of ISLAND)

•outreach

•PR/media

•teacher relations

•logistics

•website design and maintenance

•poster/graphic design

•talking/speaking/writing/public face

There is some overlap, of course – for example, Amanda is more likely to blog than Brad, and Brad is more likely to seek out books for the library.

Amanda works between 30 and 40 hours a week for two companies, and the money she earns allows she and Brad to live comfortably. Brad works piecemeal doing design work for Shorts Brewing Company and recently for Grassroots Productions and Earthwork Music; he also does occasional carpentry work. Many of these jobs are barter for beer, coffee, food and music, which also helps us live comfortably.

Brad also does quite a bit of volunteer work – he serves on the Antrim County Solid Waste and Recyclng Council, works with Great Lakes Bioneers on the steering committee, serves as the acting president of the Parkside Arts Council and, until recently, volunteered with Bay Bucks and WNMC in Traverse City. Between the volunteer work and the piecemeal work for folks he probably works 20 hours week.

Because we don’t log hours or get paid for ISLAND work, we don’t have a clear picture of the hours we devote to this work. Based on the output produced, we likely are equivelent to one lazy full timer or one motivated part time worker. Clearly events and other deadlines require more work, so our time is not very evenly spread over the year.

Our goal is to generate income through ISLAND to pay either one of us so that Amanda can cut back or quit one of her two jobs. We would need to secure an income of roughly $20,000 a year from ISLAND in order for her to consider that move. Beyond that, we’re comfortable with our roles and do not yet feel overtaxed by our additional work with ISLAND. That may quickly change once construction begins on the property.

partnerships