Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/666019
K ickstarter, the popular crowd funding website, refitted a historic Brooklyn pencil factory to serve as its headquarters a couple of years ago. In it, a small but inspired arts crew is bringing a patronage system with roots in the Renaissance up to date. The Kickstarter concept is straightforward: Anyone can post a creative project on the site and ask for backers. Those who pledge support receive "rewards," which vary depending on the amount given. If a project's funding target is met, it goes forward. If not, nobody is charged. Led by four visionary women under 30, the year-old arts team has already helped artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Ai Weiwei, and institutions including Martha Graham Dance Company and the Smithsonian connect with new audiences that want to participate in work they support—rather than merely fund it. All four women collaborate with each other. Hyatt Mannix, former press and social media manager for the New Museum, is the arts media relations specialist. Victoria Rogers heads up the art and photography categories (and sits on the board of nonprofit public arts organization Creative Time). Jes Nelson leads the dance, performance and theater categories, while Willa Köerner spearheads curated content, communications and engagement. Nelson and Köerner are both active artists outside of their day jobs at Kickstarter, a common phenomenon at the company where "engineers have studios on the side to paint and there are lots of musicians," says Rogers. "The majority of us here are artists or appreciators." What makes something a great Kickstarter project? Jes Nelson: Something that is sharable is great. Kickstarter is a place to make, share, discover and support creative work. Willa Köerner: Originality, enthusiasm and inventiveness help. We've seen Kickstarter projects with these qualities enter the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, get nominated for Oscars and Grammys, and contribute to the culture in super meaningful ways. Do creators approach you or are you out in the world looking for artists and projects you think would succeed on Kickstarter? Victoria Rogers: I am a two-way conduit in a way, helping people create their projects and making sure they're really awesome, then being an advocate at Kickstarter and making sure our site remains super friendly to artists and institutions. We're really not gatekeepers; we are more like shepherds. Jes and I look after our categories and make sure we have a real diversity of projects, both geographically and in terms of who is running them. Museums and institutions have been fundraising forever. What's the appeal of Kickstarter? VR: It's an opportunity for an institution to find not just funding but also people to support a project and come along on its journey of actually getting made. There's a real opportunity for a museum or institution to touch people beyond the walls that they have. Which category has the highest success rate? Which has the highest 214 culturedmag.com An immersive performance piece presented by Kickstarter and Current Sessions during March's Spring/Break art fair in New York.