In 2021, the leadership of the Fine Arts Work Center, including a newly appointed
Executive Director, identified the need to develop the organization’s first written, multi-year strategic plan. The goal of the plan was to assess current resources (where the organization is), establish a new organizational strategic trajectory (where the organization is going), and establish a formal strategic plan and implementation timeline (how the organization will get there).

Beyond the creation of the actionable planning document, a parallel and equally important objective for the project was to increase buy-in and support for FAWC internally and externally to strengthen the ability to follow-through on the equity, diversity, inclusion, and access initiatives in the plan.

In partnership with Arts Consulting Group (ACG), a leading provider of strategic planning and community engagement services for the arts and culture industry, the Work Center recruited a Strategic Planning Committee. The next step in the creation of the strategic plan was to conduct an internal needs assessment. This is a systematic measurement and recording of the needs and desires represented by FAWC staff, board, and fellows.

ACG created a comprehensive internal survey and a multi-pronged research initiative which, after the evaluation of internal documents, included the following:

Interviews with key internal stakeholders

ACG conducted interviews with key members of the Board of Directors, staff, fellows, and current and past members of the visual art and writing committees. Interviews were held both individually and, in some cases, in small groups. Additionally, ACG created a 40-question survey that identified key information regarding the management, structure, mission, vision, and values of FAWC. The survey was sent to 30 current board members and 11 current staff in March 2022. A total of 31 responses were received.

Intercultural Development Inventory

This assessment establishes individual and collective positioning on the Intercultural Development Continuum. The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) is the premier cross-cultural assessment of intercultural competence that is used by thousands of individuals and organizations to build intercultural competence to achieve diversity and inclusion goals and outcomes. The IDI centers on the idea of ‘intercultural competence’, defined as the capacity to shift perspective and behavior based on commonalities and differences by experiencing cultures and individuals with greater levels of complexity. The IDI was taken by FAWC staff and board in February 2022.

Interviews with Community Advisory Committee and key external constituents

In March 2022, ACG consultants interviewed 20 members of the Community Advisory Council (CAC) over the course of two virtual meetings. ACG consultants also conducted 6 group interviews of between 8-10 individuals. Those individuals consisted primarily of staff, visual arts and writing committee members, faculty, current and past fellows, the FAWC DEI committee, and select program participants. Additionally, ACG consultants conducted 11 1:1 virtual interviews with a curated list of stakeholders including funders, former staff, community stakeholders, and past FAWC leadership. Interviewees were selected from approximately 185 prospects.