GLTC Winter Solstice 2023 Update
In December 2023, our Great Lakes Taiko community came together in a year-end celebration to share the joy and gift of Taiko with family and friends at our annual GLTC Holiday Taiko Party. After each of our performing groups and classes shared some songs they have been working and playing this year, we all came together to play a favorite theme song of our community: GLTC Mushi Okuri 虫送り"Send Away Bugs!". We love to share about this community song and video that we created as Great Lakes Taiko Center (GLTC) members during the pandemic:
This collaborative offering exemplifies the generous spirit we all embody when we come together to "send away" all that we don't need or want in our lives (sickness, misfortune, negativity) and welcome in all that we have in health, abundance, and love...reflecting how "we are who we need" and how becoming a supported collective with Open Collective Foundation (OCF) this year empowers us to Drum, Dance & Dream together in community!
What’s Up(date) questions from OCF and reflections from us @GLTC as a Taiko arts & culture collective:
1. What did you accomplish in 2023? How did you use money?
From January through December 2023, we held our Taiko Centering monthly membership meetings in which we shared updates and news with our GLTC members in an online forum on Zoom. (budget items include: online communication and organization software)
We held Taiko classes, group practices and workshops at our two main locations, Ann Arbor and Novi-Wixom, in Southeast Michigan. (budget items include: online learning resources, rental space fees, affiliate fees, guest artist support)
Our Taiko Share program gave our students and artists access to the taiko equipment they needed to practice and perform (budget items include: taiko equipment cost, taiko transport cost)
Our Taiko Performance groups shared Taiko arts in our communities, including our newest Sazanami Taiko Arts Ensemble formed this year, with a highlight event held in August: Japanese Bon Festival at Cranbrook #MIBON2023 in Bloomfield Hills, MI. (budget items include: performer expenses, supplies cost)
2. What challenges did you face during 2023? What did your Collective learn? How did you change or grow?
In the Spring we moved from operating as a small business (LLC) to a fiscally sponsored nonprofit collective (with OCF).
Our transition process is both a challenge and an opportunity to shift our financial operations and focus onto the OC platform and redefine our organizational processes and governance with our membership.
We also learned a lot when applying for grants, clarifying our mission and goals, identifying projects, and working out budgets. Still a lot to learn but happy to report success in receiving support such as our Taiko Community Alliance (TCA) 2023 Grant Award (Level 2) for our “Taiko Centering Community Partnerships” project!
3. What are your plans for 2024? Anything exciting coming up?
We look forward to many class and performance opportunities in the new year, including a collective performance at the Sakura Taiko Festival as part of the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.!
We’ll continue to center the needs and dreams of our collective members, specifically working and playing towards more equitable budgeting in the identified categories of worker pay (for our admin, performers and teachers), taiko equipment repair/maintenance/purchase, and funds that provide broader access to our educational and performance arts programs especially in our SE Michigan communities.
Thanks to all our GLTC members and supporters for sharing in the joy and gift of Taiko in our communities as we continue our collective efforts to create the world we want to thrive in together!
//Eileen S. Ho & Larry An//
GLTC members and co-directors