Where We Fit
Ethnoarts personnel increase hope and productivity in field contexts because 1) they can help energize progress in all other domains, and 2) they uncover and affirm the communication forms that communities love and are most proud of.
Ethnoarts Roles
Arts personnel normally fill one of three roles in SIL (explore Workday for fuller descriptions):
Arts Worker: Designed primarily for people already on the field, who have some skills and interest in the arts. Fewer training requirements.
Arts Specialist: Entry-level position, after about one to one and 1/2 year’s training
Arts Consultant: Wider responsibilities and skills than Arts Specialist, the natural progression with time and experience
Overview of an Arts Specialist's Preparation and Service
The first few years of an Arts Specialist’s work normally consist of university training, an anchoring internship, then entry into his or her first assignment.
Recruiting
The Arts Specialist's job provides lots of great stories and videos to grab peoples' attention. One of the biggest misconceptions we have to clear up is this: God calls lots of artists to do their art for the kingdom. We need people who are intent on helping other people create.
Assignment
Arts Specialists are assigned to field locations based on a prayer-filled process of evaluating their gifts and interests, needs that fields have publicized on Insite, and consultation with the International Arts Leaders Team. Because ethnoarts is new in its current form, some assignments require personal interaction with entities where there is not an opening on Insite.
Training
Arts Specialists need about 1 to 1 1/2 years of training before allocating and beginning an internship. For official requirements: www.sil.org/training/arts-and-ethnomusicology
Internship
An ethnoarts internship consists of 1-3 years in a language program, which will become the Arts Specialist's anchor community. SIL's broader ethnoarts community provides technical supervision, usually from a distance.
Integration into Entity and Area
After the internship, the Arts Specialist gradually widens her contributions to her organizational context. Their primary tools are 1) Initial Community Arts List; 2) Program Planning Tool for Ethnoarts; and 3) Arts for a Better Future workshops. Directors, program managers, and others meet with the Arts Specialist to determine her next roles. These could include:
Professional Development
There are many avenues for arts personnel to grow in knowledge and skills. Two common growth categories are artistic skills (e.g., learning about textiles) and application knowledge (e.g., learning more about literacy and education to better consult).
We value scholarship and encourage people to study materials both for the knowledge they gain and in working toward undergraduate and graduate degrees. The ethnoarts community is forging new concepts, skills, and theories that are applicable in many domains, including community development, ethnomusicology, ethnodramatology, trauma healing, and many more.
Consult the International Arts Leaders Team for growth plans in your region.
The Arts Specialist may continue serving with her anchor community, join another language program or cluster, or consult with more programs in a shorter time format.
The Arts Specialist can join program planning sessions to suggests arts activities that may speed and improve reaching goals in many domains.
The Arts Specialist can join strategic planning and budgeting meetings to offer ethnoarts input, strategic understanding, and multi-domain perspectives.
The Arts Specialist can serve as an Area consultant.
The Arts Specialist can help teach courses at places like Payap University (Thailand) and the Center for Excellence in World Arts (Dallas, CEWA).