Rebecca Sadowski as Spirit Horse in YOU USED TO CALL ME MARIE… Photo by Emily Cooper
Allowing the company to support caregivers more fully allowed us to do better work in the room, period. Better work in the room means less stress at home.
Savage Society
Savage Society
A “Promise to Care”
Level UP! Strategy Area: Pathways to Agreement
Pilot Project: Creating a “Promise to Care” document with a related Care Fund and an Artist Safety Plan document to proactively support potential mental health challenges
Project Duration: 2023 – 2024 Season
Continuing to Implement: Yes, approved by the board and part of company policy
Resources Shared: Project Field Notes, Promise to Care Document, Artist Safety Plan
About Savage Society
Location: British Columbia
Artistic Discipline: Theatre
Operating Budget: $100,000 to $1,000,000
We tell our own stories sourcing traditional and contemporary Indigenous perspectives.
Savage Society was founded in 2004 to be a platform for Indigenous artists in Vancouver to develop and produce our stories. Our focus is on developing work that reflects our world view, sourcing traditional stories and cosmologies and our contemporary realities as Indigenous people for public dissemination in both professional theater venues and community settings. We engage in projects in both community and professional settings and apply different approaches appropriate to those environments.
Savage Society’s Level UP! Project
Savage Society wanted to support their artist community by formalizing a “Promise to Care” document and fund, and preparing for its sustainability both financially and through HR policy. Operations Manager Amy Wertz led the project and developed an additional Artist Safety Plan to support mental health and wellbeing.
Project Highlights:
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- Formalizing the Promise to Care and naming it a “document” as an intentional move away from the more colonial “policy”
- Budgeting for the Care Fund (approximately 1% of operating budget)
Resources
Savage Society | Promise to Care
About This Resource Savage Society created this Promise to Care in 2024 as part of their Balancing Act Level UP! Pilot Project. The document was developed to articulate work that Savage Society was already doing to care for artists, to communicate and to make suports...
Savage Society | Artist Safety Plan
About This Resource Savage Society created this Artist Safety Plan in 2024 as part of their Balancing Act Level UP! Pilot Project. The document was developed to proactively support potential mental health challenges for artists during the creative process. Artists can...
Savage Society | Project Field Notes
About This Resource Savage Society shared these Project Field Notes in 2024 as part of their Balancing Act Level UP! Pilot Project. Their project focused on creating a “Promise to Care” document, formalizing their Care Fund, and developing a Artist Safety Plan...
More Information
For more information about the Savage Society visit savagesociety.ca.
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