Thank you for your interest in being a catalyst of transformation in the community arts sector! Please fill out the form below to apply for this professional development training program. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at learning@voiceofpurpose.org
Course Overview
Voice of Purpose (VOP) introduces an online Professional Development course designed for teaching artists and arts administrators who strive to create transformative experiences through their work in community arts. This course addresses a vital need: equipping frontline artists and arts workers with tools and frameworks to design co-liberative community programs, particularly in historically marginalized communities
Built on decades of lived experience in community arts and social justice change work, this course offers four comprehensive modules covering: personal purpose, systems of power and program design, embodied integrated healing, strategic activation of change. It goes beyond skill-building to foster personal growth, guiding participants to align their purpose with professional goals. Additionally, this program connects participants to a supportive network of North American arts professionals committed to being stewards of change.
Led by Phoenix Sun Park, an experienced leader in community arts, equity, and embodied healing, VOP brings unique insights through specialized frameworks like the Elements of Purpose, Journey of Transformation and Purpose Rooted Arts Engagement/Education. This foundation ensures that practitioners not only gain practical skills but are also uplifted to become leaders that embody authenticity and integrity. Participants will leave equipped to implement co-liberative leadership through the strategic design and delivery of arts programs that foster equity and healing, to steward change and build futures with the communities they serve.
Course Details
- Course Format: Online
- Total Duration: 13 weeks (11 Classes + Orientation Session + Closing Session)
- Time Commitment: 4 hours per week minimum (March 5 - May 28, 2025)
- Cost: Sliding scale - Subsidies and full scholarships are available for those in need of financial support - (see our pricing model below for details). Thank you to Canada Council for the Arts for providing funding to allow for subsidized registration fees.
Curriculum Arc
Week 1: Course Intro & Orientation
Introduce participants to the overall goals of the course and sets expectations for their learning journey. Participants will familiarize themselves with course themes, key concepts, and the framework for transformation and future-building. The focus will be on building community among learners and establishing a shared understanding of the tools and resources that will support them throughout the course.
Module 1: Anchoring in Purpose & Systems of Support
Week 2: Anchoring in Self and Purpose
Focus on personal authenticity and grounding in purpose. Participants will explore elements of purpose through self-assessment and develop a clear understanding of their soul mission within systemic contexts, setting the stage for vision and dream realization.
Week 3: Support Systems
Build internal and external support systems that sustain creative purpose. Learn self-regulation techniques and strategies for burnout prevention, emphasizing daily habits and rituals that anchor well-being.
Module 2: Program Design & Systemic Contexts
Week 4: Ecologies of Power
Examine power dynamics within communities and organizations. Participants will engage with concepts of privilege, decolonization, and co-liberation, mapping their role in community service.
Week 5: Curriculum Design
Design equity and community-centered arts programs. Explore facilitation methods and the healing power of arts, identifying art forms as tools for community well-being.
Week 6: Non-Profit Organizations and Systems
Understand non-profit organizational structures, dynamics, and the creation of healthy work cultures. Evaluate and assess systems through a co-liberative lens.
Week 7: Entrepreneurialism in Community Arts
Learn strategies for entrepreneurialism and partnerships within the arts. Participants will explore branding, marketing, and strategic positioning to build sustainable arts careers.
Week 8: Finances, Budgets, and Funding
Develop financial literacy in the arts sector, with a focus on grant writing, budgeting, and resource allocation to ensure sustainable program growth.
Module 3: Integration of Healing & Holistic Approaches
Week 9: Who We Are Becoming
Explore systems as ways of being, focusing on strategic design for liberation, culture building, and emotional leadership. "Becoming the new imprint"
Week 10: Navigating Conflict
Learn conflict transformation techniques to address and resolve issues in community and organizational contexts, fostering healing and growth. Navigating toxic work environments
Week 11: Trauma, Grief, and Ancestral Healing
Delve into the impact of trauma and grief, including ancestral trauma. Participants will explore techniques for healing, ritual, and ceremony in addressing grief in their work and lives.
Module 4: Building Futures & Strategies for Transformation
Week 12: Stewarding Change, Stewarding Futures
Focus on future-building strategies, change management, and becoming a catalyst for structural transformation. Participants will explore how to hold and create futures as part of a lineage of future ancestors.
Week 13: Closing & Evaluations
Participants will reflect on their learning and growth over the course. The focus will be on consolidating key takeaways, sharing individual transformations, and setting intentions for how they will apply their knowledge in future contexts. Participants will celebrate their journey and engage in discussions about sustaining momentum for change beyond the course.
Our Pricing Model
Voice of Purpose believes that professional development for teaching artists and arts administrators working in community arts should not only be comprehensive and holistic, but also accessible and embody principles of equity. This means that our training program is offered with a sliding-scale option - ranging on one end with the full price of the program plus sponsorship of an artist in need of financial support (for those with access to financial means and generational wealth), to a full scholarship on the other end of the scale (for those who are currently without sufficient financial resources to sustain basic living expenses), with intermediary levels in between (moderate subsidies and partial scholarships).
Sliding Scale Tiers at a Glance (All fees are in USD):
- Redistribution - $2500 (standard cost + a contribution to support a scholarship for an artist in need of financial support)
- Full Cost - $1500 (standard cost of training)
- Support - $1000 (subsidy of $500)
- Solidarity - $500 (subsidy of $1000)
- Scholarship - $499 to a full scholarship
For more information and descriptions to help you decern what is the appropriate level of contribution as an individual or as an organization please visit voiceofpurpose.org/pd-pricing
Equity, Inclusion and Access
At Voice of Purpose, we believe it is important to embody equity and inclusion across our policies and programming. As such, our program will reserve 50% of our seats for BIPOC participants and folks from historically marginalized communities. Our intention is to support a learning environment with balanced representation, for participants in the program.
We will do our best to also meet accessibility needs of our participants. Please let us know if you have any accessibility/disability needs you would like support around, in order to enable your full participation in the course.