Florida Living!

Hello Friends!
How is everyone doing? I miss you guys! It's been over a year since I updated everyone. I was waiting for something really exciting to happen...and finally, it did! I accepted a position with BIG ARTS last week, and after a few days of packing (and a grueling 20 hour drive) I am here! BIG ARTS is a jack-of-all-trades arts org on Sanibel Island in SW Florida. They do film, visual art, classical music, jazz, theatre, dance, lectures, etc. They also offer TONS of classes (when I saw the list I joked that it was better than what IU offers! Not really, but it's great).

Our constituency is mostly affluent, retired folks living on the island, in addition to people who come down here to vacation. Part of what makes BIG ARTS fun is that we have a small staff (15 or so), and a massive volunteer corps. It's kind of the cool thing to do on the island--being a volunteer at BIG ARTS. Anyway, a large part of my job will be interacting with and managing the volunteer committees for each of the categories listed above. I will also be managing the new theatre that we've acquired (too long a story to relay here...I may or may not start my own blog about this. If so, I will send a link!)

I'm living in Fort Myers, which is just a little over 10 miles away. I had never seen myself here--my mantra was "chicago chicago chicago." The whole time I was at Campus Art (miss you, Liska!), I was spending a minimum of 30 hours a week looking for a job. If you crunch the numbers, I had been looking for 15 months, completed and mailed over 150 applications, and went through 16 interviews. Needless to say, I'm really happy that the hunt is over.

For those of you still looking (is anyone else still looking?), hang in there. It feels like it will never happen, but it will. I almost sold myself short several times--there were plenty of offers for shamefully low-paying, zero benefits, bottom of the totem pole jobs. My advice is to STICK IT OUT and wait for someone to give you the compensation, and the responsibility, that reflects what you're worth.

Meanwhile, I am doing all of the little things that go along with moving. Becoming a Florida resident, checking out the scene here. I am attending the Fort Myers monthly art walk this evening. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint!

Hope each of you are loving life!
Stay in touch,
Jessica