Context/background

How do I get enough people and the funds to bring an unusual performance art idea to life? This was one of the main challenges I faced while recreating "The Good Ol' Song" (the de facto school song at the University of Virginia) into fusion jazz with calligraphed trash cans.

Process

Without a tangible deliverable to help illustrate our end goal, my visual artist friend and I produced prototypical audios and visuals to pitch an imaginary deliverable to people: "a new and exciting audiovisual experience through an unprecedented twist on a song they know." After 3 months of written correspondences, interviews, and a presentation in front of approx. 150 locals, we had gathered 5 other full-time undergraduate students onboard, permissions to film/rehearse/perform at multiple venues, and sponsorships totaling $4,000.

What I learned

How to be scrappy. It goes without saying that people were uninterested at the beginning. But once I accomplished small milestones (e.g., getting my visual artist friend onboard), I knew it was important to leverage those small successes to incrementally pursue further objectives, which compounded along the way and brought the project to fruition.