Nurturing Leadership

EartHand Gleaners Society exists because of the many people who gave encouragement, opportunity, and guidance to younger artists. In this spirit, we believe deeply in the importance of sharing what we know and in offering a strong base of support for artists who identify with our mission, spirit, and ways of working.

We’re primarily driven by a strong network of volunteers doing core organizational tasks—both the fun stuff and the ‘joyful obligations’ that feed our community’s growth.

Participants—called community collaborators—influence all aspects of our work through a relational “feedback” loop: relationships develop and investment grows over time. Strong, healthy relationships among artists, community members, and peer organizations are integral to our functioning. We find space for active participants to become community leaders wherever we can.

EartHand strongly believes in apprenticeship: rather than delegating work or micro-managing outputs, leaders roll up their sleeves and work together with apprentices. Our work is based on building on supportive relationships and foregrounds the importance of understanding that experimentation and failure can be an important part of growth.