Working with Sara Juli has made a tremendous difference in my development as an artist. Our work has allowed me to pay my collaborators and envision a realistic strategy for fundraising that debunks various sticky “poor hopeless artist’ thinking that is so dangerous and prevalent in the dance community. There are certain realities to the current funding farm and our economy as a whole but Sara unleashes an excitement and rigor in her work and makes it all seem possible. It’s the best money I have spent!
– Juliana F. May, Artistic Director MAYDANCE
Sara brought tremendous knowledge and experience from her years working in the field. With Sara, I learned how to create a budget and fundraising strategy with her guidance in executing our plan at every stage. Her process was straightforward, confident and inspired. Sara’s ability to connect organizationally to the business aspect of artistic work, while maintaining a connection to the original vision of the artist is remarkable. She is very keen on detail and her writing is thoughtful and professional.
– Cori Olinghouse, Certified Alexander Technique teacher, artist
Working with Sara has been truly transformational. In the process of helping me to successfully raise money for my projects, she has also positively and dramatically changed how I think about money and, consequently, how I value my art. She strikes a perfect balance between thinking globally and determining the specific details required to put the global plan into action. Likewise, her substantial experience in the field is paired with an almost playful ability to adapt herself to my individual situation–she has made it fun to tackle this scary enterprise of fundraising (and I can’t imagine doing it without her).
– Zara Lawler, Flautist/Performance Artist
Sara Juli is all business, with a keen understanding of what an artist needs. Working with her has sharpened my understanding of how and where to develop sustainable funding relationships, and has put Musicworks on a course towards specific and meaningful goals. Her guidance has been invaluable to our non-profit.
– Jesse Neuman, Director of MusicWorks
Sara has been working with our company as a consultant for over a year. During that short time, she has significantly improved and strengthened our organizational development on many levels, ranging from developing fundraising strategies and management, operational budgets, board of directors training, and donor cultivation. Our sessions with her are incredibly productive, and we always leave them feeling more empowered, educated, and fortified with ways to continue to move our organization forward. She has quite simply brought our company to the next level. And we know our work with her will continue help us successfully grow. Sara is clearly passionate about helping arts organizations (large or small) make lasting strides that will maintain not only a company’s development, but its’ ongoing operational health. In addition, she is also incredibly supportive of the work—she truly cares about the arts, and art makers, and her care and dedication shows throughout her role as consultant. We feel so lucky to be working with her!
– Sue Kessler, Executive Director, The Bushwick Starr
Sara Juli’s work on behalf of Gibney Dance Center has been extraordinary. What is unique about Sara is her ability to leverage her skills, experience and common sense on behalf of a myriad of organizations, achieving immediate results and opening up long-term possibilities. Her guidance draws from a deep awareness of the opportunities and potential pitfalls facing arts organizations, and practical wisdom in how to steer away from “stuck syndrome” and toward success. She advised Gibney Dance Center from the ground up in the conception and operation of an in-house development team. Keenly aware of the pitfalls of rapid growth and expansion, she had laid the groundwork for solid development efforts that will catapult our organization to a new level of operation. In a word, Sara’s work is insightful and potent: she can make a big difference in a few words and in a short amount of time.
– Gina Gibney, Artistic Director, Gibney Dance Center
It is both productive and fun to work with Sara. She works like a close and invested partner committed to your success, and is efficient, detailed and down-to-earth. With a wealth of experience to draw upon, she is able to provide comprehensive strategy, project management and strong, on-time delivery of a wide range of institutional and individual development initiatives. Basically…she rocks!
– Chris Elam, Artistic Director & CEO, Misnomer Dance Theater
The thing that consistently blows me away about Sara Juli is the sincere enthusiasm she manages to bring to an aspect of art making that can feel completely uninspired at times. I have found her energy and devotion towards the field to be incredibly motivating and deeply connected to her vast knowledge of its infrastructure.
As an independent artist it is invaluable for me to have someone like Sara as a support system. Her work as an administrator is deeply informed by her experience of being an artist here in New York City, and it allows our dialogue to be multidimensional in a way that fosters not only my fundraising practices, but my creative practice as well.