Follow Your Art Launches New Membership Program
Written By Ellen Putnam
Photographed By Nancy Clover
Follow Your Art's Big Yellow House
Seven years after it was founded as a nonprofit, Follow Your Art continues to reshape its programming and structure to better meet its goal of providing access to the arts for all community members. Going into 2027, that will look like a new membership program that leaders anticipate will allow for a wider range of programming for a variety of audiences and interests.
“This new membership program has been a long time in the making,” said Executive Director Kris Rodolico. “The economy is changing, people’s free time is changing, what they are valuing for their money is changing. We truly believe in the power of a creative community offering places where people can be creative together.”
The new memberships will cost $30 per month for a family membership; $15 per month for an individual; or $10 per month for seniors and young adults. Membership comes with access to free events, including drop-ins for children, adult artists, and writers; and creative writing and craft sessions; and offers a range of discounts for classes and one-off programming.
While Follow Your Art will continue to offer their standard six-week classes for both children and adults, the new membership program marks a shift toward offering more one-off programs, both structured and casual.
“We’re creating a new model that offers up a ton of options if you take advantage of them,” Rodolico explained. “And for us, this is a way to expand our community.” She noted that an individual membership will pay for itself if a member attends just one event per month. And Follow Your Art will be setting aside a number of free and deeply discounted memberships for those who need them, providing a way for families to access subsidized programming without needing to apply for a scholarship each time they take a class.
Rodolico, center, with Gallery Coordinator Sara Gravante, left, and Emily Santillo
Rodolico also emphasized that the new model will make it easier for Follow Your Art to pay facilitators. Instead of worrying about canceling classes if too few attendees sign up, the membership structure will allow Follow Your Art to consistently pay teachers and facilitators for member events. “This is in service of providing more opportunities for creatives to connect in a way that values their time,” she noted. “It’s a lot to always ask people to volunteer.”
While the membership program is new, there is already a robust calendar of activities planned for the first few months. In addition to continuing member open studio hours and making Saturday morning drop-ins for children free for members, Follow Your Art will offer members at least two creative art events, two creative writing nights, and one ceramic hand-building workshop each month.
And on top of that baseline, members are likely to see a variety of new events and offerings, with more added as time goes on. “I’m excited,” said Rodolico. “I can envision a time, a few years down the road, where this is how a lot of our programming is working.”
This new membership program comes after Follow Your Art launched a successful campaign, supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, to purchase the Big Yellow House from Follow Your Art's original investors. The conclusion of that campaign has freed up staff time and energy for this new venture.
Follow Your Art has also seen growth in the size and diversity of its programming over the last year. This includes frequent concerts, both inside and on the patio; pottery classes in the new basement pottery studio; an Art at the Market series in collaboration with the Melrose Farmers' Market; and even monthly meetings of the Strummerville ukelele club.
A storytelling event on the patio this summer
Follow Your Art also expanded its programming for children this fall to a full after school program, which offers childcare to working parents and extends programming to families who could not previously make classes work due to logistics. They are also working on increasing opportunities for middle and high school students to take on leadership roles and collaborate with businesses and other community organizations.
For families, one additional benefit of the new membership is early sign-up for programs. This includes Follow Your Art's very popular summer camp programming for children, which often fills up within the first few minutes. “That’s pretty huge for a lot of families,” said Rodolico. “You know you’ll get the weeks you want for the summer, and you won’t have to be on your computer at the exact right moment to sign up.”
“We’re trying to encourage people not to pigeonhole themselves, and try new things,” Rodolico expressed. “Maybe you come in for creative writing, and you try pottery while you’re here. Our programs are for creatively curious people, and there is room for everyone here.”
