Important Announcement!
As many who are familiar with the Libertine Asylum know, since our inception we have been a collective organization. All decisions have been made by the group, responsibility was shared as equitably as possible and everyone did their best to do what they could to make the Asylum bigger and better. While this has worked well for the last three years, it became more and more clear to the senior members that necessary tasks were not being carried out in a timely manner (and, rarely, not at all), when there was confusion about projects no one was sure who to turn to and sometimes toes were stepped on as Members tried to pick up the slack where they saw things not being done. It was obvious that the Asylum needed a central authority who would be responsible for the regular operation of our many projects, as well as delegation of responsibilities, answering questions for new and existing Members, managing the group’s resources, enforcing deadlines and providing a strong vision for the future of the Asylum.
Not Drayke.....Yet.
Thus, the position of Lord General of the Libertine Asylum was born! After consulting with the Founding Members of the Asylum (Blasphemina’s Closet, Scoundrelle’s Keep and Apatico), it was decided that I (Drayke Larson of ::photoSynthetique, senior Member and wearer of many Asylum hats) would take on the mantle of leadership. I felt that it was a natural move considering that I had been taking on more and more responsibilities within the organization but lacked the authority to ensure that things were operating smoothly. Once the decision was made, the information was disseminated to nearly all past and all current Members and I felt that the announcement was largely met with great enthusiasm! Personally, I see this as a great step forward for our organization as this will allow me to work directly with each of our many artists to make the changes we need to operate more efficiently.
The title “Lord General” was chosen because it implies both leadership and the idea that the role is not a stuffy corporate position. Also, it just sounds cool. I may need to make a fancy cape!
In addition to the “Lord General” position, we will also be greatly expanding the ranks of Asylum Members in the near future! Preparations are already underway to begin bringing in more artists and businesses. This, along with other changes that are being implemented, will bring an entirely different voice to our organization. We are moving away from “a Fashion Collective” and are working toward being an “Artist Advocacy Group”. Our goal is to help all of our Members grow both as artists and as businesspeople by expanding their access to other artists in their field, helping connect them with the resources they need to learn how to navigate their chosen discipline and provide a great way to share their art with others in the community! I’m feeling very optimistic about the upcoming shifts in our group and I think it’s going to make the Asylum a much more fun, exciting organization to be a part of.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me personally!
I’m looking forward to working with all of the fantastic new artists that we have coming in, enjoying our future events and leading the Asylum into an incredibly bright future!
For the Asylum!
::Drayke
(“Lord General” image is ©2011 Relic Entertainment.)
Libertine Asylum Founding Member Samantha Rei of Blasphemina’s Closet will be showing her newest work at two shows this year during MNFashion Week! Her outfits and accessories are always amazingly beautiful and will truly get you noticed!
