In 2019, friends Bella Brown, Maddy Petz and Amanda Zawisza graduated from Wayne State University with degrees in dance, their professional lives ahead of them.
Throughout college, the women were told they would have to move to other cities to become professional dancers. But the trio stayed in Detroit, eventually founding their production company, Etude, in 2022 to help other artists in the city. The French word translates to “the act of studying.”
“We were like, ‘What if we made a nonprofit, which could be easier for us to get grant money to help artists, because artists have a hard time getting grant money as individuals,” Brown said. “We can help funnel money to artists, but then we can be a production team for them and help them trial what it would be like to make your own work or have your own original idea and not have to do it by yourself.”
Brown said the goal is to give artists an opportunity, “because if they don’t like it at least they know.”
Etude’s signature event is Sled Season, a music festival showcasing local artists. Now in its third year, the event returns at 4 p.m. Saturday at a new venue: Tangent Gallery in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood. The lineup includes indie rock and pop bands Toboggan Man, Pia the Band, Rose St. Germaine, New Entertainment, Checker, Lee Cleaveland & The Lefthand Band and Ty.
Vendors include WAKA by Baobab Fare, Detroit Mini Donuts, Hazelnut Helper’s, Fannan Collective and Lofty Pops.
Etude offers production programming, which is what Sled Season falls under, and then serves as a middleman of sorts for connecting artists to existing available venues. It’s also building a “neighborhood collective” of businesses and supporting members who can sponsor artists. And it is offering what Brown calls a “Behind the Curtain Collective” subscription plan. For as little as $1 per month, people can subscribe for access to behind-the-scenes footage and weekly email updates on upcoming events and shows.
BridgeDetroit talked to Brown about the festival’s beginnings, moving the event to Tangent and some of the challenges of starting a nonprofit organization.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
BridgeDetroit: How was the Sled Season festival formed?
Brown: This artist Geo (George Rafka), who’s in the band Toboggan Man, came to us one day and said, “I have this crazy idea for a winter music festival.” We were like, “Say less, what can we do? Can we help with marketing? Can we get you your venue?” Let us help you with the administrative side. A lot of artists they’re so genius in their craft, and they get so into it that they forget that there’s a business to it as well. We started it three years ago with the intention of bringing it back every year, bigger and better than before. The first year was pretty small, just kind of like, “Let’s just give the idea some legs and see how it goes.” And we’ve been successful so far. This is definitely our biggest year yet, but it all comes from Geo and his idea and what he imagined for Toboggan Man.
BridgeDetroit: How did you find the artists who are performing this year?
Brown: We start every year with a giant dream list of local bands, and they range from some of the bigger heavy hitters that have more followers or are potentially working with labels, all the way down to very small bands that just started. A lot of them come from Geo himself and who he plays with. And we ask people, “What are you guys listening to? What’s the latest show you’ve been to? Who are you interested in?” And so, we start with a giant list, and then usually what happens is, it gets narrowed down by who responds in the first place, and then who’s available that day. I know wintertime can be really difficult for musicians because it’s kind of their offseason, which is also why we wanted to do it in the wintertime, because we wanted to give musicians the opportunity to make a little money on their off time.
We have two bands that are returning from last year, besides Toboggan Man, obviously. We’ve got Lee Cleaveland & The Lefthand Band. I watched them perform last year, and my jaw was on the floor. They’re such a high-energy group. And then Checker is another group that is returning from last year, who ended up being a close, personal friend. They’re a duo, and they’re also super high-energy and really fun to watch, so we brought them back. They actually reached out and asked if they could play again.
BridgeDetroit: Why did Etude decide to move to Tangent Gallery this year?
Brown: The first year we had the event, it was at The Congregation. We did it in the basement. Geo had been a barista there at the time, and I was also working there, and it just made sense. Last year, we moved to the Durfee (Innovation Center), so we tripled the venue size and brought more bands in. It was amazing, but it really wasn’t built for the size that we were looking for and the sound logistics that we were looking for. We ended up reaching out to Tangent Gallery, and they were huge fans of Checker, and so, they were down right away. And they have two stages already. They also have an outdoor stage, which we won’t be activating this year, but our hope is to try and figure out how to activate more of an outdoor space in future years. We’d love to have a space where we can grow the festival year to year, and Tangent feels like a good space to do that.
BridgeDetroit: What have been some of the challenges of starting a nonprofit?
Brown: All three of us have degrees in dance, and that’s not to say we aren’t intelligent and can’t do things, but we never learned how to run a business. I am a student of “YouTube Academy.” It’s just difficult from the jump when you don’t have any background in it, and we’ve never run a business before. And I’ve learned so much about the nonprofit industry. There’s the for-profit, and then the nonprofit, and for the nonprofit, there’s a scale, and I often feel like arts are at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to funding and support from the government, and it can feel like an uphill battle. There are just inherent obstacles when it comes to operating in the nonprofit industry and then operating in the arts nonprofit industry. But here in the city of Detroit, there’s such a robust and incredible arts culture that has existed, and it is just so beautiful to get into and learn more about. I feel like I’m constantly like, “Oh my gosh, there’s this whole community that’s dedicated to this super niche thing.”
There aren’t a lot of great structures in play where artists can go, and they can get the funding and support they need to potentially make a career for themselves or grow their career in a sustainable way. And so, that’s where I think Etude runs into both an obstacle and an opportunity, where we’re like, “We’re not seeing it here.” We couldn’t see it for ourselves as artists, but what an amazing opportunity to build it and create the kind of industry that we wish we had graduated into. Even so, how can we create an industry that doesn’t exist in other cities? Because Detroit is so unique, I think that sometimes feels like an obstacle, because you’re like, “Why can’t we be like New York?” But no, this is our opportunity to do our thing and do it right.
BridgeDetroit: What do you hope audiences get out of this year’s Sled Season?
Brown: Well, I hope they have a fun time. I think Sled Season is a great example of what we do best, which is bringing artists together and putting on a great experience. We always talk about Sled Season as a winter experience. You’re getting the music, you’re getting the food, you’re getting the drinks. Maybe you’re walking over and you’re buying something from a vendor who’s also a local artist. We also have a photoshoot experience that we bring back every year, which is really fun. You’re getting this full experience of young, emerging artists who have a lot to say. I hope that people who come to Sled Season can come and just be immersed in this winter music and art experience.