For Heather Pontonio, helping artists reflect on their work isn’t about grading or scoring — it’s about sparking change. Through the Artists Thrive initiative, Heather and her team built a set of self-assessment tools that inspire honest conversations and guide growth. But bringing those tools online without losing their depth proved to be a challenge — until they found Sogolytics.
Helping Artists Reflect, Grow, and Thrive
When Heather Pontonio talks about Artists Thrive, she lights up. As Senior Program Director at the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, she’s seen firsthand how powerful reflection can be — not just for individual artists, but for the entire arts ecosystem.
“Artists Thrive was built to raise the value of artists in every community,” Heather explains. “We give people tools to step back, see where they are in their artistic life, and think about where they want to go next.”
Those tools — two self-assessment rubrics called I Am an Artist and I Work with Artists — invite deep thinking and honest self-evaluation. They’re not designed to score or rank anyone. Instead, they spark conversations, encourage personal growth, and point people toward resources that can help them improve.
But translating such a nuanced process into an online format came with unique challenges. Most survey tools only display the answer you choose — a limitation that runs counter to the formative assessment approach. “Seeing the full range of possible answers is part of the learning,” Heather says. “If you only see your chosen answer, you miss the chance to imagine what ‘better’ could look like.”
Searching for the Right Fit
By 2021, Heather had tested more than 15 survey platforms. None of them could offer the combination of features she needed:
- Show all possible rubric answers alongside the participant’s selection.
- Allow people to save and return later.
- Keep results anonymous to encourage honesty.
- Provide simple ways to email or print responses.
“I was pulling my hair out,” Heather laughs. “I needed something that would make the experience easy and engaging, not frustrating.”
Then she found Sogolytics. “Once I saw what Sogo could do, I stopped looking anywhere else,” she recalls. “It checked every box, and it just felt right for us.”
Building a Better Experience
With support from her main Sogolytics point of contact, Bria Samuels, Heather and her team brought the rubrics to life online. Now, visitors to the Artists Thrive website can select a survey, answer a few quick setup questions to customize their experience, and start reflecting.
Some spend 40 minutes thinking deeply about each question; others focus on one category at a time. Either way, participants can email themselves their results, print them, or come back later to continue. The final screen directs them back to the Artists Thrive site, where they can browse resources, read stories, and start making changes.
For Bria, the collaboration has been inspiring. “Working with Heather and Artists Thrive is a pleasure,” she says. “They’re mission-driven, creative, and always thinking about how to make their tools more valuable for artists and the people who support them. It’s exciting to see the real-world impact of their work.”
A Tool in Action
Since moving their rubrics online, Artists Thrive has seen increased engagement and unexpected new uses for the surveys. Residency programs use them at the start of an artist’s stay to guide personal goals. Arts organizations fold them into strategic planning sessions. In Charleston, WV, a community-wide version helped secure funding for a part-time role supporting local artists.
Heather still remembers a comment from one participant in Virginia: “They told me they only had to answer the first question before realizing they weren’t taking care of themselves as an artist. That moment of awareness was all they needed to start making changes.”
Even without tracking individual users, Heather can see waves of participation. “Sometimes a spike will happen in one survey, and we know it’s because a group somewhere decided this mattered,” she says. “We might not know exactly who they are, but that’s the beauty — these tools belong to the community.”
Reflect, Return, Repeat
For Heather, Sogolytics has turned a once-frustrating challenge into a integral part of Artists Thrive’s mission. “I love Sogo,” she says. “It’s usable, friendly, and it does exactly what we need it to do — so people can focus on their reflection and growth.”
And for the artists, administrators, and communities who use the rubrics, it’s about more than checking boxes. It’s about seeing the possibilities ahead, making a plan, and taking steps — small or big — toward a more sustainable, fulfilling artistic life.
Many thanks to Heather and the Artists Thrive team for sharing their story and images from the 2025 Summit! Learn more about Artists Thrive.
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