Americans for the Arts

After a recent successful community event, I was able to meet with different community business leaders, one of whom asked the ubiquitous question: How can we, as community leaders, help education? My answer likely surprised him when I said, “You can stop talking out of both sides of your mouth.” He looked at me somewhat stunned as I continued. “You can quit saying that you want us to produce problem-solvers, creative thinkers, and collaborative workers while also complaining about ‘school grades’ that are based on standardized tests that assess none of those things.” My point was simple: You need to demand better data. You need to critique the misuse of standardized test data.

Research shows that people who look and have experiences like mine are less likely to continue higher education. I often find myself to be the only Latina in the room and the only person from an underprivileged background. Aside from seeing this in my own environment, I have seen it in the works being produced on stage around the country. The first time I saw someone that looks like me play a leading role on stage was a couple of months ago, at twenty-two years old. The narrative has to change. I am diligently working towards doing just that, but I am the exception to a very large statistic. I want to make sure that we all start having colleagues of different backgrounds and skin colors. I want us all to read books, see plays, and hear music that is written, performed, and produced by people that look like us. Providing equitable access to a well-rounded education that includes the arts can do these things.

Being asked to blog about operationalizing access and equity in arts education is daunting. As a museum director, we strive to make everything accessible following ADA guidelines and being open to the public on a regular basis. Here at the Delta Blues Museum we are trying to tell the stories of artists who have not always been given equity–in their lives, their professions, or even in their deaths.

In pondering what knowledge I could share about this topic, I realized that in part, our programming is not planed for a particular age, demographic or targeted audience. We plan programs about the blues for fans of the blues and persons interested in learning more about the blues. This audience is global. So, when you look at the world as your audience, you are freer to be more creative in your offerings instead of trying to create something for the audience you aren’t reaching. Nurture and feed the one you have.

The Dublin Coffman Marching Band, from Dublin, Ohio, has officially started! Our season will kick off with an exciting visit from John Escalante, a visual designer/dancer from Las Vegas, Nevada. Through a grant from Vans and Americans for the Arts, Mr. Escalante has been hired to provide our students with a wider range of marching and dancing fundamentals. He will not only design and implement a body warm-up for the students, but also choreograph two sections of our marching band show. This year our students will perform their show titled “Colorº” (Color Squared), which will reflect the various moods of color represented in the music and through dance and drill designs. John will be bringing color to life!

Young(er) arts advocate, do you realize that you are powerful? Do you realize that because you took your stand with grace and strength, your community will be changed?

In 2009, my family formed the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts and as Executive Director I was tasked with trying to make sure the arts were kept in schools in a meaningful way. We believe that the arts are not just fluff, but that they are critical for student development in the 21st century.