Americans for the Arts

I vividly recall my first meeting with Isela Sotelo and Manuel (“Manny”) Prieto, the outgoing and current Executive Directors of LAMusArt. They introduced me to the issues that LAMusArt and other arts organizations face, such as the need for better engagement of Millennials and younger generations, as well as the need to build a more diverse pipeline of board leadership. Traditional board member duties have often been limited to raising large donations; however, the dynamic and evolving nonprofit arts and cultural landscape demands that arts leadership look to their boards for deeper engagement, creative thinking and problem-solving, and fresh ideas in order to grow and thrive into the future. I shared with them the desire and passion that I and other young professionals have to make a more sustained impact on nonprofit organizations, contributing new and innovative ideas and building new leadership skills—goals that many existing one-off volunteering opportunities fail to meet. From that conversation, the idea for our Young Professionals Advisory Board (YPAB) was born. 

The post-graduation years are considered a rite of passage, where emerging artists navigate crushing poverty, unpaid internships, uninformed financial decisions, and rejection in order to emerge as bona fide artists. People use words like sacrifice and bootstraps. You’re expected to work for free in order to demonstrate your work ethic and “make connections” with important people. These connections, we’re told over and over, lead to paid jobs. Just not yet. Let’s look closely at these expectations through the lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion. In a field that is still white and male-dominated despite encouraging signs of change, those who hold privilege (economic, racial, gender, social, etc.) are better positioned to take the unpaid internships, get that one-on-one meeting with the artistic director, or convince the seasoned leader to take them on as an assistant. How can we better prepare aspiring artists from all backgrounds to enter this field?

I firmly believe that leaders happen at every level within an organization, and that the attributes for leadership can be found in entry-level employees just as frequently as they can be found in top-level executives. Working in the arts, we’re fortunate that passionate and dedicated people are drawn to our mission-driven organizations. If an employee demonstrates a connection to the work and a desire to make an impact within the organization, they have all the raw material needed to become a successful leader. Each individual employee will have a different set of natural talents, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all approach to determine what they need for their own growth, but it begins with direct, frequent, and open communication. It’s amazing what a manager can learn by simply asking their employee what they need and how to help empower them to achieve it.

Revolutionary Amilcar Cabral once said, “Tell no lies, claim no easy victories.” As the leader of the Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC), Cabral fought against Portuguese colonial forces in Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, and had a unique vision of the role of artists and culture bearers in the struggle for liberation and self-determination of his people. His is a quote I continue to carry every day in both my creative practice and as Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism. If cultural equity is a human right, then I believe our work in a local arts agency is, at the end of the day, human rights work. And while our work doesn’t have to feel heavy all the time – Emma Goldman told us to dance! – work ensuring publicly supported arts and culture shouldn’t feel easy.

Welcome to the 2019 Emerging Arts Leaders Blog Salon! This year, we have approached a number of emerging leaders in the field to reflect and respond to the theme: “Own your past, shape your future.” You will hear from a number of emerging leaders and change agents in the field who are forging a new path for the arts in America. Along with the theme, we have also asked all our blog salon participants the question, “How is history shaping the future of the arts in your community?” In the coming days you will hear from a number of brilliant emerging leaders who are working to mold and shape the future. This is being done through deliberate, mindful, and creative leadership that is creating discomfort (in a positive way). They are taking what they have been handed, creating dialogue, and forging a path for a stronger tomorrow.

This is a pivotal moment for Seattle. King County, Washington is experiencing rapid growth, attracting new companies and a diversifying, expanding population. We are also grappling with pressing challenges around education, homelessness, healthcare and mental health, workforce development, and income inequality. The benefits of our region’s growth are not broadly shared, and inequities persist. To ensure a healthy and equitable future, we need to find new mechanisms to solve these interconnected, complex challenges. To inject insights about how arts can play a role in addressing these needs, ArtsFund, a Seattle-based grantmaking and advocacy nonprofit, recently published the Social Impact of the Arts Study: How Arts Impact King County Communities. Defining “social impact” as the ability to advance community priorities, we focused on key areas where arts intersect with our region’s challenges. We center on equity throughout, examining how arts can lessen the opportunity gap. Our report offers a new way of looking at things—how investment in the arts is a proactive, strategic investment in community—with potential implications for advancing and amplifying the social impact of the arts in other localities.