Americans for the Arts

Located in Chicago’s Humboldt Park, the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture (NMPRAC) is the only museum in the country outside of Puerto Rico dedicated exclusively to Puerto Rican arts and culture. Under Billy Ocasio’s leadership as executive director, the museum’s budget has tripled, staffing has grown, and visitor attendance has increased 67%. In 2012, NMPRAC was named the latest City of Chicago’s Museums in the Park, making history as the first new addition in over 20 years. “At NMPRAC, our vision is to be the premier organization that both influences and connects diasporic arts, culture, and history to evolving generations. Supporting both local and national Puerto Rican artists has always been important to the museum. To this day, finding new and creative ways to engage with our communities remains a top priority and can be witnessed through our programming, including the annual Barrio Arts Fest, various workshops, lectures, and panel discussions, as well as through exhibiting work from Puerto Rican artists.” 

Jenice Gharib serves as the grants program and policy director at New Mexico Arts (NMA), the state arts agency and a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs. NMA’s primary function is to provide financial support for arts services and programs to nonprofit organizations statewide and to administer the 1% public art program for the state of New Mexico. Gharib manages the department's Arts & Cultural Districts, Local Arts Councils & Service Organizations, Arts Trails, and Economic and Entrepreneurial Development programs. Her varied experience includes running an organic coffee company, starting a joint venture in Poland, and turning around a bankrupt cable TV company. As a writer, she has published articles, reviews, essays, poetry, and short fiction, and has had three plays produced. 

When Pericles convinced his fellow Athenians to build the Parthenon in 447 BC, he shared a vision that would reflect the magnificence of Athens and be a monument to democracy. He also knew it would be a post-war economic driver that would put thousands of citizens to work and attract visitors who would travel to see the architectural marvel. 2,500 years later, Pericles’s prescient understanding of the value of the arts to inspire, define a sense of place, and strengthen the economy remains evident. As government leaders work to position their cities and states for a post-pandemic recovery, new research shows why they too should look to the arts as an essential tool in their economic recovery arsenal. The arts are economic catalysts. They do not just reflect the state and local economy, but actually accelerate economic recovery. A growth in arts employment has a positive and causal effect on overall state employment.

The last year brought forward a spotlight on existing disparities in communities of color—access to health care, financial stability and generational wealth, and the ever-present public health crisis that is racism. In fact, communities of color have been significantly more affected by the pandemic itself and artists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) have been more negatively impacted by the pandemic than white artists, including higher rates of unemployment (69% vs. 60%) and the expectation of losing a larger percentage of their 2020 income (61% vs. 56%). Funders of all types, especially local and state arts agencies, must center access and equitable distribution of resources to fully support their whole community. Now is the time to consider how to restructure programs, build stronger relationships, and include communities of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, and the disability community in crafting solutions.

For the last two years, we at Americans for the Arts have spent significant time listening, learning, planning, and in consideration to engage in a multi-pronged, multi-year effort to support inclusive creative economies at the local level, encourage stronger unification between the for-profit and nonprofit arts sectors, and pursue federal-level policies that support creative workers. With encouragement from current and former members of the Private Sector Council, a broad cross-section of local, state, regional and national advisors, and through consistent commitment from the Board of Directors, we sought to identify our unique role and where we can effect change alongside the many organizations, coalitions, and individuals doing this work. COVID-19, and its irrefutable disproportionate effect on communities of color, has only increased the urgency of these efforts. We know that we must, with intention and alongside new alliances and relationships, design strategies for the aspiration of an inclusive creative economy—recognizing that our current economy does not equitably support all people to reach their creative and artistic potential. This is an exciting and critically important journey. I’m pleased to share our plan on behalf of my colleagues, and to invite participation and feedback in it. 

After spending 15 years in corporate marketing, Shayda Windle started her own creative services business, SW Creative Services, offering content creation, copywriting, and marketing campaign planning and execution to small business owners all over the country. Passionate about helping other entrepreneurs achieve their dreams of doing what they love—creating—Windle also is a freelance writer and has had articles featured in Plein Air Magazine, the Fairfax County Times, Loudoun County Magazine, and several online media outlets including Modern Marketing Today and Government Technology Insider.