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Spotlight on America’s Future Leaders: DIAL Fellows, Part 1
This summer, 10 Diversity in Arts Leadership fellows from all over the country are convening to explore and build skills in arts administration and cultivate knowledge in cultural equity. For 28 years, Americans for the Arts has been hosting the DIAL internship program as an investment in a more equitable arts management field. This series features our DIAL cohort in two parts: five fellows are profiled here and in a later post, five more! Read on to get to know Akilah Hartgrove, Ashley Betances, KeShawn Mellon, Cristal Seda Santiago, and Charis Shin.
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Spotlight on America’s Future Leaders: DIAL Interns, Part 2
This summer, 12 Diversity in Arts Leadership interns from all over the country are working virtually with New York City-based arts nonprofits for ten weeks to explore and build skills in arts administration, and cultivate knowledge in cultural equity within the arts field. For 27 years, Americans for the Arts has been hosting the DIAL internship program as an investment in a more equitable arts management field. This series features our DIAL NYC cohort in two parts: six interns are profiled here and in a previous post, six more! Read on to get to know Isaiah Shaw, Nailah Williams, Noemi Mangual-Rosa, Rebekah Boggs, Kayla Colon, and Arlene Arevalo.
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Spotlight on 2020 Johnson Fellowship Nominees: Music as the Heart of Equitable Neighborhood
This last post in our ARTSblog series featuring nominees for the 2020 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities celebrates Eddy Kwon—musician, educator, program designer, and facilitator of equitable community development. Integrating music as a fundamental component of Price Hill Will, a community development organization in Cincinnati, Kwon’s impacts are many and draw upon their own unique artistry and artistic vision, sustained work in creative youth development, and innovative initiatives in creative citizenship. First, Eddy Kwon is a composer, violinist, jazz musician, and improviser, performing as a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and with musicians from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Kwon is equally a community leader who works daily at the intersection of creative youth development, creative citizenship, and equitable community development.
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104672
Spotlight on America’s Future Leaders: DIAL Interns, Part 1
This summer, 12 Diversity in Arts Leadership interns from all over the country are working virtually with New York City-based arts nonprofits for ten weeks to explore and build skills in arts administration, and cultivate knowledge in cultural equity within the arts field. For 27 years, Americans for the Arts has been hosting the DIAL internship program as an investment in a more equitable arts management field. This series features our 2020 DIAL NYC cohort in two parts: six interns are profiled here and in a later post, six more! Read on to get to know Truth Murray Cole, Chayna Yoshida, Noa Weiss, Julia Lee, Carol Loja, and Allie Li.
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National League of Cities Takes Message of Arts, Racial Equity, and Healing to Mayors
Americans for the Arts partners with a range of associations of elected officials at all levels of government to promote the arts and culture as solutions to cities’ various issues or problems. The National League of Cities (NLC) is one such partner. NLC represents mayors and city council members of approximately 2,000 cities of all sizes in the United States. Recently, the League reached out to Americans for the Arts to write an article on how the arts can help cities through this time of social and civil change and the need for racial equity and healing. We work with NCL and similar organizations to promote arts and culture at the national level in order to get the attention of elected officials, which allows you, the local advocate, to follow up. In other words, the elected official hears our message from their national association (at conferences, through blog posts, and other channels), and then hears it again from their local residents. This two-pronged approach shows the elected official that the arts are indeed a powerful tool and an organized political constituency.
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Pay Equity and the Power of Collective Decision Making
Like many organizations, the financial impact of COVID-19 forced us to face tough decisions about salaries and employment. When it became clear that ArtsPool might need to implement pay cuts, our decision-making was aided by the previous investment we made in addressing the inequities of our pay structure. As a result, we were able to have difficult but open conversations as a full team about how to come to an equitable solution that takes into account the needs of the organization, as well as the differing circumstances of each individual. We believe these efforts have positioned us to make better, more equitable decisions as an organization during regular operations as well as during times of crisis. While there is no single model for creating an equitable workplace, we offer our transition story as a conversation starter for other organizations who are interrogating their own staffing structures.
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Spotlight on 2020 Johnson Fellowship Nominees: The Power of Cultural Roots to Ground & Enlighten
Musical traditions hold a unique power in cultural belonging and identity for the communities and cultures from which they grow. Preservation and performance can be a political act of cultural self-determination, expression, and continuity. The stories, meaning, and sounds embodied by traditional music can gain new power for new audiences and broader communities, when linked to contemporary issues and concerns. The four extraordinary musicians featured in this installment of our blog series celebrating nominees for the 2020 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities draw upon cultural traditions and sometimes stretch and merge them with other forms to embrace a broader holistic view of culture and humanity. These musicians are: Dom Flemons, American roots ambassador; the Reverend John Wilkins, a bearer of blues-influenced gospel of Mississippi hill country; Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, a Black Indian and jazz-rooted genre-blind innovator; and Tiokasin Ghosthorse, master player of the ancient red cedar Lakota flute.
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Member Spotlight: Madison Cario
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) provides grants; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; convenes forums, networking events, and other community gatherings; and provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance for artists and nonprofit organizations in Portland, Oregon. Madison Cario joined the 501(c)(3) nonprofit as executive director in January 2019, bringing more than 20 years of experience working as a connector, curator, artist, writer, Marine Corps Veteran, and more. They recently shared some insights with us about leading a local arts agency during these turbulent times.
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Imagining a post-pandemic art world
Today, the convergence of COVID-19 closing down public events, along with the explosive outrage with continued police carnage in communities of color, brings us to a similar inflection point as the late 1960s. Once again, a fundamental shift wherein art is stripped of any pretense is emerging. As well, the enormous chasm between aesthetics and inequity must be addressed as systemic racism is dismantled. Perhaps it is a gift that we are currently forced to live in a continuous present, with no past, and no future, just now. Artists and organizations are re-examining their practices. Art can no longer be treated solely as a transactional product, with audience as consumers. What is important now is how culture can be essential in our communities. We are in this liminal moment imagining a post-pandemic art world. The opportunity in this crisis will be lost, if in hindsight we simply rush to put everything back together the way it was.
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How 2020 is Changing Your Audience and What to do About It
If, as arts administrators, we cover our eyes and believe that we just need to hold fast to all that we’ve known about our organizations, our communities, and our audiences until the fog lifts, we risk missing opportunities to engage audiences old and new even as our communities are changed in this period of pandemic and civic unrest.
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104650
How a Local Business Chamber & the Arts Work Together as a Vital Emergency Response and Long-
Unprecedented … resilient … essential … are words we have heard much about during the COVID-19 crisis. These words, in fact, describe every artist, arts educator, and arts organization—and not just during an emergency. Each of us as human beings are heard, healed, uplifted, and empowered by and through the arts. In both unprecedented crises and unprecedented times, ART is essential. With a growing understanding of the vital role the arts play in successful communities, Baton Rouge Area Chamber has sought to better understand and formalize its relationship with the arts sector. Baton Rouge Area Chamber has been a phenomenal arts sector partner in the response to COVID-19. The Chamber has put their strategic planning process into action by looking to the arts community for responses to medical shortfalls in personal protective equipment, maintaining the gig economy, and creating campaigns which promote safety and healing for the community.
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