Poet
Arts Link Mission
Published three times a year for our Professional Members, Arts Link provides insight and expertise on the latest trends, resources, tools, and ideas in the field of local arts agencies and arts professionals. Written by Americans for the Arts staff and guest contributors, Arts Link brings together arts advocacy news, member spotlights, and highlights of artists and arts organizations from across the country so that our members can continue to create a world where everyone has access to the arts and their transformative power.
Arts Link Managing Editor
Linda Lombardi llombardi@artsusa.org
Arts Link Editorial Committee
Michael Chodos*
Graham Dunstan*
Heather Flanagan
Nicole Goodman
Ruby Lopez Harper
Jerelle Jenkins*
Nikki Kirk
Pam Korza
Clayton Lord*
Narric Rome*
Marissa Shadburn
Jessica Stern
Inga Vitols
Patricia Walsh*
Ann Marie Watson*
* denotes content contributor this issue
Arts Link Design
Studio e2
Cover
Be Well mural by Rex Hamilton, photo by Joe Ybarra, courtesy Raasin in the Sun.
Inside Cover
Luminous Field by Lead Artist Petra Bachmaier and Contributing Artist Sean Gallero, photo by LAZ, Ken Ilio, Critter.
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06 NDN 101: What I Wish More People Understood About Working in Native Communities
Five items to bear in mind when interested in doing work in Native communities.
14 Activating Your Values
How the pandemic changed the way one theater artist partners with community.
22 Art & Mental Health
Three Americans for the Arts member organizations use art to improve their community’s mental health during the pandemic.
DEPARTMENTS
04 Working for You
Americans for the Arts News
Pérez Prize Recipient Allentza Michel, Pro-Arts Legislation, NAMPC
12 Member Center You Belong Here
Member Spotlight Asiyah Kurtz, New Marketing & Membership Coordinator, Membership Renewals
20 Leadership in Practice
Inspiring Leadership Through Example
Youth Poet Laureate Alora Young, Regional Arts & Culture Council’s Support Beam, CERA
28 The Toolbox
Information to Help You Succeed
The Digital Transformation Is Here—Are You Ready?
YES, THIS PAST YEAR has proven to be another challenging year—for the arts, our communities, and our families. We have lost people we love; we have seen a rise in inequity in our country, and we have witnessed a seeming increase in the divide between Americans. At the same time, we have also seen the rapid development of strong COVID-19 vaccines, a greater and more intentional spotlight on racial injustice in our country, and a true rallying of the entire arts and culture sector for COVID-19 relief—nonprofit and for-profit organizations, arts professionals, artists, and advocates.
Leading Americans for the Arts as president and CEO since January 2021, I have seen the positive impact of the work that all of you are doing every day in communities across the country. I am inspired by the stories our 5,000+ members are sharing about how the arts are helping families, schools, businesses, communities, artists, creative workers, and more through this period of devastating loss. You are connecting people, creating shared experiences, and helping others envision a better future. All this brings me hope. And #ArtsCreateHope is more than a slogan or visibility campaign for our field—it is a fundamental truth about our field, a promise of the healing ability of the arts.
When we say the “Arts Create Hope,” a more accurate description might be “You Create Hope.” Local arts agencies. Artists. Community leaders. Educators. Children. Front line workers. Parents. Arts advocates. Arts professionals. Your loyalty to the continued healing and growth of our arts sector has been uncompromising. That it has been tested by recent world events is an understatement. But the mark of one’s loyalty is not how they respond in the time of ease, but how they continue steadfastly in their support in time of crisis—greatest need. And in that each of you have proven exemplary.
I want to thank all of you for what you bring to your communities, and I want to thank you for being members of Americans for the Arts. The staff, board, and I are encouraged as we work with you, amplify your good work, and find new ways to support the arts in America. As you renew your membership for 2022, you can count on Arts Link magazine to continue to probe key issues and highlight the amazing work you do across the country.
While 2022 will bring many challenges, there are quite a few things I am looking forward to. I will get to connect with many of you in person as we look to bring back in-person components to a few of our signature events, including
Annual Convention and the National Arts Awards. And the staff and board will be engaging with our members, the arts field, and others as we work on completing Americans for the Arts’ strategic realignment process in the coming year, which will help us better align our programs, services, and support with the vital needs of our field, and continual centering of racial and cultural equity in all we do.
In 2022, we will work with members and other organizations across the country to gather data for Arts & Economic Prosperity 6, which will detail the great economic impact of the arts for our country. The data will likely show not only the resiliency of the arts sector, but also the need for better support of artists and our field. This is an important story we look forward to creating and sharing with you.
Thank you for working with us to build, cultivate, and re-envision the arts sector—one of our nation’s greatest assets. Americans for the Arts’ staff, board, and I all look forward to continuing this work with you in the coming year.
Sincerely,
As 2021 comes to an end and we look to a new year, it is hope that keeps me looking forward. And I find my hope in the arts, our community of members and partners, and the deep conversations around equity our field is having.
OUR STRATEGIC realignment process to articulate the role of the organization in serving the arts industries is underway. The five-year framework will align our vision, mission, and goals, while guiding future decisionmaking. This inclusive process will be centered in racial and cultural equity and consultative with stakeholders, board, and staff. Learn more on our website
OUR ART, CULTURE, and creativity are some of our country’s most valuable resources. They are evidence of our humanity, our ability to learn from our examined experience, and our ability to imagine and innovate. The arts are critical to our well-being, to robust economies, and to healthy communities where all people can thrive.” – Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, first African American and Mexican American nominee for chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.
HIKING THE HORIZONTAL BY LIZ LERMAN
In Hiking the Horizontal, Liz Lerman reflects on her life-long exploration of dance as a vehicle for human insight and understanding of the world. A manifesto on bringing a horizontal focus to a hierarchical world, this is the perfect book for anyone curious about the possible role for art in politics, science, community, and the media. Buy your copy today.
HOW TO WRITE AN EMAIL BY JUSTIN KERR
Basic and often overlooked behaviors are the real keys to thriving in the workplace. How to write an email teaches you the fundamentals that will help you get promoted quickly and often and make the most of your time in any organization. Buy your copy today
WITH THE PANDEMIC came the loss of jobs for artists, creative workers, and arts administrators across the country. Along with anxiety about health and economics, many of us have felt an existential loss of identity and community as well. Who are we if we’re not creating? Where is my community if I don’t see them regularly?
Almost two years later and we don’t yet know the full extent of the trauma of COVID-19. The impact of this extended time of isolation, unemployment, and loss will ripple through our lives and communities for years to come. But art has been the connective tissue for all of us. Whether you created during this time, streamed digital entertainment, or read some books you’ve been putting off, art and artists lifted us up and showed us the way. As arts organizations reopen and welcome back in-person audiences, the lessons we learned during this enforced pause can help us create a new, more equitable community—one of fair wages, diverse representation, honest conversations, and transparent processes.
For our annual double issue, we bring you three feature stories about community.
In NDN 101: What I Wish More People Understood About Working in Native Communities, Cecily Engelhart explores the importance of understanding the culture, practices, and needs of Native communities. In Activating Your Values, Johnson Fellow Laurie Woolery shares an intimate look at how the pandemic moved her to explore her artistic process with community partners. Finally, in Art & Mental Health, I had the pleasure of interviewing three Americans for the Arts members about how their organizations have used art to support mental health and give hope to their communities.
Through it all, art brings us closer together and makes us feel less alone, less invisible. As we look ahead to 2022, may we all enjoy a happy and healthy and artistic new year!
Linda Lombardi, Managing Editor llombardi@artsusa.org
THE ARTS CAN PLAY a significant role in addressing the needs and interests of a community. More and more local arts leaders are finding ways to leverage the arts to engage communities and help meet their goals. Allentza Michel, recipient of the 2021 Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design, is one such arts leader. Through her own work and Powerful Pathways, an organization she founded, Michel finds ways to identify important issues for communities and utilizes the arts to address those needs.
Michel identifies as an artist, urban planner, policy advocate, and researcher with
a background in community organizing and human service. Growing up and working in historically underserved and segregated communities led Michel to coalition building and community planning, with a particular focus on mobility and neighborhood revitalization.
“Civic design is about so much more than putting up murals for beautification,” said Michel. “The ‘civic’ means that people are democratically setting the course for themselves and revitalizing their community, with art being one of the design decisions they can take.”
One example of this work is Mattapan Open Streets/Open Studios, a placemaking initiative with a goal of celebrating and uplifting the built and cultural environments of Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood using arts and design. This was done through free, inclusive, place-based activities and events, public art projects, collaborative artist engagements, performances, and small business promotions. Michel started Mattapan Open Streets/Open Studios because there were virtually no artist’s spaces in this community. Further,
with a legacy of redlining and under-investment, Mattapan lacks the infrastructure afforded to other Boston neighborhoods. Working with the community, the entire neighborhood was turned into a canvas, leading to several public art projects and community events that strengthened the social fabric while also highlighting economic development opportunities.
Michel focuses her work not on the end product of a project, but on the people who are involved and affected by the work. She uses the arts and creative cultural engagement as a facilitation tool. She aims to work closely with community to co-design the process; taking cues from them and their cultural interests to plan and execute a project. As an arts administrator, she centers those on the margins. It is with and for the stakeholders that the goals of a project are identified, and with them that they are carried out. Her work with Powerful Pathways reaches for high quality sustainable design in the built environment that is culturally responsive and reflected in the arts and design of the public realm.
“Allentza is an inspiring force as the civic design field continues to evolve,” said Americans for the Arts Public Art & Civic Design Senior Program Manager Patricia Walsh. “She has a vision for a more equitable field that centers people when addressing place-based issues that is reachable with continued support. She is a leader who believes in doing, not just talking about her goals, and we all can learn from her perseverance.”
THANKS TO VARIOUS FACTORS, there is more pro-arts legislation being considered than ever before in the U.S. Congress. Beyond the annual appropriations bills that fund federal agencies and culturally related programs, there are at least eight bills under consideration that would address inequities in federal policy and direct additional resources into the creative workforce.
The accompanying graphic, “Federal Creative Economy Legislation,” attempts to capture the various bills and provide a sense of their interconnectedness and scope. Four of them—CREATE (Comprehensive Resources for Entrepreneurs in the Arts to Transform the Economy), PLACE (Promoting Local Arts and Creative Economy Workforce), CERA (Creative Economy Revitalization Act), and 21st C. FWP (21st Century Federal Writers Project)—are efforts to boost the creative economy. AMPA (Artist-Museum Partnership Act), PATPA (Performing Artist Tax Parity Act), AEFA (Arts Education For All Act), and STAR (Saving Transit Art Resources) are more targeted to visual artists, performing artists, learners and educators, and the public arts, respectively.
This set of legislation represents an encouraging sign of the coalescing, and coordination, of the arts field around finding policy solutions to ongoing and systemic gaps in how the sizable creative economy is supported through federal policy. These bills are in place for the field’s arts champions in Congress and advocates throughout the country to advance as legislative opportunities present themselves.
These bills are crafted and advanced with coalitions like the Get Creative Workers Working group that contributed to the design of CERA, or National Arts Action Summit teams that have worked over the years on the CREATE and PLACE Acts.
Americans for the Arts is proud to be among the advocacy groups working on the bills on Capitol Hill, in the cultural sector, and with other interest groups and public sector partners to build support and co-sponsorship. They say producing legislation is like watching sausage get made…at least we’re able to contribute to some of the ingredients!
MANY ARTS AND CULTURE organizations have shifted and changed how they deliver content, engage communities, and invite audiences to participate. The National Arts Marketing Project Conference (NAMPC) addresses these changes by bundling fresh concepts to inspire and set the groundwork for arts and culture organizations to adapt, survive, and thrive in the virtual landscape.
This year’s conference explores three core themes: You, Your World, and Your Future, and includes two days of programming from field experts in social media, email marketing, audience development, fundraising, research, and so much more! Featured sessions include: Why Creative Placemaking and Marketing are a Perfect Pair, Tracking the Progress of Racial Equity and Systemic Change in the Arts: Learnings Black Opera Alliance and TRG Arts, and Whom Will We Gather.
As NAMPC continues to be a virtual, one-ofa-kind, educational experience, we continue to be sustainable, relevant, and responsive. Expanded registration support is available to keep pricing affordable. Register to join us December 7–8, and if you miss the event, you can still register to watch the session videos on-demand until June 30, 2022.
Art Alley 5.5 in Bismarck, North Dakota, photo by Stephanie Gutierrez (Oglala Lakota).
Afew years back I was approached by a local entity interested in doing an economic development project with Native communities here in South Dakota. I’d spent my post-graduate career working for Native nonprofits in the area, being steeped in the latest conversations around community development in both Native and non-Native contexts, so I felt like I might be able to help this local entity determine some parameters for their project. My immediate thought was to guide them toward a project focused on Native artists.
I pitched an idea I’d been thinking about for quite some time, complete with recent statistics that supported focusing on Native artists, the how and why of what approach they might use, and a list of potential contacts. I included research from my employer at the time, First Peoples Fund, whose 2013 publication found that 51% of Native households rely on a home-based business for income. Of those home-based businesses, 79% are arts businesses. Seventy. Nine. Percent. That breaks down to nearly 40% of Native households relying on an arts-based business for income.
After I presented my thoughts, they said to me, “I think you misunderstood— we are looking for an economic development project.”
I sat there, with evidence that arts-based businesses provide income to nearly 40% of Native households, and was being told I had misunderstood.
I was left so frustrated that I stopped providing these free “pick your brain” meetings to entities interested in doing a “Native project.” I talked with other Native nonprofit professionals, consultants, and several friends and family members about this phenomenon of people wanting to come in and do something in Native communities, but then ignoring the voices of Native people. We talked about how these projects often don’t feel like they are for our communities at all, but really for the entity itself to lay claim to their involvement in a diverse project and utilize you as a source of knowledge awaiting harvesting rather than treating you as a respected peer. We also talked about how nearly every single partnership or project requires an “NDN 101 Course” in which we can get people up to speed about the nuances of systemic issues that Native communities face before we can even dive into conversations about the actual project.
Initially, I had planned to write this article about the term “creative economy” from an Indigenous perspective. But as I began to write, I realized I might be putting the cart before the horse. I thought perhaps it better to take a step back and provide my own miniature version of NDN 101. So, here is my list of five items to bear in mind when interested in doing work in Native communities.
Trust is Everything. My former boss used to say all the time, “Progress moves at the speed of trust.” We build trust through authentic relationships in which we’ve built connections and established clear expectations of one another in a way that is rooted in reciprocity. Trust is essential because Indigenous communities are reluctant to give it freely, and rightly so. Every treaty we’ve ever had has been broken. Groups called “Friends of the Indian” encouraged the slogan of “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” in promoting government boarding schools stealing and assimilating Native children. Indian Health Services was sterilizing Native women without their consent well into the 1990s. We have some heavy, terrifying outcomes from efforts led by those who enter our communities under the guise of helping us. It can be hard to trust without some time taken to build the relationships at the heart of every project, collaboration, and possible future. Taking the time to build relationships is not a delay in the work, it is the work.
Visibility & Voice. Nearly 40% of people surveyed across the United States believe Native people no longer exist. This has implications at every level of society, impacting policy, education,
housing, philanthropy, economics, and yes, art. Being invisible means we are often not thought of at all, and when we are thought of, it is in terms of outdated and inaccurate representations of our people. As stated in the groundbreaking 2018 study, Reclaiming Native Truth, “This lack of visibility and relevance in modern culture dehumanizes Native peoples and erodes support for Native issues. The good news is that when people are exposed to accurate facts about Native American history and contemporary life, they believe the information, feel cheated that they didn’t learn it in school, and quickly become more open to a new narrative.” Where Native history is concerned, we have all been cheated. There is so much to unlearn, reframe, and learn anew. Looking at what’s possible for the future requires us to be honest about how the past is impacting the present conditions and realities we want to address.
Reality vs. Myth. Common myths about Indigenous communities sustain devastating implications across “The Four I’s” of Oppression: Ideological, Institutional, Interpersonal, and Internalized Oppression. Some of the most common myths about Native people are: all Native people go to college for free, all Native people get free healthcare,
When people are exposed to accurate facts about Native American history and contemporary life, they believe the information, feel cheated that they didn’t learn it in school, and quickly become more open to a new narrative.”
Reclaiming Native Truth | 2018 StudyThe author (top left) with her former Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation colleauges Star Means (Oglala Lakota, bottom left), Rae Tall (Oglala Lakota, top right), and Representative Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk), photo by Andrew Catt-Iron Shell (Eastern Band of Cherokee).
and all Native people get checks from the government. The result is that there is a strong sense within dominant society that Indigenous people, as a whole, already receive more than they utilize, and thus Native-focused work is both futile and excessive. These myths feed deeply into the divide between Native and non-Native communities by fueling distrust (“How can I trust you if you believe these things about me and my people?” or, conversely, “How can I trust people who get all this free stuff and still want more?”). These myths have deepened paternalistic attitudes toward our communities in which external opinions are typically diagnostic condemnations. Narrative change is a powerful tool to dismantle these myths and the Guide for Allies is an excellent starting place for building a more accurate understanding of the nearly 600 tribes in the United States.
Land Acknowledgements. Over the past decade, the practice of doing a land acknowledgement has become more commonplace at events. An effort to increase the awareness about traditional homelands and increase the present-day visibility of Indigenous people, land acknowledgements can be an entry level step into
thinking more intentionally about the historical context of your community in relation to Indigenous people. The act of acknowledging traditional homelands can be a way of enriching the narrative of a community’s history, inviting great inquiry into an often-forgotten reality about colonization, and setting a space for more inclusive conversations about the future to take place. Additionally, land acknowledgements recognize land, water, and our more than human relatives in a way that reminds us that our well-being is inextricable from theirs. Alone, land acknowledgements risk becoming performative, but contextualized as a strategy for furthering critical conversations about how our past, present, and futures are intertwined, they’re an actionable way to begin thoughtful conversations at your organization.
carry over into our work in ways we may not even realize. Making time and space for personal transformation within your organization is truly a method for creating a better tomorrow. Whether it’s supplying your staff with access to therapy, long-term DEI training, a life coach, educational opportunities, or anything else that helps them better navigate themselves (and any unknown biases or internal narratives they’re carrying about themselves or others), you’re strengthening your organization’s capacity for impact more deeply rooted in awareness. Awareness can shift into advocacy, and advocacy into the kind of solidarity that allows us to be connected as the relatives we truly are.
Share your story with us!
Personal
Transformation Work. Over a handful of generations, we’ve been adapting together in the great experiment that is the United States. We all have stories of struggle, triumph, innovation, humor, joy, and all the beautiful and terrible realities of being human. We all carry multifaceted inner worlds of our thoughts, beliefs, and expectations, which then
How are you making time and space for personal transformation within your organization? Take the Arts Link survey and let us know!
LOCATED IN CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, Camden FireWorks is a Black-led, community-based arts organization that works to grow, gather, and invest in artists and artists-to-be in the Camden community. Executive Director Asiyah Kurtz is an applied anthropologist with 20 years of experience in leadership of private, nonprofit, and public sectors. In a recent Member Spotlight, Kurtz talked about what drew her to the role and the
I wanted to engage on the other side of COVID-19. With a career spanning more than two decades, I know that I thrive best when I am in an environment where I have diverse responsibilities and when there is alignment in the organization’s mission and my values. The reality is that while the pandemic made the world pause for a while, it also was a great time for me to join Camden FireWorks. FireWorks is community-based and
HELLO! My name is Michael Chodos and I’m delighted to introduce myself as the new marketing and membership coordinator at Americans for the Arts. For the past two and a half years, I served as the database associate, updating our vast database of arts organizations and professionals, and providing customer service for members. So naturally, when the opportunity arose, I was eager to bring my skills and experience to fully integrate into the membership team. I’m excited to provide support for members and create strategies to improve the membership program.
I’m a performer, writer, cartoonist, and a believer in the healing power of the arts. I graduated from Kalamazoo College with a BA in Theater, and after a long journey of self-discovery, I stumbled into the arts nonprofit world and haven’t looked back!
I’ll be serving as the primary contact on all aspects of membership, whether it’s connecting you with staff, getting you linked to networks, or accessing discounts on job postings and webinars. Additionally, we are always seeking to improve the membership program and would love to hear from any members about your experience. Direct feedback is one of our most valuable resources, so please let us know how we can best serve you. You can contact me directly via email at mchodos@artsusa.org or give me a call at 202.712.2017.
Finally, I leave you with a quote from American filmmaker, actor, and author, Justin Simien—“Stories teach us empathy. They reveal to us ourselves in the skins of others.” I’m thrilled to hear your stories and grow together as we head into 2022!
RENEWALS FOR Americans for the Arts’ Professional Membership are well underway for 2022. This is a quick reminder: if you haven’t already renewed, now is the time! We don’t want you to miss out on your member benefits for next year.
Americans for the Arts is planning lots of work for the upcoming year in support of the arts & culture sector and your participation will help make it a reality!
If you’d like to renew for next year (and we hope you do), please contact our membership team at membership@artsusa.org or give us a call at 202.371.2830.
YOUR OPINION can help shape future issues. Take our Readers Survey today and tell us what you think about the magazine! (Survey takes 5 minutes or less to complete.)
Contribute to Arts Link Do you have a story you’d like to see in Arts Link? We are actively looking to highlight your stories and welcome guest writers! For 2022, we are especially interested in how you continue to advance DEI and center community in your practice, policy, and/or programs. Email Managing Editor Linda Lombardi at llombardi@artsusa.org and share your ideas with us today!
Photo by Sylvain Gaboury.
by Laurie Woolery
The Public Theater’s The Seed Project: A Public Works
National Public Art Project, photo by Peter Cooper.
‘‘T his is the year of seeing things clearly” was my naïve declaration at the start of 2020. Little did I know how stunningly accurate that statement would be.
Reconciling my family values with my personal ones gave me a pathway forward as an artist. I found creating with community the purest form of liberation and service.Darius de Haas as Duke Senior with community ensemble in As You Like It, photo by Joan Marcus, courtesy The Public Theater.
After 30 years of creating theater with, in, and for communities, you believe you have a practice that is rigorous, inclusive, and time tested. A process that is rooted in decade-long conversations and partnerships that inform, guide, and shape the collaborative process. But 2020 had other plans. The pandemic, racial inequity, and racism in America could no longer be sidestepped. And the arts needed to step up. Art reflects the world we live in. It speaks to the human condition, sparks conversations, and builds empathy, so it is essential we be held accountable. What are we going to do? Where are we falling short? As someone who calls themselves a citizen artist, I needed to not just ask these questions of others but answer them myself.
I’ve dedicated my work to creating spaces that open doors, build pathways, and design infrastructures for others to step into. I believed I was doing the work, but where was I falling short? What might I not be seeing? Not hearing? Who am I not making space for? Are the practices I’ve learned and acquired over the years outdated? How are they racist? Are they not expansive enough? It felt important to not just believe in the practice but reexamine the entire belief system. This crisis of faith opened a process of examination rooted in identifying and actively embodying core values personally, artistically, and institutionally.
The very definition of community is expansive, and dictionaries state it as “a people sharing a common interest or geographical location.” As an artmaker, my definition focuses on those who don’t have a creative practice in their lives due to lack of access, resources, and an authentic invitation.
When I started out, I just had my lived experience as a reference point. I saw the arts as a private club and something I could not afford. It was out of reach for several reasons but specifically because my family did not have the luxury of time, money, and access to participate. Plus, I never saw my community reflected in the narratives being told, so
it was further evidence that we were not welcomed. Never did I imagine the arts could be a vital, vibrant part of my life, let alone a career. Besides, as a first generation Latine, I was expected to focus on pursuits that contributed to the greater good—family, education, community. Time was devoted to acts of service.
As my core family values of service, kindness, and faith were taking root, my own curiosity and imagination could not be contained. I was captivated by people’s stories. Words became the portal into other worlds, and I wanted to go there. The more I was told to stop dreaming, the more I escaped into my creativity.
Reconciling my family values with my personal ones gave me a pathway forward as an artist. I found creating with community the purest form of liberation and service. Through collective storytelling, we find the soul of theater. The greater good is found in how we conceive, create, build, and share the work. It’s found in who is asked to not just tell their story but embody it onstage to be witnessed by others. And doing it all with kindness and joy as essential core values throughout the process. Spending time in community and seeing them as your collaborative partners unearths the heartbeat of the story that is supposed to be told, not the one you thought should be. This is where truth emerges. The magic lives in that truth because you feel it. It’s undeniable. That intangible experience is exchanged between artist and audience and an even larger community is built. It is the soul of the work manifested and shared. It ripples out.
Creating with community has taught me everything about how to be an artist. Collectively, we build a creative practice that invites healing and liberation through self-expression. But what happens when the tools used to build community are taken away? When COVID-19 hit, common practices of gathering to stretch, breath, sing, dance, even eat with one another disappeared overnight. The very nature of this work
requires us to show up for one another and now we were told to stay away. As arts institutions pivoted online, how were we going to create new virtual spaces when so many of our community members had varying degrees of technology access? The depth of inequity was further revealed. The word ‘essential’ was everywhere and attention was turned to getting people what they needed to survive. This is where my work with The Public Theater’s Public Works program and our investment in longitudinal relationships with community organizations taught us how to show up and be better partners.
During this time of fear, anger, and polarizing positioning, finding intersections for our shared humanity is increasingly difficult. How do you find connection when you are isolated, scared, and alone? We witnessed our partner organizations embody their values through action. They saw the need for technology support, so they got iPads and internet access out to their community to keep them connected. Spaces previously used to hold classes and recreational activities became hubs for food distribution. One organization opened a new housing complex for people with justice histories, which allowed for their release even with a city that was shut down. As funding that was intended for after-school and summer programming was cut, our partners kept the programming going because they knew that police on the streets and kids with nothing to do was a “potential powder keg waiting to explode” as one partner described the situation. I witnessed creative problem solving on a whole other level. They were truly struggling, but holding their values central to their decision making. How we showed up in this moment for our partners was vital.
So, The Public shared resources. Opportunities that were presented to us, we shared. We created a documentary for public television that highlighted the work of our partner organizations. We exchanged and shared information about resources available throughout
the city. Artist relief funds included community. Our partners also asked us to provide an essential missing piece—a creative connection. Could we find a way to transcend the isolation we were all feeling? So, we created art together in a new but familiar way. We made a music video with our national partners, a documentary about how our partnerships influenced art making, a public art video installation piece projected on our theater’s front façade speaking to our hopes for the future. And we finished the class work that was halted months prior. Community returned to their creative practice and re-envisioned it.
Understanding your core values and how to activate those ideals into practice are the cornerstones that help you when you’re not clear how to move forward. Values like listening, longitudinal investment, mutual benefit, equity, inclusion, hospitality, and joy. Arts organizations already know how to do many of these. Our institutions know how to make donors feel welcome. Development departments specialize in creating moments of celebration and inclusion through opening nights, gala dinners, and special events. By listening to what patrons want, we create moments of communal gathering where people feel a part of the institution and its mission. Now take that a step further. What if we listened and created yearlong artistic programming that reflects our expansive community? What if we built weekly, monthly moments of collective creative practice
where people can courageously invest in their creative spark and then have it witnessed by others? Institutions that once felt inaccessible become artistic homes and shared community spaces. The circle expands. When people unite through artmaking, unshakable bonds are created. An artistic palace becomes a community watering hole where our needs are met.
What if our institutional palaces became truly accessible? What if professional artists and community artists consistently created together? What if we made our spaces warm and inviting? What if our creative buildings became the cultural watering hole for our entire city, where we gathered to laugh and think and debate and listen to one another? What if? We already know how. Let’s start activating this practice to include us all.
During the last 21 months, we relearned a lesson that is key to what is needed now to change our institutional practices: respectful community partnerships that are mutually beneficial and deeply rooted in listening. By turning to our communities and investing in longitudinal partnerships based in shared values we can begin to truly be theaters of, by, and for the people of the cities, towns, and communities that we say we serve. And it’s not about serving only one group, but looking to who is not at the table—all the tables—and bringing the richness of our cities together. It is only then that we build a unified city we only dare to dream.
Share your story with us!
How are you activating your organization’s values with your community? Take the Arts Link survey and let us know!
Understanding your core values and how to activate those ideals into practice are the cornerstones that help you when you’re not clear how to move forward.
ALORA YOUNG is the 2021 Youth Poet Laureate of the Southern United States. A poet since the age of seven and now in her first year at Swarthmore College, Young advocates for equitable access to arts education and has received the Princeton Prize in Race Relations and the Rising Advocate Award from Tennessee United for Human Rights, among other honors. This October, she worked with Americans for the Arts as the
ambassador for National Arts & Humanities Month, penning an op-ed in support of artists in her home state of Tennessee and appearing on a special episode of the online variety show “Stars in the House” to promote the power of arts and culture as part of the month-long celebration.
When did you write your first poem and what was it about?
My first poem was called “Stars of Sorrow See You Tomorrow,” and it was about moving from New Jersey to Tennessee at age seven. I wrote the poem because I was sad, and I needed an avenue through which to cope with my feelings about leaving my friends behind. I shared it with my parents, and it helped me explain my feelings to them. I feel from that point on I have been sharing my poetry with them as a form of communication and we have developed a stronger relationship because of it.
Did your school curriculum include the arts? If so, how did that shape you?
I participated in music and art classes throughout elementary school, but in eighth grade I was in both an art class and a musical, which sparked a deep love of theater that persists to this day. I took theater classes in high school and built my schedule around participating in the performing arts at Hillsboro High School in Nashville.
Art classes taught me what it meant to have passion, and how to pursue it. Art gives students the tools necessary to explain and understand their emotions. It helps them build empathy and drives them to make changes in their communities. The arts create compassionate individuals, and compassionate individuals change the world.
You created AboveGround, which aims to increase accessibility of advanced academics to students of color. What inspired this program, and what impact do you hope it has?
What inspired this was my own experience with the lack of diversity in advanced classes, and how that made me feel about myself. I hope I can help children of color to believe they can be exceptional.
Who or what has influenced your writing the most?
Morgan Parker is my favorite poet and has had a monumental impact on my writing.
What would you say to young people who have dreams of writing poetry? This is my favorite piece of writing advice I’ve ever received: “Write right now.” If you believe yourself a poet, you are a poet. So start writing!
Watch Alora Young perform her poem “Iron Lung,” written in the wake of a devastating tornado that hit Nashville on March 3, 2020.
INSPIRED BY the depression-era Federal Art Project, Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) of Portland, Oregon, launched a new initiative in 2020 to support artists’ long-term creative practice and livelihood.
Support Beam provides a salary for artists to live and explore their creative practice. Each artist receives $3,000-$5,000, and at the end of their work period, RACC acquires one art piece from each artist for the Portable Works Public Art Collection. Utilizing public dollars to support the continuation of work, Support Beam aspires to sustain as many artists as possible during this precarious economic and political time.
“Support Beam was developed to meet this moment as COVID-19 cases rose in early 2020, as there were state-ordered lockdowns, and immense uncertainty,” said RACC’s Public Art Exhibitions & Collections Coordinator Morgan Ritter. “Reimagining the previous models of acquiring artwork to add temporary work, to add Artist in Residence models, etc., has been core to this program’s ethos. The name Support Beam reflects this thing of continuation—it recalls an image of a wooden beam extending beyond the room it upholds.”
In July 2020, RACC announced the first round of 20 artists. To formally acknowledge the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, Support Beam prioritizes Black, Indigenous, and artists of color. Panel members involved in the selection process reflected the artist community that Support Beam is intended to uplift and were key decision-makers in determining this prioritization.
“This opportunity,” said Ritter, “was designed to empower and uplift those who are vulnerable or may not have regular access to formal opportunities like this. If artists do not see themselves, their communities, reflected in the collections, why would they think they would be valued and welcome as we put out new opportunities? How can we continue to challenge the historic inequities of the arts ecosystem and beyond?”
Support Beam artists also share works-in-progress online, which can be explored on RACC’s website
Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA) introduced the Creative Economy Revitalization Act (CERA). This bipartisan bill came with over 140 endorsements, including the arts unions within the AFL-CIO, the American Planning Association, Transportation for America, the National Alliance of Community and Economic Development Associations, and the Get Creative Workers Working Coalition.
CERA is a $300 million program to mitigate creative worker displacement, stimulate local workforce, strengthen creative small businesses, generate creative jobs, enrich communities, increase access to culture, and invest in local economies harmed by COVID-19.
If CERA becomes law, the grants will go to local, state, and tribal agencies, workforce investment boards, and public or private nonprofit entities to hire local creative workers and produce public projects such as public artworks, festivals, performances, written works, narrative collections from first responders and marginalized communities, and arts education.
CERA was collaboratively developed by many partners in the creative economy, including the Get Creative Workers Working coalition. This group of 200 cultural organizations and agencies produced a policy platform from which some of the CERA language was adapted. Find out more at CreativeWorkers.net/ Creative-Economy-Revitalization-Act
Mother of Judah by Sade DuBoise, part of the City of Portland’s public art collection, photo courtesy RACC.
Be Well mural by Carmen Rangel, photo by Joe Ybarra, courtesy Raasin in the Sun.
The link between art and mental health has never been felt so acutely as during the pandemic, when art and culture organizations had to close to the public. Almost two years of social distancing and lockdown have made feelings of isolation and loss more universal. It has also made us more comfortable talking about mental health.
According to research from Boston University, depression and anxiety rates tripled during the first year of the pandemic, and remain high. Some people felt the weight at the start of the pandemic. Some have felt it more as we reopen. Throughout it all, art has created connection and restored hope.
Across the country, arts and culture organizations have put the arts front and center to engage their communities in unique ways. Three Americans for the Arts member organizations—a private gallery, a city’s public art department, and a regional theater—used art to improve their community’s mental health during the pandemic.
“The works were influenced by what was happening during the pandemic, but the artists were already connected to the issues of trauma, healing, and mental health.”
JasonJen and
Vojislav Radovanovic´ | Artist CuratorsReconnect Yourself mural and artist Niz G, photo by Joe Ybarra, courtesy Raasin in the Sun. Adapted Intentions by Kayla Tange, photo by LA Art Documents, courtesy Angels Gate Cultural Center.
In January 2020, Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro, California, held a nationwide call for exhibitions to engage their southern Los Angeles community. Artist-Curators Jason Jenn’s and Vojislav Radovanovic ’s Sanctuary of the Aftermath explored spirituality, art as a remedy, and art as a tool to explore social and generational traumas.
Prior to COVID-19, Angels Gate Director of Exhibitions & Public Programs Cecelia Koger was drawn to the use of art as a healing mechanism. As the pandemic grew, the art took on deeper meaning. “We didn’t foresee how much this would be needed,” said Koger. “The timing became very meaningful.”
Part of WE RISE, LA County Department of Mental Health’s initiative during Mental Health Awareness Month, Sanctuary of the Aftermath brought audiences face-to-face with the weighty subjects of our day: climate change, social injustice, human and cultural trauma, isolation. Through installation, video, and auditory art, the artists—Nica Aquino, Joseph Carrillo, Jeff Frost, Anita Getzler, David Hollen, Jason Jenn, Ibuki
Kuramochi, Rosalyn Myles, Vojislav Radovanovic, Alison Ragguette, and Kayla Tange—created vital connection at a time when the world was a lonely place.
“The works were influenced by what was happening during the pandemic, but the artists were already connected to the issues of trauma, healing, and mental health,” shared Jenn and Radovanovic´. “We wanted to focus on non-traditional art forms to create an immersive experience that was simultaneously removed from the outside world’s problems while addressing them. We wanted the safety of Sanctuary juxtaposed with the looming threat implied by the word Aftermath.”
By April 2021, Angels Gate was ready to let people back into the gallery. With COVID-19 restrictions in mind, they created a virtual tour of the exhibit, which was so popular that they now create one for every show.
“As the first exhibit where we could let people into the space again,” said Koger, “this show carefully and respectfully dealt with heavy themes and topics. It was an experience of catharsis, a way to feel all the emotions of the past year.”
In response to the pandemic, Austin’s Economic Development Department’s Art in Public Places (AIPP) program launched the Be Well Murals, a largescale mural project of positive messages about mental and physical health.
Through the Austin Civilian Conservation Corps, an initiative that channels employment opportunities to people economically impacted by COVID-19, AIPP’s Program Manager Sue Lambe was seeking ways to hire artists. When the art installation at the Lamar Underpass was deaccessioned, Lambe proposed a mural project of over 10,000 square feet.
“There are all sorts of ways people react to artwork and it does affect a person’s well-being,” said Lambe. “If you walk or drive by an artwork every day, you develop a relationship with it. It can connect people to people and people to place. That’s a core value, to feel connected. Art is one way we do that.”
Raasin McIntosh and her organization, Raasin in the Sun, was hired to run the project, with a focus on racial equity. McIntosh curated a jury of seven local art and culture leaders
Artists selected for the Be Well Murals Project (l to r): Uloang, Rex Hamilton, Niz G, Samara Barks, Carmen Rangel, and Kimie Flores, photo by Joe Ybarra, courtesy Raasin in the Sun.
who reviewed 63 responses to the open call and selected six BIPOC artists: Luis Angulo, Samara Barks, Kimie Flores, Niz G., Rex Hamilton, and Carmen Rangel. Based on the artist’s chemistry, McIntosh’s team strategically broke them into groups to focus on the east and west ends of the wall. The artists collaborated to tie their works together and create a sense of flow.
The Be Well Murals (aptly named by McIntosh) were called the “Best Prescription for the Community” by The Austin Chronicle. “Art is healing,” said McIntosh. “We have a long road ahead of us and not everyone’s ok. Art is the light. It uplifts, it inspires, it tells stories, it gives voice to the voiceless.”
Originally planned to be up for one year, AIPP recently announced that the murals will remain through September 2022.
“Things aren’t as dire as they seem,” said Lambe. “There’s always art to go to and people to talk to. We’ll get through it together.”
“We have a long road ahead of us and not everyone’s ok. Art is the light. It uplifts, it inspires, it tells stories, it gives voice to the voiceless.”
Raasin McIntosh | Raasinin
theSun
Founder and CEOMark Cabus in Every Brilliant Thing, photo courtesy Nashville Repertory Theatre.
Partnerships with mental health organizations during Nashville Repertory Theatre’s 2019 production of Every Brilliant Thing a show that explores depression, suicide, love, and resilience—began a long-term commitment to the mental health of artists, staff, and audiences.
When COVID-19 closed theaters, artists faced job loss and existential questions of identity. Mental Health America of the MidSouth helped Nashville Rep compile resources for artists and offered workshops on mental health and self-care. “Nashville is a tough market for theater artists,” said Executive Director Drew Ogle. “There’s a small number of professional theaters here and there aren’t many artists who work consistently. The need for support around that identity is real.”
For their return to live theater this past November, Nashville Rep chose Ragtime, a large show that would put many local artists to work and whose themes of racism, immigration, police
violence, and political division resonate today. In addition to COVID-19 precautions of masking and vaccinations, the artistic staff was also sensitive to the racial trauma in the play. The theater’s EDI committee argued that the show was a way to have uncomfortable conversations with their audience around today’s issues. But to do it right, the right people had to be in the room. BIPOC artistic leaders made up the majority of the creative team, including a mental health professional available to the cast throughout the process.
“Creating a rehearsal space where actors of color feel safe and cared for is important to us,” said producer and Ragtime director Micah-Shane Brewer. “We want to give them the space, tools, and support needed to be able to do this with honesty and safety.”
Changes were also made offstage. “We ended sub-minimum wage internships,” said Ogle, “increased artist salaries, and set standards for how long jobs are advertised and the lan-
guage used in job descriptions. Our board committed to be the leader in the industry when it comes to employment practices. We don’t know how quickly we can get there, but we want to get there.”
The arts have always provided ways to engage, inspire, reflect, and heal. As we begin to come together again, there’s no doubt they will continue to do so.
If you or someone you know needs help with a mental health issue, please contact the NAMI Helpline at 800.950.NAMI or visit NAMI.org/help. If in crisis, text “NAMI” to 741741.
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Descent of the Holy Spirit by Vojislav Radovanovic´, photo by LA Art Documents, courtesy Angels Gate Cultural Center.
THE INTERSECTION OF THE ARTS and the digital space is complicated. Artists are creating work using digital technology, organizations are producing work online, ranging from videos of physical productions to digital galleries, and both are integrating augmented reality. Makers are exploring new economies driven by virtual currencies and taking advantage of new technologies to improve copyright and compensation.
This evolution comes with new vocabulary, ways of working, policy and practice considerations, and funding models to explore.
There is promise and peril in the arena of virtual artwork and artmaking. The virtual space can radically lower barriers to access and reset revenue models. Concepts like non-fungible tokens and blockchain can intertwine the artist and the artwork in perpetuity, increasing potential revenue and protect against forgeries. Virtual spaces can drastically improve access for people with disabilities and/or time or transportation constraints.
That said, much of this “brave new world” relies on extreme amounts of energy. A January 2021 report showed that Bitcoin alone requires as much electricity as the entire country of the Netherlands annually to keep its digital currency secure. This raises major environmental issues. In addition, while the virtual removes certain barriers,
it erects others: requirements for a physical device and access to high quality, reliable internet, for example.
The virtual space is very much the Wild West when it comes to contracting, artists rights, and revenue generation. Revenue models are murky at best: among artists whose work was distributed virtually by an organization during the pandemic, 70% did not receive any revenue and over 50% did not have any formal agreement in place. And while over 90% of all organizations attempted virtual programming during the pandemic, 80% lost money doing so.
The virtual or digital art space comes with questions, reconsiderations, and policy and practice shifts. Labor laws, union agreements, and revenue models have not caught up with the digital arts revolution. Funders are just beginning to consider how best to support emerging digital practice and ensure equity. Policy questions around universal broadband, the environment, workforce roles, and copyright loom. The education of a next generation of creatives and administrators to engage in this new environment has just begun.
As recently as the summer of 2021, that industry-wide education included the National Endowment for the Arts release of a major report. Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium outlines ways that artists are engaging with digital technology as a medium and as a way of facilitating practice. It also sheds light on the disconnect between audience willingness to consume and the capacity of artists and organizations to meet demand.
Blockchain: A computer database that stores data in “blocks,” with each block, once full, being “chained” to the previous one and rendered “immutable,” meaning it cannot be changed. Blockchain is the underlying structure responsible for the security of digital currencies and NFTs. Blockchains are simultaneously updated on thousands of computers to maintain integrity and security.
Non-Fungible Token (NFT): A unique token that exists on a blockchain. Unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be replicated; each NFT is unique and irreplaceable. They can represent artworks (including digital works); are an unforgeable bill of sale for a work; and remove the need for intermediaries, secure business practices, and improve artist rights.
Cryptocurrency (or digital or virtual currency): A currency that has no physical token (like a dollar bill) and is secured using the blockchain. Generally not issued by a government, they may eventually disrupt many industries, but are currently volatile, prone to illegal use, and environmentally problematic.
Smart contract: A blockchain-embedded code that maintains a set of required conditions for a trade or sale to occur. If a smart contract includes resale royalties for the artist, any sale that does not include resale royalties will not complete. Since the contract is written in the blockchain, it is “immutable” and cannot be modified or circumvented.
Damien Hirst. Visual artist Damien Hirst entered the NFT space in 2021 with The Currency, 10,000 unique
dot paintings, each priced at $2,000, each with an accompanying NFT. Each new owner must choose between the physical artwork or the NFT—one or the other is destroyed. The Currency has generated $25 million for Hirst.
Beeple. A digital artist, Beeple burst onto the digital art scene in March when Christie’s, in its first entirely NFT auction, sold Everydays—the First 5,000 Days, a digital NFT work for $69 million.
Dread Scott. Artist Dread Scott used the NFT space to comment on the auctioning of Black people as slaves through his piece, White Male for Sale, a 70-second NFT video of a “generic white man” on an auction block. It was auctioned by Christie’s for $32,500 in a layered commentary on what “fungible” means and how Black bodies have been historically exploited for revenue.
Andre Oshea. A Young Boy’s Dream, a digital piece created as a tribute to actor Chadwick Boseman, illustrates a young boy walking through a spirit realm inspired by Wakanda. Oshea is one of many artists producing digital artworks and direct-selling them. “As a Black artist,” says Oshea, “NFTs mean leveling the playing field and taking the keys away from traditional gatekeepers.”
National Theatre at Home. In October 2020, England’s National Theatre, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, launched National Theatre at Home, a subscription service that provides access to productions from the National Theatre and other partner theaters via an app.
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