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Cultura / Culture
ARLINGTON, VA | AMERICAN ALLIANCE OF MUSEUMS LATINO NETWORK | June 7, 2021– The Latino Network of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) released Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums. This resource, available in English and Spanish, responds to interest from colleagues in the museum field to attract and better serve Latino audiences, an interest that highlights a growing recognition of the important role that Latinos play in American society. “Few resources exist in the museum field that specifically address how to better engage and serve this important, and growing, part of the US population,” said Laura Lott, President and CEO of AAM. “We are extremely proud to present this valuable tool from the AAM Latino Network to aid in museums’ efforts to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive institutions.” Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums was developed by a task force comprised of members of the AAM Latino Network—Adrián Aldaba, Natalie Espinosa, Diana Xochitl Munn, Laura Susana Reyes, and Margarita Sandino—with input from Latino museum professionals with experience in all functional areas of museums. It draws from existing literature, insights from institutions engaging in this work, and the personal experiences of individuals who have implemented Latino engagement efforts in museum settings. The document provides background information and strategies for engaging and representing Latinos in authentic and meaningful ways. It includes questions for museums to self-assess their work with Latino communities, offers insights on the value of developing culturally specific content and bilingual initiatives, and highlights the importance of Latino representation on museum staff and boards. “The Latino Network would like to thank all the Latino museum professionals who contributed to this document over the past several years,” said Natalie Espinosa, task force member and outgoing chair of the Latino Network. “It is our hope that this document will continue to grow and develop as more museums implement Latino engagement strategies and we begin to be more equally represented in collections, staff, and boards.” “Leveraging best practices from the US Latino museum ecosystem, the AAM Latino Network’s Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums provides tools for all museums to foster welcoming spaces and engaging opportunities for Latino audiences,” said Adrián Aldaba, task force member and incoming chair of the Latino Network. “As museums commit to becoming more diverse and equitable, our hope is that they will also become Latino-serving institutions.” Established in 1992, the Latino Network (LN) of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) represents Latino professionals working in museums and cultural institutions in the United States. The Latino Network offers expertise to US museums interested in engaging Latino audiences through the development of exhibitions, collections, public programs, and education initiatives and provides guidance to museums across the US and Latin America in their efforts to create partnerships and collaborations. They are a welcoming forum for Latino museum professionals to foster connections and share career opportunities and a national platform to amplify Latino-related events and exhibitions through our mailing list and social media channels. For more information, visit https://www.aam-us.org/professional-networks/ latino-network.
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The Academy of American Poets Selects Magdalena Gómez for Poet Laureate Fellowship
New York, NY | ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS | June 3, 2021 — The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce its 2021 Poets Laureate Fellows. These 23 individuals serve as Poets Laureate of states and cities across the U. S. and will be leading public poetry programs in their respective communities in the year ahead. “As we begin emerging from COVID-19 restrictions, poetry, which has provided such comfort these past fifteen months, will continue to be a source of insight. We are honored and humbled to fund poets who are devoted to their own craft and also their community. Poets will most certainly help guide us forward,” said Jennifer Benka, President and Executive Director of the Academy of American Magdalena Gómez Poets. Through its Poets Laureate Fellowship program, the Academy has become the largest financial supporter of poets in the nation. The fellowship program is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which, in January of 2020, awarded the Academy $4.5 million to fund the program. The Fellows will each receive $50,000 for a combined total of $1.1 million. In addition, the Academy will provide $100,000+ total to 14 local 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that have agreed to support the Fellows’ proposed projects. “These 23 Poets Laureate Fellows will lead an extraordinary range of public poetry programs,” said Elizabeth Alexander, poet and President of the Mellon Foundation. “We are delighted to support them as they create their own poems, collaborate with other artists, and center poetry in their engagement with communities across our vast country—from urban to rural counties—while we collectively begin to process and reflect on the exceptional crises of the past year.” Magdalena Gómez, Poet Laureate of Springfield, Massachusetts was born and raised in the Bronx, New York and is the author of the poetry collection Shameless Woman (Red Sugarcane Press, 2014) and the co-editor of the first multicultural, intergenerational, and multi-genre anthology of its kind: Bullying: Replies, Rebuttals, Confessions and Catharsis (Skyhorse Publishing, 2012). She is currently a member of the COVID-19 Cultural Impact Commission for the State of Massachusetts. As a 2021 Poet Laureate Fellow, Gómez will support youth poets in Springfield via in-person and virtual workshops in partnership with Springfield City Libraries, which will culminate in virtual and/or in person performances of participants’ original poems to be live-streamed, archived, and distributed for viewing across community access stations around the country in partnership with Amherst Media. The 2021 panelists included former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser; Arts for Justice Fellow Mahogany L. Browne; former US Poet Laureate Robert Hass; Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna; National Student Poets Founder Olivia Morgan; and Academy of American Poets Chancellor Emeritus and former Poet Laureate of Connecticut Marilyn Nelson. The panel was co-chaired by Nicie Panetta, former Board chair of the Academy of American Poets; and Jennifer Benka, president and executive director of the Academy of American Poets. Final award decisions will be approved and finalized by members of the Academy of American Poets Board of Directors.
