Being asked to blog about operationalizing access and equity in arts education is daunting. As a museum director, we strive to make everything accessible following ADA guidelines and being open to the public on a regular basis. Here at the Delta Blues Museum we are trying to tell the stories of artists who have not always been given equity–in their lives, their professions, or even in their deaths.

In pondering what knowledge I could share about this topic, I realized that in part, our programming is not planed for a particular age, demographic or targeted audience. We plan programs about the blues for fans of the blues and persons interested in learning more about the blues. This audience is global. So, when you look at the world as your audience, you are freer to be more creative in your offerings instead of trying to create something for the audience you aren’t reaching. Nurture and feed the one you have. These folks are often willing to help grow your audience based on their enthusiasm for what you are doing. And what we are doing is honoring the Blues artists and fostering the next generation of blues artists and their fans.

In 2014, the Delta Blues Museum’s Arts & Education program received a National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award. We were one of twelve arts programs to receive this honor and were selected to perform at the White House as part of the ceremony. It was quite an honor for our programs with an annual budget of $28,600 to be among other programs whose budgets were as much as $4,161,698.

The hardest part of communicating what we do is that we aren’t following a formula. We are simply doing what people have done for centuries. We put instruments in the hands of those who want to learn to play them and tell them to play. As they play, the musicians, who are employed by the museum as instructors, show the students how to form different chords and eventually through much trial and error, they learn to play music. Rather than evaluate and rank them, we simply allow them to keep trying until they get it. And we make them learn all the instruments–bass, guitar, drums and keyboards. 

This helps them appreciate how the ‘band’ works and also serves to keep their egos in check. The ‘best’ guitar player isn’t always so great on drums, but the drummer who might now be on guitar can understand why we can’t play the song as fast as he’d like. Trial and error is how we learn and grow–not just in an organizational setting, but throughout life.

I can remember getting scolded by music teachers because I was using the wrong fingering, but if no one was looking at how I was playing the keys, the musical piece sounded the same. I can also remember a teacher taking the joy out of playing the piano once she realized I could play by ear. The next lesson she forced me to sight-read piece after piece for the entire hour. It wasn’t fun. I had no idea how the music was supposed to sound so I couldn’t relax into the piece and I didn’t learn anything that made me a better piano player. It actually undercut my confidence and made me not want to take piano lessons. 

I can’t begin to fathom what I might have accomplished if I’d been encouraged to develop my gift as well as learning to read music. I did learn music theory and eventually helped score music for the high school band. I still know what key the trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and French horns use in Concert B-flat.

Perhaps the key to access and equity is just giving everyone an opportunity and then letting them change positions so they can see and hear from another perspective. Let’s get out of the discussion phase and start doing. The conditions aren’t as important as the choice to move forward. Once we’re doing, we actually have results.  When we have results, the conversations are much more interesting.