Blog Posts for Staff Voices: Working Toward Cultural Equity

Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.


Mr. Terry Cangelosi

Working Together, and Knowing Each Other

Posted by Mr. Terry Cangelosi, Aug 03, 2016 0 comments


Mr. Terry Cangelosi

I think it’s important that we’re working within Americans for the Arts to be better, more connected. For me, that process has been a lot about identifying all of my privileges, and understanding that there’s always something more I can do.

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Alicia Gregory

On Allyship as Practice

Posted by Alicia Gregory, Aug 03, 2016 0 comments


Alicia Gregory

Just as our staff retreat ended up being a valuable and necessary exercise in laying down a foundation from which we, as an organization, hopefully act, I realized taking part in this salon could be a personal exercise in acknowledgement, accountability, and commitment—a more solid foundation from which I can act.

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Emma Osore

Dismantling, Not Reinforcing, Privilege

Posted by Emma Osore, Aug 02, 2016 0 comments


Emma Osore

By consciously and continuously identifying the needs of the field, exposing our blind spots, assessing our fuller diversity, and building and/or dismantling the structures that reinforce privilege, we can all take a little credit in the work of steering our society in a more equitable direction—even if we already think we are doing a good job.

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Ms. Pam Korza

Digging In: Cultivating Equity through Personal Responsibility

Posted by Ms. Pam Korza, Aug 01, 2016 0 comments


Ms. Pam Korza

Systems don’t change themselves. Equity can’t happen without commitment from the individuals who comprise organizations, communities, and society and understanding where each other is coming from.

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Ashley McDonald

Our Cultural Equity Statement: My Thoughts Moving Forward

Posted by Ashley McDonald, Jul 29, 2016 0 comments


Ashley McDonald

I've been pretty optimistic since learning about the release of our cultural equity statement. I feel that this was a necessary and appropriate first step if we want our work to continue to be purposeful and are serious about making the arts accessible to all.

 
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Elizabeth Sweeney

What Can You Do? No, What Can YOU Do?

Posted by Elizabeth Sweeney, Jul 29, 2016 0 comments


Elizabeth Sweeney

I think there are plenty of people like me, sitting in that room at the staff retreat, who felt like they had never been asked, “What can you do? Nobody knows your job better than you, nobody knows your daily work better than you. So what can you do?” 

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