Blog Posts for 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.


Linda Lombardi

Member Spotlight: Kyaien Conner

Posted by Linda Lombardi, Oct 12, 2020 0 comments


Linda Lombardi

Kyaien (Kya) Conner, PhD, LSW, MPH, began studying West African Dance at the age of six and became a professional West African Dancer at 14. Trained in dance forms of Djembe, Sabar, and Kutiro, she is a member of Kuumba Dancers and Drummers in Tampa, Florida; teaches West African Dance at the University of Tampa; and has taught West African dance nationally and internationally. Conner also is a tenured professor of Mental Health Law and Policy at University of South Florida, specializing in health disparities and the benefits and effects of culturally relevant psychiatric treatments and community-based intervention in older African Americans.

Our Member Profile series features the many Americans for the Arts members doing transformative work for arts education, public art, advocacy, arts marketing, and more. An Americans for the Arts Membership connects you with this network of more than 6,000 arts leaders and gives you access to latest professional development and research. 

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Abigail Alpern Fisch

Member Spotlight: Kathy Hsieh

Posted by Abigail Alpern Fisch, Sep 28, 2020 0 comments


Abigail Alpern Fisch

Kathy Hsieh is the Cultural Partnerships and Grants Manager at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, overseeing investments funding, and racial equity opportunities for community. Hsieh has transformed the City of Seattle’s arts funding program and helped the agency earn the Seattle Management Association’s first Race and Social Justice Management Award. Kathy shared with us her insights about how she became involved with the arts, her office's response to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as her recommendations for arts leaders looking to promote cultural and racial equity in their work. 

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Abigail Alpern Fisch

Member Spotlight: ArtsEd Washington

Posted by Abigail Alpern Fisch, Sep 15, 2020 0 comments


Abigail Alpern Fisch

ArtsEd Washington is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making arts education equitable and accessible to every K-12 student in Washington State. Danielle Gahl has been the Executive Director since 2017, but beginning in September 2020, she will be stepping down from that role and continue to run Internal Operations for the organization. Courtney Clark stepped up from the organization’s Board and became the Interim Executive Director in July 2020 after being furloughed during COVID-19 from Seattle Opera as the School Programs Manager. “It’s easy to send out an email that tells everybody what you’re doing; it’s a lot harder to do it. We’ve been focusing our efforts for a while now on walking the walk before we start talking the talk. ... The work of ArtsEd Washington is an everchanging landscape as the world of education is ever evolving. We choose to advocate through an equitable lens of equality that The Arts Matter! And FOR All!” 

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Arlene I. Arevalo

Spotlight on America’s Future Leaders: DIAL Fellows, Part 2

Posted by Arlene I. Arevalo, Jul 29, 2020 0 comments


Arlene I. Arevalo

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 previous post, five more! Read on to get to know Faith Lynn Diccion, Neaco Fox, Theresa-Xuan Bui, Faith Duncombe, and Elena Sánchez.

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Arlene I. Arevalo

Spotlight on America’s Future Leaders: DIAL Fellows, Part 1

Posted by Arlene I. Arevalo, Jul 27, 2020 0 comments


Arlene I. Arevalo

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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Arlene I. Arevalo

Spotlight on America’s Future Leaders: DIAL Interns, Part 2

Posted by Arlene I. Arevalo, Jul 22, 2020 0 comments


Arlene I. Arevalo

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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