About this Session
A three-part series of “Real Talk Salons” regarding Human-Centered Practices in community arts education took place throughout the three weeks of the Groundwork: Healing within Community Arts Education (“Groundwork”) program in the fall of 2021. In response to the pandemic, the overarching themes of Groundwork sessions touched on healing. This Real Talk Salon, entitled “Hold a Light to the Arts Education Ecosystem”, brought together the following community practitioners in conversation with one another:
Moderator:
Storytellers:
Description: As we realign and redefine how we work within the unpredictable and all-encompassing pressures of Covid and make space for the world that emerges in its wake, it is imperative that we also come to terms with the illusions of what was once our "normal". How do we reckon with the inequitable systems upon which our field was built and has adapted, and how might we reshape it for our holistic well-being, as workers and as community members ourselves? Join us in this Real Talk Salon amongst community arts education practitioners who represent experiences from multiple vantages and functions within the community arts education ecosystem: as independent artists & teaching artists, as arts administrators, city arts council staff members, and as foundation personnel.
This session took part the last week of the program and was held on November 4, 2021, with American Sign Language interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.
About the Groundwork Program
Groundwork was a 3-week virtual gathering that centered healing in the context of community arts education, as a pathway towards personal, interpersonal, and systemic change, informed by the idea that we must get right with ourselves before we can work with each other to reimagine and create a more just future. To that end, Groundwork’s themes unfolded each week as: Healing for Self (Week 1), Healing for Collective (Week 2), and Healing for Movement Building (Week 3).
For more information about the gathering, please visit the program details, here.
This program was made possible through generous support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Music Man Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.