February 16th, 2021

 

A coalition of Black cultural workers, arts educators and administrators called together through Affinity Groups held by The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable have launched Rebuild, Reconcile, Reimagine: A List of Demands for Centering Black Women’s Leadership in Arts Education. This campaign ask organizations “how are you supporting and cultivating the leadership of Black women?” and calls us in to do better. In addition to the list of demands, which individuals can sign on to, the campaign includes a series of testimonial videos from Black women in the arts education field about the inordinate burdens that Black women shoulder, and why it is important to center and authentically support Black women's leadership.

The List of Demands is directed to funders and senior leadership at PWI (Primarily White Institution) arts education and cultural institutions. It also applies to mid- to larger-sized cultural institutions that are BIPOC-led. The list was created in recognition of and in response to the shared lived experiences of people participating in the NYCAIE Roundtable Black Affinity Group.

The authors of the List of Demands are Brittany Applewhite, Asari Beale, Judith Insell, David King, Jorjina Amefia-Koffi, Toya Lillard, Heather McCartney, Gary Padmore, Josephine Winfrey, PHR, SHRM-CP, and Kendra S. Williams.

You can read more about the campaign and the list of demands, and sign on, on NYC Arts in Ed Roundtable's website.

February 10, 2021

 

The California Alliance for Arts Education and Create CA have become one organization under the Create CA name.

From their announcement: “We know that arts education helps students heal from trauma and build resilience. This moment requires us to put student’s mental health and well-being at the forefront. That’s why when we saw an opportunity to become stronger in the fight for every student’s right to receive an arts education, we had to take it.

Building on the longstanding partnership between the California Alliance for Arts Education (the Alliance) and Create CA and our shared mission to make sure that a quality arts education is part of every student’s life, we are merging into a new, united organization.”

Read the full announcement here. 

February 2, 2021

 

A diverse range of national, regional, and state level organizations, including the Guild, signed on to a statement of arts federal policy recommendations to the Biden-Harris Administration titled “The Arts and Cultural Sector: Federal Policy Actions”. The purpose of the statement is to demonstrate to the new Biden-Harris Administration the important role of the arts within the broad context of economic recovery and how the arts can be of service in addressing federal priorities. The statement lays the framework for more robust and detailed policy recommendations on engaging the arts at the federal level.

The statement includes recommendations for how the arts and culture sector should be leveraged to address racial equity, economic recovery, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the statement: "The arts are the nation’s most indelible instrument to 'forge a union with purpose; to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.' A vibrant arts community that is truly reflective of society is essential to the full belonging of people of all races, ethnicities, religions, social class, abilities, and orientation. Full, fair, and equitable funding for the arts and artists is likewise requisite for the economic health of our national community. The Biden-Harris Administration and Congress can accelerate the process of mending America’s social fabric, ending systemic racism, and creating equitable economic growth by promoting and investing in the arts and its intersecting public policies such as health, education, pay equity, parental leave, and gig worker protections."

Read the full statement here. 

The Expanding the Arts Across the Juvenile Justice System Policy Brief from the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) and the Education Commission of the States captures the discussion, insights and policy considerations that came out of a Thinkers Meeting with 11 experts in the arts education and juvenile justice fields. It builds on the report, “Engaging the Arts Across the Juvenile Justice System,” by providing examples for building sustainable, arts-based programming. Read the report on the Education Commission of the States website.

AEP is also holding a virtual Arts & Juvenile Justice Policy Briefing on Thursday, January 21 from 2pm–3:30pm ET. Learn more and register on AEP’s website.

January 19, 2021

Last month, the Arts Education Advisory Council of Americans for the Arts (AFTA) published a statement calling for AFTA’s leadership to address long-standing racial inequities and lack of transparency in its role as a national leader in the arts and culture sector, as well as a hostile work environment within the organization. This statement follows a series of articles detailing these issues published by members of the Council and by former/current AFTA staff members.  We encourage those not yet familiar with this situation to read the statements and correspondence published on this matter (you can find links at the bottom of this page), and for those in alignment with the Arts Education Council’s demands to sign on to their petition. 

 

The National Guild for Community Arts Education is committed to standing in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and supporting the dismantling of institutional inequity in our field, as stated in the Guild’s Racial Equity Guiding Principles and Policies under Principle #1: Prioritization Of Those Most Impacted By Racial Injustice:

In order to create true equity, we must center the experiences and interests of those who have been marginalized. If not, we will continue to perpetuate inequity and systems that exclude those who have been left out. 

We stand and advocate for equity in the Arts and Arts Education for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color’s families, communities, leaders, and  teachers of all ages. We are committed to redressing the unequal power relations and stereotypes that structure mainstream cultural institutions. We model anti-racist policies in the National Guild for Community Arts Education.

And here under Principle 3: Direct Confrontation:

We are committed to maintaining honest and authentic relationships with those who are aligned with our values and principles. We are willing to let go of any relationships that do not align with our values. 

In accordance with these principles, the Guild has met with the Arts Education Council, and is currently coordinating meetings with AFTA’s board leadership and other arts advocacy organizations to discuss how these issues will be addressed and how we can support.

You can read the statement that we sent to the chair of AFTA’s Cultural Equity Committee, Abel López, here.

We will follow up with members about the outcomes of these meetings.

 

Background and context:

• Arts Education Council’s list of Strategic Recommendations (August 6th)

• Quanice Floyd’s op-ed on Hyperallergic (November 11th)

• Letter of support from former and current AFTA staff (November 25th)

• AFTA CEO Bob Lynch's response to these letters (December 3rd)

• AFTA Arts Education Council’s letter in solidarity and list of demands (December 10) and accompanying petition—Equity in the Arts Can’t Wait: A Public Call for Change

• Washington post article: Activists call for resignation of arts CEO tied to Biden transition team (December 15)

• AFTA’s Board of Directors’ member urgent update (December 16)

• New York Times article: Major Arts Group Leader Steps Aside Amid Workplace Complaints (December 18)

• Other organizations have released statements in support of the Council, including Teaching Artists Guild, Arts Education Alliance of the Bay Area, and others

January 4th, 2021

 

The National Endowment for the Arts released ANALYSIS: COVID-19’s Impacts on Arts and Culture in January. This analysis, a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Arts, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Argonne National Laboratory, provides a summary of the economic damage the pandemic has caused to the arts sector, with a particular focus on the performing arts. It also explores some of the adaptations and resources that are helping arts organizations and artists to survive financially during the pandemic.

From the conclusion of the analysis: "Since March, assistance from federal, state, and local government programs, foundations, and the public at large have provided an important lifeline to help sustain arts organizations and artists throughout the course of the pandemic. These emergent means of support are by no means adequate to offset projected losses for the arts and cultural sector. The amount of relief awarded, to date, is disproportionately small when compared with the sector’s economic footprint."

You can read the full analysis here. 

The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) wrote a post in EdNote identifying some arts education policy trends to look for in 2021, including Racial Equity and Justice, Uniting and Healing Through the Arts, and Funding Opportunities. Read more on EdNote, including links to presentations, session recordings, and studies related to each trend.

Association of Teaching Artists (ATA) and the Teaching Artists Guild (TAG) have announced that after over a year in the works, they are merging! They will begin a joint strategic planning process led by Studio Pathways in January 2021. They will also hold a national teaching artist convening in February.

From their announcement: “We know that, by combining our efforts together, we can better serve the national teaching artist community. We’ve already seen the power of this combined effort since the onset of COVID-19. TAG and ATA, along with many of our arts education leaders in the nation, were some of the first to respond to how the COVID crisis was affecting teaching artists, their work, their livelihood, and ultimately, our future as a field.”

We congratulate ATA and TAG, and look forward to seeing what their combined forces can do to even better support teaching artists!

Read more on ATA’s website.

Three new reports on funding for creative youth development work: Mass Cultural Council has released Read Equity in Funding: Perspectives from the Field of Creative Youth Development During COVID-19, and the CYD National Partnership has released Building Pathways to Funding: A Strategy Towards Expanding Funding for the Creative Youth Development Field and Mapping Skill to Will: Approaches to Funding Creative Youth Development in the United States.

Throughout the summer, Mass Cultural Council hosted weekly, national calls for the Creative Youth Development (CYD) field. Major themes that surfaced in those calls included the issues of equity and funding, which led Mass Cultural Council to focus several national calls on equity in the funding of CYD work. Their takeaway was that funders’ work would be more effective if they worked together with the field as collaborators, offering thought partnership and finding ways to innovate practice. They’ve compiled their findings from these conversations into a report on Equity in CYD Funding. Read Equity in Funding: Perspectives from the Field of Creative Youth Development During COVID-19 on Mass Cultural Council’s website.

As part of the Creative Youth Development National Partnership’s effort to help CYD practitioners and funders better understand how their work fit together, as well as fit within the general funding landscapes of arts/culture and education/youth development, the Partnership’s  National Action Blueprint team has created two briefs with actionable tools for CYD practitioners and CYD funders to effectively partner with each other. Read Building Pathways to Funding: A Strategy Towards Expanding Funding for the Creative Youth Development Field and Mapping Skill to Will: Approaches to Funding Creative Youth Development in the United States on the CYD National Partnership website.

The Lewis Prize for Music recently announced the recipients of its COVID-19 Community Response Fund. A total of $1.25 million will be awarded to 32 Creative Youth Development (CYD) organizations across the U.S. that have adapted and responded to the pressing needs of the young people they serve amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recipients, below, include numerous members of the National Guild community:

• 317 Main Community Music Center (Yarmouth, ME)
• A Place Called Home (Los Angeles, CA) 
• Beyond the Bars (Philadelphia, PA)
• Beyond the Natural (Baltimore, MD)
• Cambridge Community Center (Cambridge, MA)
• Center of Life (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Crescendo Detroit (Detroit, MI)
• Enriching Lives Through Music (San Rafael, CA)
• FAME – Foundation for the Advancement of Music & Education (Bowie, MD)
• Hyde Square Task Force (Jamaica Plain, MA)
• Memphis Music Initiative (Memphis, TN)
• MEOW Cares, Inc. (Montgomery, AL)
• Music Beyond Measure (Montclair, NJ)
• Neutral Zone (Ann Arbor, MI)
• New City Kids (Jersey City, NJ)
• Pico Youth & Family Center (Santa Monica, CA)
• Play on Philly (Philadelphia, PA)
• ROCA Music Program (Brownsville, TX)
• RYSE Youth Center (Richmond, CA)
• Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective (St. Louis, MO)
• Stax Music Academy (Memphis, TN)
• Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village (Flint, MI)
• The Choir School of Delaware (Wilmington, DE)
• The Heartbeat Music Project (Crownpoint, NM)
• The HUBB (Newark, NJ)
• The Jessye Norman School of the Arts, Inc. (Augusta, GA)
• The TETRA (Detroit, MI)
• White Hall Arts Academy (Los Angeles, CA)
• Youth Empowerment Project (New Orleans, LA)
• Youth on Record (Denver, CO)
• YR Media (Oakland, CA)
• ZUMIX (East Boston, MA)

“Access to music enriches the social fabric of our lives,” said Daniel Lewis, Founder and Chairman of the Lewis Prize for Music. “The organizations and leaders we have chosen to support in these times play a critical role in the lives and communities of the young people they support. In the face of unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 and racial injustice across the country, Creative Youth Development organizations are devoting all of their resources to uplift both the creative and material well-being of young people and their families. We are thrilled to support these organizations and be an advocate for the entire Creative Youth Development field.”

Learn more here.