I want to share some of the ways I believe the arts can best be utilized to ensure that this is indeed a transformational time in American history:

  • Anti-racism, arts education initiatives can empower children to recognize racist behavior in themselves and others and provide them with the language and social skills to address it.
  • Funding is needed for new productions of works by artists of color—works that leverage the arts to address both history and racial injustice and provide opportunities for learning, growth, and healing.
  • Civic organizations should partner with the arts as a platform to demonstrate and promote the vision of what building a just and equitable society looks like.
  • Civil rights organizations should incorporate events, performances, and workshops to artistically translate and help implement social justice initiatives.

Some of those resources also could be used to help our arts and cultural institutions establish long-term programs that address issues of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Access (EDI&A), so that the future of these organizations accurately reflects America’s growing multicultural population.

What other arts-based programs could make a difference?

  • The establishment of multi-year training programs led by a team of People of Color (PoC) for the staffs of cultural and arts organizations to help them embody the principles of EDI&A in all aspects of their business and artistic operations with an accountability plan that is evaluated monthly.
  • Provide funding for executive leadership training for PoC within the arts community that includes mentorship.
  • Make available paid internships to artists and arts administrators of color that includes a stipend that exceeds their cost of living expenses in the market where they are working, so they can focus on what they’re learning instead of having to take a second job.
  • Prestigious arts awards programs, such as the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Grammys, should incorporate EDI&A in the way they train, staff, and program their annual televised presentations, and they should add an EDI&A category to recognize industry innovation and leadership in this area.
  • Provide equitable pay for PoC in the television, film, and publishing industries.

Read the full article about art to combat injustice by Donna Walker-Kuhne at Americans for the Arts.