On 12.05.14, ArtsFund hosted the convening Beyond Engagement: Pathways to Equity & Inclusion in the Arts. This was a solutions-focused and practical conversation centered on institutional approaches to creating pathways to equity in the arts, and an exploration of tools and strategies to help build diverse and equitable arts organizations. Over 90 participants attended, representing cultural and arts service organizations of all scales and disciplines from throughout the region, as well as funders both public and private.
In a discussion moderated by Valerie Curtis-Newton, models and examples were shared by featured guests Bill Rauch, Artistic Director, Oregon Shakespeare Company and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Chief of Programs and Pedagogy, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Additional context and models of regional programs were provided by local arts leaders, Beth Takekawa, Executive Director, Wing Like Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, and Sarah Wilke, Managing Director, On the Boards.
Click here for the event invitation and agenda.
The convening was sponsored by The Boeing Company and was generously hosted by the EMP Museum.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Overviews of the principles and philosophies of the discussion’s featured institutions can be found at:
• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Mission and Vision
• Oregon Shakespeare Festival Values
• Oregon Shakespeare Festival Diversity & Inclusion
In discussing how curating community has become a central tenet of the organization, Marc Bamuthi Jospeh cited the YBCA Future Soul Project, a think-tank activating artists and communities in problem solving and creative inquiry. In addition, Joseph referred to a variety of YBCA’s public programs, including YBCA: You and YBCA in Community.
Tracing the progression of equity and inclusion work with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Bill Rauch recapped the origins of the OSF Audience Development Manifesto. Rauch also shared OSF’s Structure for Diversity and Inclusion efforts.
Click here more information on all OSF’s Cultural Connections programs and on the Green Shows referenced by Rauch in linking community-generated work and work inside the theater. Click here to hear from OSF staff.
For information on The Wing Luke Museum’s community-based exhibition development, click here. For information on the On The Boards Ambassador Project, one facet of OtB’s stakeholder expansion, click here.
“What we are doing is not radical or revolutionary, but evolutionary”—Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Beyond Engagement 2014
“Let us move beyond a transactional way of achieving impact”—Bill Rauch, Beyond Engagement 2014