This report reveals that women of color encounter systemic obstacles to their advancement over and above the barriers faced by white women and men of color. Education and training are not the solution-women of color with high levels of education are more likely to be in administrative roles and are more likely to report frustrations about inadequate and inequitable salaries. BMP’s call to action focuses on systems change, organizational change, and individual support for women of color in the sector.
Mapping Our Progress toward Cultural Equity: Americans for the Arts’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts Since the 2016 Adoption of the Statement on Cultural Equity
“To support a full creative life for all, Americans for the Arts commits to championing policies and practices of cultural equity that empower a just, inclusive, equitable nation.” In April of 2016, the Board of Directors of Americans for the Arts unanimously adopted the above Statement on Cultural Equity, along with a set of guiding objectives and definitions, for the organization. In June of 2018, two years into working towards the guidelines laid out in the Statement on Cultural Equity, the Board of Directors requested that staff gather a report on progress. This is the result of that request.
This report, and its associated detailed appendix, were compiled in a collaborative effort across all departments of Americans for the Arts. We attempt to integrate a focus on cultural equity across our work, rather than consolidating it into a named department within the organization, and so this report encompasses a wide variety of work that ranges from practice deeply rooted in equity and systems change to exercises in relatively early-stage representation and visibility. It showcases a significant amount of energy, effort, and progress, and the long distance to go. We wish to acknowledge both of those realities. This report summarizes the longer detailed findings that feature in the appendix, which totals 19 pages and has been organized around the guiding objectives from the original Statement on Cultural Equity. Together these documents provide a platform for reflection on our progress, areas of improvement, and next steps necessary for this work to succeed over time.
Each section is arranged around one of the core tenets of the Statement on Cultural Equity. The first three components, as in the Statement, are about the internal workings of Americans for the Arts. The second four, similarly, are about our external work with the field and communities. This echoes the structure of the Appendix, to which the reader may refer for further details.
Rural Prosperity Through the Arts and Creative Sector: A Rural Action Guide for Governors and States
Rural America has a robust cultural history that has enriched the nation and its people. Rural America is also beset with social and economic challenges.
Population migration and persistent poverty are contributing to a widening urban-rural divide in many states. By using the creative sector – specifically, arts and cultural assets – governors have a viable approach for strengthening economic opportunities and vibrancy into rural communities.
Arts and culture have long been part of urban rejuvenation efforts. Now, an expanding body of research and practice showcases positive economic
and quality-of-life outcomes associated with the rural creative sector.
This Rural Action Guide describes in detail the principles of arts-based rural development, including the following:
- Creative sector initiatives are most effective when attuned to the particular creative assets and needs of rural communities.
- Creative sector initiatives work best as part of a cohesive economic development plan in rural areas.
- Creative sector initiatives add value when integrated with additional state and local policies and practices such as workforce development, community development and housing.
This Rural Action Guide features many successful high-profile examples of rural communities and regions that have become more economically
resilient and sustainable through creative sector initiatives.
The examples offer process-oriented steps for consideration by governors and their policy advisors when applying the principles within their states’
policy framework. When implemented, these steps can contribute to positive changes in employment, wages and quality of place in rural areas.
This guide goes beyond simply advocating replication, which would be difficult because of the unique circumstances of individual communities
benefiting from place-based initiatives that foster the creative economy. It also shares process steps, examples and lessons learned from rural successes and the research and field work that have built on
these successes.
Pittsburgh Artists Working in Community: A Case Study of Aesthetic Perspectives in Action
As Pittsburgh’s Office of Public Art (OPA) supports artists working in the public realm through residencies and cross-sector partnerships, this case study explores how OPA has used Aesthetic Perspectives as: an adaptable evaluation tool, a content-rich guide for artist inquiry and exchange, and an organizational aid to guide selection panels to discuss aesthetic qualities and equity.
Arts Education and Social-Emotional Learning Outcomes Among K-12 Students
In Arts Education and Social-Emotional Learning Outcomes Among K-12 Students: Developing A Theory of Action, the authors describe how arts learning experiences have the potential to promote the development of socialemotional competencies and suggest that these developmental processes can be replicable across subject areas.
Evidence suggests that practices traditionally found in arts education can play a critical role in developing college- and career-ready skills, such as innovation and collaboration. Participation in arts education processes and practices can translate into the development of both artistic and social-emotional competencies, including self-management, self-discipline, interpersonal skills, and self-expression, that extend beyond arts.
Museums as a Pink-Collar Profession: The Consequences and How to Address Them
In 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 49.5-percent of U.S. museum staff are women, a decrease of less than half a percentage point from its recent high of 50.1-percent in 2017. While nationally the field is precariously gender balanced, women dominate specific museum departments — HR and development, for example — as well as positions in education and conservation. In many smaller museums, women make up the entire workforce.
If the overall workforce numbers continue to grow, even at a modest 2-percent per year, in a decade women will quickly constitute 70-percent of the national museum workforce. Given the overwhelming majority of women currently in museum studies graduate programs, as well as the field’s junior ranks, a
scenario where women constitute a majority of the workforce is highly likely, promising long-term effects for the field, not all of them positive.
