Strategic Alliances
Humanity : Cultural Neighborhood Development
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Janet Kagan
HUMANITY identifies ways to consider, evaluate, and create diverse and previously unallied organizations in coalitions for longterm achievement of social, economic, and aesthetic outcomes co-defined by the populations the project and/or program is intended to serve. Current examples from African-American neighborhoods will illustrate strategic and culturally relevant approaches to deepen artistic and social imprints of place that breathe life into degenerated communities. The showcase will expand upon definitions, values, and applications of cross-currents among ideas and alliances - a form of civic curation that realigns physical, social, economic, and cultural assets to reveal unique alchemies for distinction in the work of creative placemaking initiatives. These impactful and redesigned paradigms produce experiences and outcomes in which neighborhood residents see their streets differently, become more engaged in the future of their community, and find reverberations through which to express loyalty and pride of place. The presentation will also highlight new and successful models to address how leaders of NGOs can support one another in service to creative redevelopment strategies, incorporate the voices of those who are disenfranchised into design directions that restore civic health, and learn the fundamental questions to ask residents such that the answers are charged with deep social meaning and history.
This is Derby: Dialogic Activism
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rhiannon Jones, Tom Craig, Alix Manning Jones, Caroline Barth, Will Turner
This paper explores the artistic research project "This is Derby" undertaken by University of Derby, Derby County Community Trust and Derby Theatre; the only Learning Theatre in the UK. The project engaged targeted participants living within identified areas of deprivation from the city of Derby. The research aimed to design a dialogic methodology using a "grass roots" approach to provide young people with free art activities. Examples will be provided in the paper of how the research was undertaken, what and how key barriers were identified by both schools and parents; including the lack of cultural integration outside of school time in the UK and the impact of lacks in financial or family support. The paper shares models of best practice whilst highlight the value of having undertaking an artistic and dialogic methodology. The impact of the project is extensively noted within UK contemporary social contexts and as a result of the findings, 9 community hubs and a online hub were created. This is Derby was a collaborative research project that has provided essential life skills for young persons in socio economically deprived areas of Derby, resulting in social mobility and new access to the arts. This paper disseminates both the design and impact of the research proposing that dialogic methodologies are an instigator for change in order to enable and empower younger persons. This is Derby has produced dialogic methodology that has actively contributed to the future cultural offering in the city of Derby and impacts on art research.
Arts Activism as Grassroots City Policy
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Johanna Taylor
Cities are facing social, economic, and physical challenges rooted in systems of exclusion. In response to these urban challenges, activists and organizers are using art as a cooperative platform to challenge societal inequalities and mobilize collective voice to call out systems of exclusion that underscore daily life in the city. Can arts activism inform city policy around targeted community issues to advance the right to the city for residents? This paper draws on examples in New Orleans and Phoenix. Residents in each city face competing challenges from equity and political representation, blight and housing, displacement of cultural communities, and challenging colonial legacies that still define the built environment. In Phoenix, art is integrated within Latinx organizing to building political participation through voting and mobilizing the community to run for office. One group is using art to reclaim urban space as queer, immigrant space through public performances and art actions in support of undocumented communities. In New Orleans, activists and artists are using art as a community building platform around housing and displacement to challenge the city to restructure its blight policies. Other groups are targeting the lasting Confederate legacies that dot the city to advocate for city intervention. In this way, arts activist tactics are negotiating with city officials to shift city policy to create a future city driven by equity and inclusion.
Negotiating Political Swings: Coping with Dramatic Reductions to Grant Funding in the Arts
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Brad Lister
In March of 2018, the State of Florida passed a budget for the 2019 fiscal year that reduced grant funding for arts and culture by 90% from the previous year’s budget. Media outlets reported that it was due to several factors, including Hurricane Irma, the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, the early legislative session, and uncertainty resulting from tax reform in Washington, D. C. This paper explores the reactions of Florida arts and culture organizations in the aftermath of the budget’s release. As the real effects of Florida’s funding reduction will not be fully realized until the end of the 2019 fiscal year, this preliminary study analyzed arts administrators’ initial plans for addressing the shortfall. Research results indicated dismay among all arts administrators, plans to reduce staff, and cuts to education and programming that will largely impact low-income families. Nonprofit financial scholars have suggested strategies to mitigate impacts associated with budget shortfalls and funding emergencies. I have addressed several of these strategies as both short-term and long-term solutions.
