Arts Intranet

This summer, 12 Diversity in Arts Leadership interns from all over the country are working virtually with New York City-based arts nonprofits for ten weeks to explore and build skills in arts administration, and cultivate knowledge in cultural equity within the arts field. For 27 years, Americans for the Arts has been hosting the DIAL internship program as an investment in a more equitable arts management field. This series features our 2020 DIAL NYC cohort in two parts: six interns are profiled here and in a later post, six more! Read on to get to know Truth Murray Cole, Chayna Yoshida, Noa Weiss, Julia Lee, Carol Loja, and Allie Li. 

“What is justice?” In my first year of college, I had a research assignment to choose a case study related to this question. I wrote about the need to increase equitable access to arts education in the United States as a means for social justice, and used resources from Americans for the Arts for my research. With previous experience as a visual arts student as well as an art teacher for students from underserved schools in the Washington, D.C. area, I knew the transformative power that the arts could have to empower individuals and communities. My classmates were eager during my presentation to hear more about the case for the arts as a matter of social justice, as many of them reflected that they had never thought about arts in the context of social impact or equity. Since then, I have wanted to be an advocate for the arts wherever I go, knowing that it is so intertwined with issues of equity and social justice. I have pursued ways to integrate my interests in the arts with my professional goals of advocacy and related communications fields. This summer, I had the perfect opportunity to integrate my interest in the arts with my professional goals as the Marketing and Communications intern at Americans for the Arts.

Happy National Arts and Humanities Month! Each October, millions of people across the country celebrate the transformative power of the arts in their communities. National Arts and Humanities Month is a “coast-to-coast collective recognition of the importance of culture in America,” with the goals of: FOCUSING on the arts at local, state, and national levels; ENCOURAGING individuals and organizations to participate in the arts; ALLOWING governments and businesses to show their support of the arts; and RAISING public awareness about the role the arts and humanities play in our communities and lives. During National Arts and Humanities Month, some truly amazing celebrations of arts and culture take place across the country. One of the big initiatives for the month is Creative Conversations, which gather community leaders to “discuss local arts, culture, and creativity to generate partnerships and increased energy around the grassroots movement to elevate the arts in America.” 

I don’t know what others tasted at the 2016 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, but for four days, the crisp flavor of inspiration sat on my tongue. I felt like a freshman attending the first day of classes at her top choice school. 

Whatever the reason for the change, the nature of leadership is changing. We don’t need harsher, more selfish delegators. We need influential social mobilizers capable of harnessing our collective intention and elevating each voice in the chorus. I argue it is Emerging Arts Leaders who understand this more than any and are best poised to make a lasting difference.

Welcome to the annual Emerging Arts Leaders Blog Salon!  We asked over a dozen emerging leaders to reflect and respond to this year’s Arts Leadership Preconference theme: “Impact without Burnout: Resilient Arts Leadership from the Inside Out”. In the coming days you will read about the work of some of these leaders and their advice to the field.

To kick things off, I asked Beth Kanter, the lead facilitator and curator for this year’s Arts Leadership Preconference, four questions to help us define and better understand the concepts behind resilient leadership.