12/07/19: Community, Displacement, and The Arts: 400 Years to the Future

Curated and produced in collaboration with Women of Color in the Arts – WOCA

HOW WOCA + NoMAA DEFINE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

We define technical assistance as the transmission of knowledge, experience, and expertise to tackle problems, big and small, within the arts sector and the world. We believe that robust conversations, sharing and learning with peers, and deep, critical conversations begin to give us the tools we need in order to work collaboratively, think proactively, and build our shed of practical instruments to sharpen our intellectual hardware for the future.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Existence and Resistance: Black Women Propelling The Arts + Community Forward

400 years of oppression have led to the systemic inequities we see today – from unequal distribution of wealth trickling down to inadequate resources for our cultural institutions to the appropriation of our land and cultural products for economic gain. While these injustices have certainly contributed to the destabilization of communities, building and maintaining creative capital have been key to helping historically disenfranchised communities survive. Black women, in particular, have always been at the center of this movement of (re)stabilizing communities, taking the lead as artists, activists, cultural workers, and organizers. Hear how Black women of the Diaspora are continuing to propel the arts field forward and helping our communities to not only survive, but, to thrive.

Panelists:

• Tasha Douge, artist, activist, and cultural producer

• Karen Taylor, founder, While We Are Still Here

• Melody Capote, executive director, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute

• Sarita Covington, co-founder, ACRE (Artists Creating Real Equity)

In the Face of Gentrification: Displacement and Its Impact on the Arts

While the arts and artists have often been exploited for the sake of gentrification, history has shown us that the arts have been integral in helping to amplify social issues and mobilize communities. So the arts have also been a catalyst and critical component in the struggle against gentrification and, effectively, displacement – its prominent byproduct as experienced by many historically disenfranchised communities. It is clear that gentrification disproportionately affects artists and cultural creators but in what ways has displacement affected the arts sector? And what can artists and cultural institutions do to authentically help empower communities, mitigate the effects of displacement in the face of gentrification, and build for the future?

Panelists:

• Nadema Agard, visual artist + Director of RED EARTH STUDIO CONSULTING / PRODUCTIONS

• Sita Frederick, artist + director of Community Engagement at Lincoln Center Education

• Yin Kong, director, Think Chinatown

• Elena Martinez, co-director, Bronx Music Heritage Center