Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Story matters, and we are at a pivotal moment in which there is a growing understanding that narratives that move hearts and minds are critical. Those of us who work at the intersection of the arts and social justice have known this for some time — in the words of Jeff Chang, “cultural change precedes political change” — but it has become apparent to many others that without compelling storytelling, policy platforms do not stick.

Eleven years of retracing our family history had led me here to the March, but this long journey began with my mother, Lucille Dion Wilson. She was enrolled on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota, where she grew up. Between the ages of ten and sixteen, she attended the Holy Rosary Mission School, a boarding school on the Pine Ridge reservation. After moving to Minneapolis, she eloped with Chuck Wilson, a tall Swede from central Minnesota, and raised five children in a white suburb. When I was growing up, she told me that she was done with “all that,” referring to her Indian heritage.

The Initiative

Introduction: Georgia Men

“Black people did not come back from Georgia.”

“A man or woman that had learned that they might be taken south might do anything.”

“A man who had to see his son stand naked before buyers might do anything.”

Art is not magic; most artists are not all that different from other people. However, many of them developed a skill or asset that most of us haven’t: a fascination for the undercurrent in our society, in our social encounters, in our practices, in our organizations.
 —  Jaap Warmenhoven, Stanford Social Innovation Review

Grantmakers in the Arts is committed to promoting racial equity in arts philanthropy and increasing support for African, Latine, Arab, Asian, and Native American (ALAANA) artists, arts organizations, and communities. Our statement of purpose for this work, published in March 2015, comes after five years of internal discussions, workshops, articles, and forums led by a small learning group consisting of social justice funders and those concerned with social justice.

Arts managers connect audiences to the greatest artistic achievements of humankind. Yet, the cultural sector and public know little about their demographic makeup in the United States. A paucity of literature exists on arts managers (Americans for the Arts 2013; DiMaggio 1987; Herron et al. 1998; Mankin et al. 2006), and questions pertinent to assessing the current level of demographic diversity in the arts management workforce remain unexplored.

This past January I was preparing for a youth education and empowerment program I work with in Pittsburgh called the Omega Dr. Carter G. Woodson Academy, and the research I was doing revealed some fascinating connections between the civil rights movement and philanthropy. This year has also been marked by the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and a national initiative to provide free admission for schoolchildren to see the movie Selma, which was released in December and chronicled the protests that led to the passage of that 1965 legislation.

September 2015, 58 pages. DeVos Institute of Arts Management, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 410, Washington, D.C. 20004. (301) 314-0963. www.devosinstitute.net.

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