The Arts Approach to Building Connections between Muslim and Non-Muslim Communities

Creative Solutions from the Field

Monday, October 30, 2:15pm – 4:45pm

Organized by Cheryl Ikemiya, Senior Program Officer for the Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Maurine Knighton, Program Director for the Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and Zeyba Rahman, Senior Program Officer, Building Bridges Program, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

Moderated by Michael Rohd, Director, Center for Performance and Civic Practice. Presented by Ismael Ahmed, Senior Advisor to the Chancellor, University of Michigan Dearborn; Isra El-beshir, Director, The Art Station, Illinois State University; Tariq Luthun, Poet; and Hussein Rashid, Founder, islamicate, L3C.

The exponential rise in Islamophobia is fueling a backlash against Muslim, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) communities across the country. How can funders play a greater role in supporting artists, arts organizations, and other key stakeholders using a creative approach to advance knowledge, understanding, and relationships between American Muslim and non-Muslim communities for mutual well-being? In this 2.5 hour deep-dive workshop, attendees will have an opportunity to learn about unique solutions that academics, artists, and presenters have conceived to knit communities together through multidisciplinary cultural initiatives at the local and national levels.

This session is a 150-minute in-depth workshop taking place at the conference hotel.