As NASAA continues to offer a growing portfolio of programs and services to support state arts agencies’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work, I am pleased to announce that we’ll soon launch the second cohort of the DEI Mentorship Program for state arts agency people of color. The program is designed to support members of…
For the first time in history, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business held a hearing on the state of the creative economy. “The Power, Peril and Promise of the Creative Economy” took place on January 19, and I had the opportunity to share testimony with the committee. Read NASAA’s testimony on the…
For 26 years, the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) has served as the national hub for advancing arts education across the country. This unique partnership is fortified by a network of more than 100 like-minded organizations, is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education, and is administered by Education…
As winter approaches and the air becomes cooler in several regions of the country, I find myself longing for the intimacy and subdued lighting of indoor performing arts events. As an enthusiastic devotee of the arts, like many I come alive at arts events both indoors and outside. I have missed my fellow arts family,…
I delivered these remarks to NASAA members at our 2021 Business Bash Celebration in late October. There are so many amazing, innovative examples of state arts agencies’ courage and commitment during the past year, I wish I could have named them all! The year 2020 gave us COVID-19 and COVID shutdowns, unimaginable deaths, culture…
It is October 2021, the beginning of autumn and nearly two years after COVID-19 made its debut in our country. With vaccinations slowly and pretty steadily on the rise, arts venues that were once shuttered reopening, students resuming in-school learning, and the workforce heading back to the office, I find myself wondering what the new…
As NASAA’s fiscal year draws to a close, our staff, Governance Committee and board of directors are taking time to reflect on NASAA’s work in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). As you know, NASAA began its deep focus on DEI in fall 2015. As we advance this work each year, we affirm the importance of…
We asked Suzanne Wise, who serves as NASAA board chair and executive director of the Nebraska Arts Council, to author the column this month. In preparing to write this column, I reflected on the past year and realized that my memories automatically jump back to 2019. I guess it’s because that was the last reference…
I was recently asked what it looks like when an organization commits to a diversity, equity and inclusion agenda. Unlike many programmatic commitments, which may be short-term or long-term, a commitment to advance diversity, equity and inclusion is definitely long-term, with intentions toward permanent change. In this work, ongoing reflection meets policy, planning, management and…
The arts have a long history of fortifying communities during times of need. Providing ample inspiration, the arts connect people to each other and to ideas that underpin our shared humanity, and during times of crisis, our paths forward. I have also experienced firsthand the power of the arts to help fuel economic comebacks from the…
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