Cultural Equity in the Arts

Today's Arts and Culture organizations and their leaders are confronting the multi-faceted issues of Cultural Equity and need to understand the role that inequity has played in decision making, hiring, programming, funding, arts policy, loss of audience, and audience participation. Arts Leaders are now looking both inward and at their own institutions, and need the information and tools necessary to address biases, and create equitable and just institutions with deep connections to their surrounding communities. This course will explore the history of inequity in the arts, how "the arts" came to be defined through a Western European lens, how cultural funding affects opportunity, and how systems in our culture and society have prevented building diverse staff and board leadership. Topics will include how to create authentically-inclusive programming, how to partner and cross-program with organizations that serve different demographic communities, how to expand audiences for the traditional arts in a time of demographic shift, how to advocate for change, and how to create an organizational infrastructure that promotes equity and diversity. This course will explore the role of personal biases and will help students find new solutions that fit the needs of a case study organization and its community.