SLIDE: WE ARE WHAT WE ART

Thank you, and thank you Aaron, Afa, and everyone at the Sphinx Organization for bringing all of us together around this very important topic of diversity in the arts. Im not a big fan of puns involving the word art. You know what I mean. Theres pARTicipate and hART. How about these? But I like We Are What We Art because Art becomes a verb. Its something we do rather than an object or product. The phrase was used by a young filmmaker I recently met as the title for the short film that inspired this talk. Arts education is valuable in and of itself. And it also promotes all kinds of academic, cognitive, social and civic outcomes. It can foster creativity and better even health. And as we all know, learning an art form brings us joy and happiness. Arts education is the most effective means we have for addressing the issue of diversity in the arts. In fact we know that arts education is the most significant predictor of arts participation later in life. No one has proven causality, but the correlation is very strong. We have a serious problem in this country when it comes to arts education: the number of people with little or no access is growing, particularly among poor people and people of color. This is tragic and unacceptable, but its something that each of us can do something about.

SLIDE: NATIONAL GUILD FOR COMMUNITY ARTS EDUCATION

My organization, The National Guild for Community Arts Education, supports and advances access to lifelong learning opportunities in the arts. Were committed to expanding access to the arts for all people, regardless of their background or ability.

SLIDE: WORD CLOUD

We recognize that arts education is lifelong and also life-wide. We learn throughout all the stages of our lives and in many settings, both formal and informal.

SLIDE: SURVEY IN PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS #1

We know from the NEAs Survey of Public Participation of the Arts that fewer than half of todays 18-year-olds report having arts lessons or classes during childhood. Thats down from about 65% in 1982.

SLIDE: SURVEY IN PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS #2

Digging deeper, the story is much more disturbing. African-Americans and Hispanics are only half as likely as Whites to report having had arts lessons or classes. And between 1982 and 2008 African-American participation declined almost 50%. Studies tell us that a big part of the problem is that school-based arts programs are inequitably distributed and suffered substantial cuts beginning in the 1970s.

SLIDE: COMMUNITY

I know that all of you in this room, representatives of the thousands of arts organizations across the country, care deeply about this problem and want to do something about it. But we wont be able to fulfill our potential through business as usual. We must move beyond a focus on marketing and audience development toward an emphasis on authentic community engagement. We have to get out of our silos and learn to collaborate, both within and beyond the arts. In so doing we will leverage new resources and multiply the impact of our work. Of course, working in new ways is difficult and can be scary but as artists, we know that we must take risks.

SLIDE: ROTHKO QUOTE

Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take risks.

Id like to share a story a risk-taker in Detroit. His name is Rick Sperling and hes here with us today. Rick was trained as theatre artist. He hoped one day to start a political theatre company. The first step in his business plan was to move back home to his parents house ---- and get a job to help fund his new company. Rick became a teaching artist with an equity theatre company working in the Detroit public schools. What started out as a way to pay some bills ended up changing his life. Rick was blown away by the experience. He encountered young people with a hunger for the arts, and a level of talent and energy that far surpassed his expectations. And his experience countered everything people had told him about Detroit---that hed have to watch his back and that the students wouldnt care. Not only were the students enthusiastic about the program, they inspired Rick artistically. But each school residency lasted only three weeks. After that, the teaching artists left and the students no longer had any arts instruction. So Rick asked the sponsoring theatre company if he could extend the experience by producing a play. 300 students from across the city auditioned and the play was a huge success.

LESSON ONE: ASSESS THE NEED; FOCUS ON ASSETS & POTENTIAL

While working as a teaching artist, Rick saw great need and also a great opportunity. The need was for advanced theatre and music training at a time when budget cuts had eliminated most school-based arts programs. The opportunity was to create a world-class organization based on the incredible talents of young people. Realizing the work he was doing was too good to be just an outreach program, he got permission to co-produce the show at the theatre and so was born the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit.

LESSON TWO: REFLECT AND ADAPT

Rick scrapped his plans for a political theatre company and focused all of his efforts on building his youth theatre. The ensuing years were marked by the usual start-up pains of scrambling for resources and struggling to recruit and retain students. Four years later, Rick was discouraged and approaching burnout. He decided to give it one last try, but this time, he took a different approach. There would be no compromises. He would run the company as he would a professional company, treating the members as artistic collaborators. He gave them advanced material, expected them to be on time, demanded accountability and stressed technical mastery. Of the 80 kids that signed up at the beginning of that year, 75 were still enrolled by the end. They were thriving on the companys culture of professionalism.

LESSON THREE: DESIGN ENGAGING, HIGH INTEREST PROGRAMS AND CREATE A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT

Mosaic has developed into an award-winning, nationally recognized youth ensemble, in which young artists are involved in every element of production, serving as resources, collaborators and problem-solvers, rather than simply recipients of service. The result is a profoundly meaningful opportunity for youth development that builds participation in the arts.

LESSON FOUR: CHOOSE THE RIGHT TEACHING ARTISTS AND STAFF

A key to Mosaics success has been their teaching artists. Rick looks for artists who can set high expectations and are inspired by the unique assets of the young people and know how to collaborate with them.

LESSON FIVE: IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION

Young peoples lives are crowded with the demands of school, family and work. Rick helps students manage their conflicting priorities and address their transportation and scheduling issues.
LESSON SIX: BE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL AND EXPECT TO MAKE MISTAKES.

Think 10 years, says Rick, and be willing to make mistakes. Learn from them and keep adapting. And be sure to take the time to get to know the communities around you, build trust, listen to what the community wants, and above all, collaborate. And here is what can happen if you do:
[SHOW MOSAIC YOUTH THEATRE VIDEO 2 MINUTES]

[SLIDE: MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS]

Ive focused on one just local example but there are countless others who are multiplying the benefits of arts education through intentional, long term community engagement. By collaborating, they are increasing access and equity while also addressing real community needs. Partnership and community engagement can help arts organizations reach multiply their impact but it can also stimulate innovation by tapping into what Maribel Alvarez has called the local, creative, authentic genius of ordinary citizens.

[SLIDE: THE LOCAL, CREATIVE, AUTHENTIC GENIUS OF ORDINARY CITIZENS]

The Guild had the honor of learning from one such creative genius at our annual conference in Dallas last November. We partnered with member organization SaySi in San Antonio, inviting their young artists to document our conversations around equity and social justice. Under the leadership of Cesar Martinez, they produced a video entitled We Are What We Art. It powerfully shows what is possible when you engage the unique creativity of ordinary citizens. The last several days have been stimulating and inspiring but I think most of us would agree with Margie Reeses statement: It really is a struggle to talk about equity; Id rather spend my time working toward it.