Challenge Day Highlights: Arts & Culture, LT'21

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To keep you connected to LT and current issues and topics discussed in the curriculum, LT shares highlights and resources from our recent Challenge Day.

The Arts and Culture Challenge Day was centered around these questions: What role do the arts play in healthy communities and your own life? How is the arts and culture sector being impacted by the pandemic? What does a thriving arts and culture sector on the other side of the pandemic look like? What role could your professional sector and your own leadership play in helping the arts and culture sector and its workers thrive in our region into the future?

The day was designed to support these LT curriculum outcomes:

  • Community and Belonging: Build strong connections among people across many lived experiences. Feel inspired and empowered to act by belonging to an enduring community of regional stewards.

  • Regional Challenges and Opportunities: Understand regional challenges and opportunities and how they are interconnected, including how systemic racism impedes our ability to create a healthy community for all.

  • Leadership: Grow skills, tools, and strategies to act as a leader and change agent in one’s own chosen area, including an ability to work within and across sectors to address systemic racism and build a more resilient and equitable region.

This write-up is a brief overview of the day and is organized around the three curriculum outcomes. To get a feel for the full day, read the agenda HERE. For a full list of resources related to this Challenge Day, read the prework HERE.

Many thanks to Sellen and 4Culture for their sponsorship of this day and leadership in our community.

Community & Belonging

Photo: LT'21 class members sharing their objects with the group.

Photo: LT'21 class members sharing their objects with the group.

Class members shared an object that represents how they have turned to and been supported by arts and culture during the pandemic. Objects ranged from books, to knitting needles, to headphones, to food (even a dancing plantain!). In small groups, class members shared in more depth the various ways they have leaned on arts and culture during these challenging times.

Resources:

Regional Challenges and Opportunities

Photo: Angie Kamel, Public Works Director, Seattle Rep

Photo: Angie Kamel, Public Works Director, Seattle Rep

Photo: Malik Hall, LT'21, Microsoft

Photo: Malik Hall, LT'21, Microsoft

Tim Lennon, LT’15, began this section by reflecting on the impact the pandemic has had on the arts sector and the tough decisions arts leaders have had to make. Tim's organization, LANGSTON, partnered with several local artists to put together the Seattle Artists Relief Fund, raising and distributing more than $1 million to local artists impacted by the pandemic.

Class members broke into three groups with three arts leaders (Elisheba Johnson, Curator, Public Artist, and Co-Manager, Wa Na Wari; Joshua Heim, LT’18, Deputy Director, 4Culture; Angie Kamel, Director, Public Works at Seattle Rep) to better understand the impact of the pandemic, innovations happening now, and what’s possible for the future with the right action.

Resources:

Leadership

Class members reflected individually and then met in small groups to consider the role their professional sector could play in supporting the arts and artists to thrive in our region into the future. They also envisioned what specific role they could play in addressing the crisis.

Examples of ways class members want to help the arts and culture sector thrive in the future included:

  • Mindset shift in terms of what counts as art and who art is for - it's not a "nice to have" that should only be accessible to the wealthy. We can all engage in and support art, and when possible put our money where our values are.

  • Art (or food) therapy for internal agency morale but also for clients/population that you serve if your agency provides services. This would highlight the cuisine or artistic potential of internal team members AND give clients a chance to express their whole humanity.

  • Intentional inclusion of BIPOC artists AND enthusiastic uplift of their work!

  • The creative process helps understand balancing opposites, which is the essence of social justice and healing work. So, art is crucial for healing, social justice and DEI.

  • Don't put the burden of articulating the NEED for art and culture solely on the art and culture makers. We need more non-artist leaders who understand and communicate the vision.

  • Buy local, keep dollars in the community.

  • Work with those in the Arts & Cultural space to preempt cycles of gentrification and other systemic and structural racism.

  • Support arts organizations in creating paid internships for BIPOC artists.

  • Wealthy companies that directly benefit from being located in culturally rich communities/cities should be held accountable for investing back into the artists and organizations that make their communities so diverse and creative.

  • Bring artists to the table at the board level to intentionally educate the community on the arts and cultural landscape (like we're doing here!).

Resources:

Special thanks to our Challenge Day Sponsors:

Possibility Day ReflectionsMegan Rudolph