The Best-Of: 8 ArtsBoston Blog Posts to Revisit
This week, we’re bringing you back to 8 blog posts from over the years that showcase the vibrancy in Boston’s arts scene, uplift resources for artists and arts administrators, and highlight arts organizations that are working to make Boston a more equitable community. We hope you spend time revisiting the conversations raised in these posts and reflect on the value that art brings to our daily lives.
DIVERSIFICATION BEGINS WITH A THEORY OF CHANGE
In 2017, we examined the Logic Model for the Artsboston Audience Lab, which was influenced by the Theory of Change – a specific type of methodology for planning, participation, and evaluation. We asked, what is the change we want to see and how can we move toward the goal of audience diversification effectively?
The Audience Lab was born out of our desire to champion inclusion and find new tools and strategies to engage all audiences. From there, we were able to clearly define the problem, and build out a set of strategies, outputs, and outcomes toward the goal of systemic change throughout the Boston arts and culture sector.
10 CONTEMPORARY LGBTQ COMPOSERS YOU SHOULD KNOW
In 2018, we celebrated Pride Month by showcasing the excellence of the LGBTQIA community by highlighting some of the very best LGBTQ+ artists creating work today.
CREATING COMMUNITY WITH CYBER PRIDE
This summer, we spoke with underground nightlife artists Boudoir about what it’s been like to bring the extravaganza online, and about their passion for Nightlife as an art form that celebrates queerness and encourages everyone to live freely and joyfully.
Without a space to gather in physically, the online space allowed for attendees to celebrate themselves by curating their boudoir — a glamorous and spectacular respite from the rest of the world, where one feels most themselves. So far, they’ve seen at-home partygoers leap at the opportunity for this new format of self-expression.
10 CONTEMPORARY ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in 2018, we celebrated the excellence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by highlighting some of the very best APIA (Asian and Pacific Islander American) artists.
A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH: LEADERS OF COLOR IN THE ARTS
In 2018, former Audience Lab Director and founder of the Network for Arts Administrators of Color Victoria George reflected on the seven-part series on racism in Boston from the critically acclaimed Spotlight Team of The Boston Globe.
Yes, there are plenty of “qualified” people of color in arts administration, but have you examined your internal structures and practices so that your organization is attractive to “diverse” talent? Is there room for advancement? Is your Board ready to put in the work necessary to make change happen? Is your programming actually attractive to a “diverse” audience? Do audiences of color feel comfortable in your space?
CREATING A NEW CULTURE: LEADERS OF COLOR IN THE VISUAL ARTS PANEL RECAP
Creating a New Culture: Leaders of Color in the Visual Arts from ArtsBoston on Vimeo.
This post from 2019 recaps a panel discussion about the role curation plays in artistic spaces in our city. The conversation and Q & A featured panelists from The Museum of Fine Arts, LunchTime Comix; URBANO Project; Peabody Essex Museum. The panel was moderated by Maria Garcia, Senior Editor at WBUR’s The ARTery.
Art spaces and their curators are increasingly called upon to provide new contexts for both historical and contemporary works; large museums in particular are being pushed to shine a light on how the legacies of colonialism continue to shape them, as well as to explore how they might move away from these frameworks towards inclusivity.
10 ARTISTS TO SEE FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
These ten exhibitions from Boston-area museums and galleries featured dynamic contemporary women artists, that can be celebrated all year round and for years to come.
A recent study published by the nonprofit Public Library of Science website found that of all the artists represented in American museum collections, 85% are white and over 87% are male.
REDEFINING A COMMITMENT TO EQUITY WITH BRAIN ARTS ORG
Recently, we spoke with community organizer and musician Sam Potrykus from Brain Arts Org, a nonprofit curates a breadth of creative projects that serve the Greater Boston area including the Dorchester Art Project and monthly newspaper Boston Compass. Read about their current goals to take action towards social justice and how they are fulfilling them.
“Put the money into the hands of the people who have been kept out, and who are closer to the pain of that experience.” In other words, predominantly white-led organizations need to let BIPOC creatives lead.
@elena_pearl
