National Performing Arts Convention Rehash: Issue #3

If you haven’t checked out my last post about the National Performing Arts Convention, you can view it here.

Quick intro:  Throughout the week, convention attendees convened in small groups (”caucuses”) to discuss topics/issues effecting the field at large.  At the conclusion of the convention, everyone who remained met in a large group to decide how to approach these issues going forward.  Although making the final decisions via group-thought was difficult and annoying as a result of technological glitches and, in my opinion, of an underinformed group, the convening still produced some interesting feedback from the performing arts field.

Here is Issue #3….

Issue #3: The increasing diversity of our communities creates an opportunity to engage a variety of ages, races, identities, and cultures in our audiences and organizations.  Which three strategies are most important to take in order to advance our vision?

Because diversity can be a touchy subject, before I go on, I should say that these are NOT Fractured Atlas’ thoughts and opinions, but rather my own.

First off, let me be sure to clarify what I think of when I hear the word diversity.  I think of different races — white, black, Hispanic/Latino, etc.  I think of different cultures — American, French, Nigerian, Brazilian, etc.  I think of different ages — toddlers, tweens, teens, young adult, middle-aged, over-the-hill, and elderly.  I think of different sexual orientations — straight, gay, transexual, etc.  I think of different classes — lower, middle, upper-middle, upper.  There are more categories I won’t even begin to list.  Diversity means involving ALL of the different groups, including those in the minority AND majority.

Let’s be frank, though.  “Diversity” is a word that gets tossed around way too much as a hot term — something we all have to include in our organizations, in our lives, and in our grant applications.  And I think a lot of us are missing the point.  Diversity cannot be forced into where it doesn’t make sense.  For instance, let’s say there was a theatre company that set out to do August Wilson’s ten-play cycle.  One would expect their casts to be made up of African American actors.  Should they be forced to diversify their casts by including Asian Americans and Latinos?  No.  Should straight men be allowed to join the New York Gay Men’s Chorus?  Probably not (wasn’t there a Will & Grace episode about that??).  These things just don’t make sense.

Whenever possible, diversity should happen naturally.  And, we should also be looking at how we’re already diverse within our own groups.  Here at Fractured Atlas, for instance, we’re all pretty young (I won’t divulge how young).  That’s not very diverse, correct?  But, our artistic backgrounds are extremely diverse.  We have theatre artists, a dancer, visual artists, and an art historian.  Out of eight people, I think that’s pretty diverse.  As a culture, we need to start embracing the diversity we already have in our groups and organizations before we try to force diversity for diversity’s sake.  If you’re open to working with new people — whoever they may be — then, in my mind, you’re open to being diverse.  At that point, diversity should happen organically.

So, that clarifies my stance.

Here is what the audience voted for among the suggestions:

On a NATIONAL level… “Charge national service organizations to create dialogue at convenings, create training programs, promote diverse art and artists, and partner with grassroots organizations who are already connected to diverse communities.”

My thought on this… Come on, folks!  This is already happening and has not done much except result in arguments (in my honest opinion).  Let’s try something new and innovative for a change.  The strategy I was hoping to see pushed forward was: “Create a media campaign with artists from diverse communities including celebrities to provide exposure to diverse art.”  I know I dissed the media campaigns in some of my prior posts, but here is where I think it would be most effective.  I think this would appeal to diverse youth who look to celebrities as their heroes.  Cultivate these thoughts within the minds of our youth and you start paving a road for the future.

On the LOCAL level, the audience voted for: “Open an honest dialogue across community groups and sectors to share priorities and identify barriers to participation.”

Here we go again with the touchy-feely stuff.  I’ve witnessed open dialogues.  Some go well, but as soon as you say “diversity,” everyone has their own opinion and is not willing to budge.  Instead, why don’t we try to “Partner within the arts, as well as with community organizations, to build relationships.”  And I’m not talking about phony, “let’s apply for a consortium grant” relationships.  I’m talking about honest-to-goodness partnerships, where it makes complete sense to partner with the community organizations.  Not to toot our own horn, but Fractured Atlas has been doing a lot of advocacy work in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn area recently and, in order to connect with the artists in that community, we needed to connect with their community organizations (many of which are culturally-specific institutions).  Why did we do this?  Because it makes sense in the context of the project.  In the process, we are diversifying our programming and our reach.

On an INDIVIDUAL/ORGANIZATIONAL level, the audience favored: “Discover arts in your community offered by cultures other than your own and establish peer relationships.”

Hooray!  One I finally agree with.  Granted, again, I don’t believe diversity only means cultural diversity (as is noted by the suggestion above).  But, I think this gets the point across.  If you want to be diverse and want it to happen in a natural way, you have to actually be interested in the other cultures/orientations/groups.  If you’re unfamiliar with those groups, then you need to get out there and introduce yourself.  If you’re uncomfortable doing this, find someone who can serve as a connector between yourself and this group.  It’s like working across artistic disciplines.  If you are a filmmaker who wants to start working with dancers, you have to go see dancers perform!  If your interest has been peaked, follow your gut and learn more.  Discover and actively participate.  It’s really not that difficult.  If you just open your circle up to more people, you will automatically be diversifying that circle.

As I said before, many people have their own opinions about diversity.  And you’re welcome to disagree with mine.  Please feel free to post comments!

I hope you have enjoyed my series on NPAC.  I’ll be sure to get back to the member profiles next week!