Community-Based

Arts Organizations
A N e w C e nt e r o f G r av i t y
by Ron Chew
Amid changing demographics, a new political climate,
technological advances, and globalization, small and mid-sized
community-based arts organizations offer artistic excellence and
innovation, astute leadership connected to community needs,
and important institutional and engagementmodels for the arts
field. This essay underscores the crucial contributions of this
segment of cultural organizations in the cultural ecosystem and
toward achieving healthy communities and a healthy democracy.

A special issue of

This essay was developed for and supported by the Exemplar Program, a program of
Americans for the Arts, in collaboration with the LarsonAllen LLC, and funded by The Ford Foundation.
This essay was developed for and supported by the Exemplar Program, a program of Americans for the
Arts, in collaboration with the LarsonAllen LLC, and funded by The Ford Foundation.
Community-Based
Arts Organizations
A N e w C e nt e r o f G r av i t y
by Ron Chew

Amid changing demographics, a new political climate, technological advances,

and globalization, small and mid-sized community-based arts organizations
offer artistic excellence and innovation, astute leadership connected to
community needs, and important institutional and engagement models for the
arts field. This essay underscores the crucial contributions of this segment of
cultural organizations in the cultural ecosystem and toward achieving healthy
communities and a healthy democracy.
 Ron Chew is principal of Chew Communications. He served as executive director
of the Wing Luke Asian Museum from 1991-2007. Known as an innovator using
cutting-edge presentations with a locally oriented emphasis, Chew helped rede-
fine museums by melding cultural identity, civic participation, and museum pro-
grams into a new tool in the fight for social justice. He received the Ford Foundation
Leadership for a Changing World award and was an honoree of the Association of
American Museum’s Centennial Honor Roll, which recognizes the top 100 people
who support the profession and help make America’s museums places of discov-
ery, inspiration, joy, and life long learning. Prior to his role at the Wing Luke, Chew
Ron Chew with his two sons, worked for 13 years as editor of the International Examiner, an acclaimed news-
Cian and Kino.
paper in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. There, he was instrumental in a
larger movement to recognize the role of ethnic and neighborhood newspapers in
anchoring healthy communities.
Community-Based Arts Organizations:
A New Center of Gravity
by Ron Chew

In the arena of the arts, the ground has quietly shifted.

Against a rapidly changing demographic landscape,
shaped by recent immigration and increasing ethnic and
cultural diversity, there is widespread acknowledgement
that traditional European art forms like ballet, opera,
and the symphony can no longer be considered the sole
windows into a community’s artistic soul and the sole
measures of this country’s creativity. Art, in its highest
expression, appears in many places and takes many
forms. Art emerges just as glowingly and powerfully
at a Somali community center or a meeting of Native
American basket-weavers, in an inner-city skateboard
park, or in the songs of protesters at a street rally to sup- Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team performs at the grand opening
port affordable housing. of the Wing Luke Asian Museum’s new facility, May, 2008. Photo by
John Pai. Courtesy of Wing Luke Asian Museum.
A segment of arts organizations—once viewed as less
attractive distant cousins to the “big boys”—has emerged located in impoverished and blighted neighborhoods
at the center of this more expansive vision of the arts. seeking affirmation, rebirth, and a new sense of identity.
These typically small and midsized arts organizations, Others work nationally as touring companies that prac-
often community-based in their mission or practice, tice community-based work in partnership with local
provide a canvas for the works of emerging artists and organizations. Some are situated within colleges and uni-
are bustling laboratories of experimentation and innova- versities, but extend their reach far beyond the campus
tion. The work of these organizations moves people to setting. These arts organizations include people of color
understand that art can be about more than engaging in and other leaders with a deep commitment to diversity
an aesthetic experience. Art can also comfort in times of and who hold as fiercely to values of tolerance, equality,
trouble, heal personal wounds, inspire community par- empowerment, and audience participation as they do to
ticipation, and foster a more compassionate society. the pursuit of artistic excellence.

Anan Ameri, founding director of the Arab American Holding to such values, these groups have established
National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, says, “When a finely tuned community-based artistic practice that is
people talk about art in this country, they usually talk authentic, responsive, and contributes to larger social and
about classical music and beautiful things behind glass. civic goals. In the lexicon of the Rockefeller Foundation,
That’s what we’ve been told. But art can and should be which has supported these cause driven organizations
used to mobilize people.”1 Ralph Pena, artistic director for more than a decade, its work is about the practice
of Ma-Yi Theater Company, an Asian American theater of “assertive humanism,” arts and culture responding to
company in New York, agrees. “We have a moral impera- contemporary social conditions.3
tive to see how we can make this a better world. If the-
ater doesn’t hold out hope and an ideal of how we might Diane Espaldon, a consultant with LarsonAllen, has
live our lives, then it’s empty. I’m not interested in that worked with many of these community-based arts orga-
kind of theater.”2 nizations over the past decade. Espaldon herself helped
co-found Theater Mu, a Minneapolis-based Asian
As this change in thinking has unfolded, a number of American performing arts organization, in the early ’90s.
innovative arts and cultural organizations—inspired by “One of the things common to a lot of these groups is
the Civil Rights Movement and other frontline causes— that they often have multiple agendas. It’s about arts
have made it to national center stage. Many of these meets cultural preservation, meets community build-
groups—let’s call them “community-based arts orga- ing, meets business incubation, meets civic engagement,
nizations” for lack of a more precise vocabulary—are meets social justice. These groups come from a different

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 1

 “It is a new era and time for public and in Creativity), which administered the Exemplar and
ARTOGRAPHY programs respectively.
private funders, civic leaders, and others
The attendees discussed finding ways to articulate their
to recognize their incredible value and
theory of social change and stay true to their values in
invest in these organizations as core the face of dominant mainstream values. How, partici-
pants asked, do community-based organizations retain
community institutions.” their grassroots practices, cultural traditions, and spirit
—Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Americans for the Arts of creative innovation? Osvaldo Sanchez, artistic director
and curator at InSite, a program of public art based in
San Diego, asked the gathering: “Is it our goal to fit in
artistic vision. Their work is already larger than the art and be successful in this society or is our goal to trans-
itself. It’s not simply about ‘I’m an artist and I want to form society?”7
express myself.’ It’s about what it all adds up to. It’s an
acknowledgement that the art is taking place in a larger Norman Akers, artist and faculty member at the Institute
context.”4 of American Indian Arts, spoke about the challenges
of being based in Santa Fe, a major tourist destination.
Observing these groups from the national vantage point When the Institute changed from a two-year to a four-
of Americans for the Arts, Barbara Schaffer Bacon, who year program, the students shifted their energies from
co-directs its Animating Democracy program, observes: creating products for the Santa Fe tourist market to
“Individually and collectively, these organizations have engaging in “processes reflecting our own philosophies,”
come into their own. Often perceived as at the margins, shifting the balance back to “maintaining our truth.”8
they are, in fact, critical to the cultural ecosystem.”5
Feeling the power and influence of their collective his-
This essay examines how these once marginal groups tory and current work, participants underscored the
have established themselves as a new center of gravity in need for others, in their own communities and in the
the arts. These groups—boasting longstanding reputa- national arts arena, to understand the value of their con-
tions for artistic excellence, innovation, and civic engage- tributions. Jordan Simmons, artistic director of the East
ment—provide new operational models and leadership Bay Center for the Performing Arts, said, “Our folks at
for the field. Their work is especially significant—and home need to see we exist in a broader field.”9 Simmons
instructive now—in the context of this country’s chang- was referring to the larger community-based arts
ing demographics, new technological advances, global-
ization, and a changing political climate. “They offer the One Flew Over the Void (Bala Perdida) by Javier Télléz (2005),
right assets to be supported at this moment in time in supported by InSite, employed a human cannonball to explore
our communities and the country,” said Schaffer Bacon. spatial and mental borders in the context of San Diego-Tijuana.
Here, David Smith is fired over the border between Mexico and
“It is a new era and time for public and private funders,
the United States. Photo by Alfredo De Stéfano.
civic leaders, and others to recognize their incredible
value and invest in these organizations as core commu-
nity institutions.”6

THE EXEMPLARS
In 2007, leaders from community arts organizations that
participated in the Exemplar Program and ARTOGRAPHY:
Arts in a Changing America, both funded by the Ford
Foundation (see sidebar), met in Chicago to share their
experiences with one another and to talk about the future
of their work as innovators and leaders in the arts field.
The meeting was organized by Animating Democracy, a
program of Americans for the Arts, in cooperation with
LarsonAllen LLP and LINC (Leveraging Investments

2 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
movement—impressively represented at the Chicago
gathering but often invisible to the organization’s staff, The Exemplar Program and
board, and constituents. ARTOGRAPHY: Arts and a
Changing America
“For years,” Diane Espaldon remarked, “many of the
community-based arts organizations felt and were Both the Exemplar Program and ARTOGRAPHY were
treated as though they were operating on the margins supported by the Ford Foundation’s Arts and Culture
of the arts field, but, in fact, these organizations are at program. The Exemplar Program provided support to a
the leading edge. Community-based arts making is now dozen leading edge organizations from two earlier Ford
mainstream.”10 Foundation initiatives: Animating Democracy and the
Working Capital Fund. Animating Democracy supports
Foundation-supported initiatives like the Exemplar
Program and ARTOGRAPHY have helped to establish the linking of arts and civic engagement on contempo-
definitions and baselines for the field of small to midsized rary issues. The Working Capital Fund, administered by
arts and cultural organizations whose work is grounded LarsonAllen, supported midsized African American, Latino,
in community. “A lot of groups,” noted Espaldon, “have Native American, and Asian American arts groups in
been doing this community-based work for a long time strengthening their organizational capacity and working
and now everybody is interested, so let’s put together capital. ARTOGRAPHY supports diverse arts organizations
some guideposts. Everything is community-based: well, that connect innovative art making with 21st century U.S.
what do you mean by that? What is this field? What population changes.
is shared vocabulary? What is the foundational base?
Where is this field going?”11 Exemplar Participants
Arte Público Press (Houston)
“For years, many of the community- Cornerstone Theater Company (Los Angeles)

based arts organizations felt and were East Bay Center for the Performing Arts (Richmond, CA)
Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM)
treated as though they were operating
Intermedia Arts (Minneapolis)
on the margins of the arts field, but, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (Takoma Park, MD)

in fact, these organizations are at the National Black Arts Festival (Atlanta)
National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago)
leading edge.”
Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) (Los Angeles)
—Diane Espaldon, LarsonAllen Sojourn Theatre (Portland, OR)
Urban Bush Women (Brooklyn, NY)
One great snapshot description of this field comes from The Wing Luke Asian Museum (Seattle)
a report written by Carol Atlas for Americans for the Arts
on a 2005 convening of Exemplar organizations in Santa
Fe. The report took a stab at answering the question, ARTOGRAPHY Participants
“What’s an Exemplar?” Appalshop (Whitesburg, KY)
Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI)
“As value-based organizations, they are purposeful and Chicago Public Art Group (Chicago)
have a sustained commitment to fundamental values
Diaspora Vibe Gallery (Miami)
related to cultural responsibility, ethical practices, and
respectful relationships. They are groundbreakers; how- InSite (San Diego, CA)
ever, they remain firmly rooted while breaking ground. Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (Old Town, ME)
Attuned to significantly changing demographics, they Ma-Yi Theater Company (New York, NY)
honor both cultural legacies and future possibilities, Vietnamese Youth Development Center (San Francisco)
understanding them as a continuum, not a contradic- The Village of Arts and Humanities (Philadelphia)
tion. They often work in partnerships that cross silos
and sectors to connect art organically with other areas

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 3

 such as health, community development, humanities, case of Appalshop’s media arts and theater work. A mul-
and social justice. They are multilingual in more ways tidisciplinary arts and education center, the organization
than just language, and their social networks run broad has spent decades in rural Appalachia dealing with poverty
and deep.” and, more recently, the prison industrial complex.

The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) cre-

Artistic Innovation and Excellence ated a project of enormous scale and layered meaning
Grounded in these values, organizations such as those in called The Great Wall of Los Angeles, a nearly one-mile-long
the Exemplar and ARTOGRAPHY programs have made mural depicting the untold histories of Los Angeles’ indig-
their mark artistically through a commitment to excellence enous and immigrant populations. SPARC continues to
and experimentation. They have pushed past aesthetic innovate in mural making by advancing the use of digital
norms by innovating in both form and content, and have technology through the Cesar Chavez Digital Lab.
toiled assiduously to perfect strategies for community-based
work. What’s more, the commitment to community values
and engagement creates a self-generating cycle of creative They have pushed past aesthetic norms
thinking and innovation because of the dynamism of the
process and the many players who move in and out of this
by innovating in both form and content,
kind of program work. and have toiled assiduously to perfect
These groups have developed distinctive aesthetics strategies for community-based work.
that have been absorbed into their particular fields.
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, for example, has created Cornerstone Theater Company’s multiyear theater cycles
a company that includes elders and unconventional examine vast topics from many perspectives. Following
body types, challenging what a professional dance com- its groundbreaking five-year Faith-based Theater Cycle,
pany should look like. Dance Exchange continues to Cornerstone mounted a second major theater cycle on the
cross boundaries in what it calls “trans-domain” work. topic of justice, inspiring new works such as the play Los
Ferocious Beauty: Genome, an examination of the impact Illegals, written by Michael John Garcés, the theater’s artis-
of genetic research through dance, is a recent example. tic director. This 2007 piece was created in collaboration
Participating scientists found the collaboration so com- with undocumented workers, their families, immigration
pelling that the makers of a science textbook have invited lawyers, judges, and “others on the front line of the battle
Dance Exchange to help creatively adapt it to convey sci- over illegal immigration.” Garcés met with hundreds of
ence concepts in fresh ways. community members and spent many hours at work sites
with day laborers. The moving bilingual production of
These community-based arts organizations have merged art
Los Illegals featured 26 performers, including several day
and activism around specific core social issues, as in the
laborers and domestic workers.

A scene from the 2007 performance of Los Illegals, written by Michael The innovative work of these organizations has some-
John Garcés and directed by Shishir Kurup, part of Cornerstone Theater
times taken the form of national and international ini-
Company’s multi-year Justice Cycle project. Photo by John Luker.
tiatives. In 2008, Urban Bush Women’s collaboration
with Compagnie Jant-Bi of Senegal came to fruition in
a 19-city tour of Les écailles de la mémoire (The scales of
memory). This production, welcomed to critical acclaim,
explored the visceral link between African Americans
and Africans. It delved into the chasms and similarities
between dancers living in a Muslim country and those
from a predominantly Christian tradition—dancers
linked by common ancestry, but separated by history,
geography, and dance form.

Sojourn Theatre, a multi-ethnic ensemble-based com-

pany, produced three major new works in two years,

4 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
 in three cities in 2008—Chicago; Hartford, Connecticut;
and Portland, Oregon—and examined the challenges
of housing, infrastructure, neighborhood cohesion, and
equity. It did so through a site-specific traveling game-
based dramaturgy that is half set performance and half
improvised and facilitated interactivity.

A whole new generation of artists and

organizations are expanding the universe
of this sector.

In 2002, Intermedia Arts launched a multiyear multidis-

ciplinary initiative—Immigrant Status—in response to the
loss experienced by Minnesota’s immigrant community
following the death of Senator Paul Wellstone. The project,
which explored the impact of current policies and condi-
tions on recent immigrants, sought to tackle important
issues from different angles and to cultivate longer-term
relationships. Another of its community engagement pro-
grams, Espejos, is an artist mentorship program designed
to support development of emerging Latino and Latina
artists. Participants, who were paired with mentors of
For Your Eyes Only, a piece by Elliot Durko Lynch, was featured as part of the same discipline over a period of three to five months,
Naked Stages, a program designed to give artists space to build per- received digital media training and worked on exhibitions
formance and production skills while creating a new performance art
piece. Intermedia Arts © 2007.
and performances alongside their mentors.

While organizations such as these, with decades of

history, continue to push the aesthetic envelope of
experimenting with unique approaches to topic, set- community-based arts practice, a whole new genera-
ting, and civic engagement. The War Project: 9 Acts of tion of artists and organizations are expanding the uni-
Determination explored the question, “How as a nation verse of this sector. In addition to organizations as old
do we decide what to kill and die for?” It earned Sojourn as 30 years, many ranging from six to seven years old
its second Best Ensemble of the Year Award from the are deeply engaged with community building, rigor-
Portland Civic Theatre Guild. One Day, a touring play ous aesthetics, and activism. Fulana, a New York-based
video collective founded in 2000 by four Latina artists,
These community-based arts is one example. Fulana uses parody, satire, and an aes-
thetic ranging “from cable-access kitsch to Telemundo
organizations have merged art and tinsel” to create mock television commercials, music
activism around specific core social issues. videos, and print advertisements. Its focus on popular
culture delves into the nuances that bind Latino experi-
ences. Thousands of miles away, Vicky Holt Takamine
about one 24-hour period in the life of an Oregonian, is founder and kumu hula (master teacher) of Pua Ali’i
was created in partnership with the Portland Mayor’s ’Ilima, a school of traditional Hawai’ian dance. Holt
office. Through One Day, Sojourn connected art and Takamine seamlessly binds her cultural expertise and
public policy, allowing residents to imagine the future advocacy work on behalf of Hawai’ians, their cultural
they wanted for Portland. Citizen feedback became part traditions, and the protection and preservation of the
of the mayor’s new vision plan guiding the city’s devel- cultural and natural resources of Hawai’i.
opment over the next 15 to 20 years. BUILT took place

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 5

 Historical Markers
The coming of age of community-based arts organizations In the 1970s and ’80s, cultural democracy—a concept influ-
has sparked growing curiosity about its history. Much of the enced by international exchanges with European groups—
significant history—the juncture at which community-based provided a guiding vision for grassroots artists and cultural
artists and cultural workers began to establish the framework workers in the U.S. “Cultural democracy is predicated on the
for the field—took place in the era following the Civil Rights idea that diverse cultures should be treated as essentially
Movement of the 1960s. Although some documentation has equal in multicultural societies,” Adams and Goldbard write.
been done, there are still significant artists and organizers who They said this concept has been “promising,” but most practical
have yet to be interviewed. There are vital source documents applications have been “half-hearted.”16
still sitting in people’s basements and in office file cabinets, During this same period, the Comprehensive Employment
unattended and forgotten. Significant oral history and research and Training Act (CETA), a massive federal jobs program, was
projects lie in waiting. crafted as a government response to high unemployment. The
Jan Cohen-Cruz, a scholar of activist and community- program helped launch the careers of many artists working
base performance art, has pointed to what she describes as in communities. CETA put artists to work in schools, housing
“historical markers” in the field of activist community art. The projects, community centers, and social service agencies.
Harlem Renaissance (1919–1929) was an “early context for “There is scarcely a community artist who was around in the
various models of African American activist art,” she writes. mid-’70s who did not either hold a CETA job or work directly
In the 1930s, there was a grassroots amateur movement of with someone who did,” Adams and Goldbard write. CETA was
“workers creating theater for workers,” inspired by the Russian eliminated by the Reagan administration in 1982.17
Revolution. “The lid finally blew off in the tumultuous 1960s, If the U.S. economy stays in a period of protracted stagna-
when broad questioning of the status quo once again tion—as it did during the Great Depression of the 1930s or the
found expression in the arts,” she writes. In that era, “identity prolonged recession of the 1970s—opportunities will abound
politics”—traditionally underrepresented and misrepresented to reassert the connection of the arts to community service,
groups coming together to express themselves—became “a shedding new light on the constructive role of community-
central trope in activist art.” El Teatro Campesino was created in based arts organizations.
the 1960s as a political organizing tool for farm workers.14 Marjorie Schwarzer, chair of the Department of Museum
Studies at John F. Kennedy University in California, said the
public “seeks solace in the arts during troubled times.” She
Opportunities will abound to reassert noted, for example, that museum attendance rose during the
the connection of the arts to community Great Depression, the recession of the late 1970s, and after
September 11, 2001. “Also, interestingly, private donations to
service, shedding new light on the museums increased,” she said.18
constructive role of community-based Vanessa Whang, director of programs for the California
Council for the Humanities, said people turn to cultural arts
arts organizations.
centers in hard times. “Community-based cultural centers are
places where people can still interact face-to-face in a specific
Co-authors Don Adams and Arlene Goldbard, writing setting,” she said. “I think cities that don’t recognize this will
in New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development, be ignoring this at their own peril, particularly in a difficult
noted that President Roosevelt’s New Deal included arts ini- economy.”19
tiatives such as the “commissioning of murals, orphanages, According to Schwarzer, government employment pro-
libraries, museums, and other public buildings” and support grams like the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s
for “visual art, music, theater, writing, and history.” New Deal and CETA during the 1970s “had a direct and lasting influence
cultural programs gave “jobs to artists who could not hope to on public access to the arts, and these kinds of programs hold
make a living in the private economy,” including writers like as much promise today as they did in their day.” The govern-
Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright, painters like Jackson Pollack, ment funds were directed not only to “obvious targets like
and theater artists like Burt Lancaster, then a circus performer. mainstream museums in larger urban centers,” Schwarzer said,
“It suggested the possibility of a permanent role for artists in but also to smaller rural communities in states like Idaho and
community service.”15 Oklahoma, which had previously lacked quality arts programs.20

6 Community-based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity

Community-based cultural organizations
have been the much-sought-after
partners to the established mainstream
institutions. Despite this, they have often
not benefited equitably in the allocation
of funds to support their contribution
to the work.

Ford Foundation programs such as IllumiNation and

Future Aesthetics have invested in younger organizations
that are advancing issues of new aesthetics, new genera-
tional leadership, and exercising first voice.12 IllumiNation
In one of the most distressed communities in California, East Bay
has supported indigenous artists and performers, Center for the Performing Arts serves predominantly low-income
encouraged entrepreneurship, and helped build net- youth of color with extensive artistic training opportunities in the
works between individuals and organizations. Future performing arts and world cultures—traditional and contemporary.
© East Bay Center for the Performing Arts
Aesthetics has helped artists working along the fringes,
pushing the boundaries artistically, socially, and politi-
cally in literature, dance, music, theater, and media success of these partnerships or benefited equitably in
arts. Ford Foundation Arts and Culture Program Officer the allocation of funds to support their contribution to
Roberta Uno describes “future aesthetics” as “the kind of the work.
art produced in this age of urbanization, technology and
communications innovations, globalization, and new Laura Zucker, executive director of the Los Angeles
networks of community organizing and resistance. One County Arts Commission, said Los Angeles County—the
vivid example of this kind of art is hip-hop.”13 Working most populous county in the United States—provides
in partnership with the Hip-Hop Theater Festival insight about the creative possibilities that await many
(Brooklyn, New York), Rennie Harris Puremovement other communities as demographic shifts deepen around
(Philadelphia), Global Action Project (New York), Miami the country. In Los Angeles County, more than 47 per-
Light Project (Miami), La Peña Cultural Center (Berkeley, cent of the population is Latino, 13 percent is Asian,
California), and Youth Speaks (San Francisco), Future nearly nine percent is African American—and only 29
Aesthetics has opened the doors for geographically, eco- percent is white. “We’ve entered the next phase,” Zucker
nomically, and ethnically diverse emerging artists. said. “There’s such diversity. There are so many inter-
actions. Now, many of the traditions are beginning to
be shared. New hybrid art forms are being created
The Changing Demographics through collaborations.”21
Community-based cultural organizations have thrived
in the shifting demographic currents. Their missions She pointed to a collaboration between Kayamanan Ng
and programs often address the influx of new popula- Lahi, a Philippine folk arts organization, and Danza
tions with a keen understanding of the historical legacy Floricanto/USA, a Mexican folkloric group. The leaders of
of racial and cultural inequity. Over the past couple the two groups, both folklorists, discovered their shared
decades, they have been the much-sought-after part- history in the story of a Spanish galleon that had traveled
ners to the established mainstream institutions because between Manila and Acapulco. In 2003, the two groups
they provide knowledge of—and authentic relationships presented Acapulco to Manila: An Untold Pacific Rim Story,
with—communities of color. Despite this, community- a program of Filipino and Mexican folk dance, music, and
based groups have often not received the credit for the storytelling “built around this cross-cultural current.”22

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 7

 “Community-based arts organizations to explore our new programming horizons. Program
innovations will emerge from our interactions with a
can play a major role in making people broader slice of Asian Pacific American ethnic groups,
understand the demographic shift and from our new profile internationally, and from now being
a more substantial force in presenting our historic neigh-
how it’s much more nuanced than simply borhood as well as Seattle and its region as a unique cul-
black and white.” tural and economic asset located on the Pacific Rim.”24

—Vanessa Whang, California Council for the Humanities The National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, estab-
lished in 1987 in the Pilsen neighborhood, has now
matured beyond its local community roots to more fully
With the election of Barack Obama, the first person pursue its vision of sin fronteras or “without boundaries,”
of color to ascend to the presidency, there is hope that displaying art from both sides of the border. In a giant
Obama, once a community organizer on the South Side leap forward, the museum created The African Presence
of Chicago, will understand the worth of community- in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present, an exhibition that
based arts organizations. is making its way to 11 cities in the U.S. and Mexico,
promoting significant cross-cultural dialogue and yield-
“Community-based arts organizations can play a major ing a huge impact wherever it traveled. (See sidebar.)
role in making people understand the demographic shift
and how it’s much more nuanced than simply black and Ralph Pena is a founding member of Ma-Yi Theater
white,” Vanessa Whang said. “President Obama personi- Company, which was born in 1989 out of the shared
fies this. He has a white mother and a father from another vision of politicized Filipino immigrant artists trained in
land and grew up in Hawai’i. That’s what America is. street theater. He notes that “the majority population in
We’re all mixed up. It’s time we were able to talk about it. this country is going to become the minority. What does
As we evolve as a country, we can have a more nuanced that mean for our work? Asian American is not a mono-
conversation about culture.”23 lith. There are many, many layers of ethnicity—you name
it, we have it. It’s not a fixed point. What does it mean to
Setting Trends through Global be Asian American now? How do we address it? We need
and Technological Reach to tie it to what’s happening around the world.”25
Stretching the vision from the local to international has
been a natural progression for community-based arts
organizations. Artists and organizations of color often Seizing new technologies and delivery
have a symbiotic relationship with other countries and systems, community-based arts groups
cultures. Many arts and cultural activists in the U.S. retain
a connection to the language and culture of their ancestral are applying their pioneering spirit to
places. The online revolution has allowed community- navigating the complex interplay of local,
based arts groups to overcome the separation of distance
and share information and collaborate on programs across national, and international cultures.
cyberspace. New audiences are within easy reach.

From its home base in Seattle’s Chinatown-International

District community, the Wing Luke Asian Museum Pena pointed out that Ma-Yi is doing research for a play
serves a local Asian and Pacific Islander population that set in the mines of South Africa and the Philippines, two
is made up of well over 20 separate and distinct ethnic regions linked by a history of colonialism. “Going to
groups, each with its own unique history, language, reli- Africa opens your eyes,” he said. “We have to plug into a
gious beliefs, and cultural traditions. Nearly half of the much larger dialogue for our community. We’ve always
Asian Pacific American population is immigrant. been stuck in these conversations about assimilation and
integration—I understand how that emerged given our
“Opening our expanded home a few months ago,” says historic place in America—but the rest of the world isn’t
Beth Takekawa, executive director, “we’re just beginning discussing that anymore.”26

8 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
 filters anymore. We can use this as an opportunity to build
community and help other arts organizations too.”28

Arte Público Press, based at the University of Houston

and described as “the creative part of the Latino Civil
Rights Movement,” publishes contemporary books as
well as the lost literary history of Latinos in the U.S.
Arte Público has also begun to harness the power of
new technologies, an especially daunting undertaking
for an independent publisher rooted in the traditionally
underserved Latino community. In 2008, it launched
Latinoteca, a new Web portal that pulls together written,
audio, and visual information about the history and cul-
ture of Hispanics in the U.S. from many different sites.
This new portal has helped thrust Arte Público forward
into the digital era, a major challenge for small indepen-
dent presses.

Marina Tristan, assistant director, has been at the organi-

zation for more than 22 years and has lived through many
changes. In that span of time, Arte Público has grown
from four to 15 full-time staff members and an equal
number of part-time staff. “For us, one of the ways we’re
trying to be responsive to the changing demographics is
Arte Público Press’ Piñata Books fills a void in the literary market by
publishing children’s literature that authentically and realistically por- by keeping up with technology and providing books in
trays themes, characters, and customs unique to U.S. Hispanic culture. digital format,” Tristan said. “I’m not interested in read-
ing a book on the computer or a handheld device, but
younger people are. Making books available to them is
Seizing new technologies and delivery systems, com- important. Right now, we’re looking at Amazon’s hand-
munity-based arts groups are applying their pioneer- held reader, Kindle.” At the same time, Tristan noted,
ing spirit to navigating the complex interplay of local, wholesalers have been requesting digital copies of Arte
national, and international cultures. In the process, new Público Press books for the kindergarten to 12th grade
creative forms and artistic investigations are emerging. market. “The challenge for us is that there’s a huge dif-
ference between our resources and the multinational
At the National Black Arts Festival (NBAF), Stephanie conglomerates that control not just publishing, but the
Hughley, executive producer, and Leatrice Ellzy, manager media sector as well. We’re dealing with the market con-
of artistic programming, agree that community-based solidation of wholesalers and even book reviewers—the
arts organizations must create a new global perspective. Walmartization of America. How do we stay viable when
“We have to understand that all around the world, we’re we can’t spend a small fortune publishing a book?” 29
all facing the same critical issues,” said Hughley. “How
do we preserve the environment? How do we deal with
Organizational Challenges
the injustice of poverty? Art has the potential to deal
and Advancement
with the issues of humanity.”27
Even organizations with 20 to 30 years experience and
Ellzy said NBAF will be focusing on an Internet and new national reputations continue to struggle to build staff,
technology campaign to reach global audiences with financial reserves, and systems that can support the
the support of a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable quality and scope of programs to which they aspire.
Foundation. “We believe that technology levels the play- Heavy reliance on foundation support has put some in
ing field. It’s opened up the world between people. You an untenable position for the long-term, especially with
can go on Facebook, for example, and press a button and the dramatic economic downturn. The most mature
communicate with another person anywhere. There are no organizations—those with strong track records of public

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 9

 National Museum of Mexican Art:
Extending Community Nationwide
In 1987, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum opened its in fact, a learning moment for the staff in strengthening the
doors in a renovated boat craft shop. Firmly rooted in the museum’s civic agency as well as benefiting the community
Pilsen/Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, the museum and the field. When the exhibition was launched in Chicago,
positioned itself as a first voice advocate for Mexican arts and dynamic public programs brought together in dialogue
culture and a focal point of Chicago’s growing Mexican com- Mexican Americans and African Americans—the two largest
munity. The organization, a model of a highly successful com- ethnic groups in the country—using the art as catalyst. These
munity-based arts organization, has now extended its reach civic engagement programs have served as a model for sites
far beyond the neighborhood in which it was born. along the international tour.
Carlos Tortolero, president and the founder, started the Similarly, in the summer of 2008, “at a time when you
museum by inviting five other teachers to a series of meetings scarcely heard a public debate on the immigration issue in
at his house to develop the institution. “We were all teach- the presidential campaign,” the exhibition A Declaration of
ers. Teachers are always planning, right? Lesson plans, always Immigration exercised the power of art to keep attention
preparing—that’s how teachers work. Nobody thought we focused on the issue. The exhibition featured more than 80
could do it. When we were doing the original museum, people artists from 20 countries and received extraordinary press
would say, ‘They’re just teachers.’ It was such a dirty four-letter coverage in 300 newspapers on six continents.

“Our goal is…to help create a strong network among Latino organizations
and cultural organizations of color. We are institutions of kindred spirit and common
purpose that have an important role in the changing demographics of this country.”

word. People did not believe you could do an art museum in a Founded as it is by teachers, the museum is particularly
working class community of color with a bunch of teachers.” attuned to the fact that art is not even part of the curriculum
The skeptics are now silent. On December 5, 2006, in in neighborhood public schools. In addition to school tours,
recognition of its 20th anniversary, the Mexican Fine Arts the museum’s Education Department conducts more than a
Center Museum changed its name to the National Museum dozen arts education programs for youth, such as the Yollocalli
of Mexican Art (NMMA). The name change signaled the status Arts Reach program, which offers afterschool arts education
the museum has earned as the largest and leading Mexican classes, and WRTE Radio Arte, an award-winning radio station.
cultural institution in the U.S. Its collection has grown to more The department also creates and distributes bilingual educa-
than 6,000 items through donations of work and innovative tion curriculum nationally.
acquisition strategies that engage the community. Landmark NMMA is leading the field in other museum education
exhibitions have brought international attention and created efforts too, such as a teacher professional development pro-
models of civic engagement for the field. Commitment to gram and a master plan to become the Center for Museum
museum education and in advancing culturally specific orga- Education. The Center would develop peer education pro-
nizations has positioned the museum as a thought leader. grams for teachers, librarians, and museum educators through
Two important exhibitions in recent years have put the a summer institute, curriculum writing seminars, and possibly
museum on the map. The African Presence in Mexico tells the an annual symposium focusing on museum cultural educa-
lost history of African contributions to Mexican culture, relating tion practices. Finally, the museum’s Sor Juana Festival—which
that history to contemporary relations in the U.S. As it makes celebrates the artistic, academic, and civic contributions that
its way on an 11-city North and Central American tour, Latino, Mexican and Mexican American women have made to our
African-American, and mainstream museums have welcomed lives—has expanded beyond Chicago to Austin, Dallas, Fort
the exhibition, including the Smithsonian Institution where, Worth, Houston, Milwaukee, and San Antonio.
in 2009/2010, exhibition programs will provide a backdrop for As the NMMA advances on national and international
dialogues on race. The African Presence in Mexico has been, fronts, it has not abandoned the people and needs of its own

10 Community-based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity

Pilsen/Little Village community. In a neighborhood where archival vaults in 2006, NMMA is on track to become a national
many live below the poverty line and the high school dropout center for the conservation of Latino art. In 2004, the Board
rate is one of the highest in the state, the museum chooses of Trustees adopted a new strategic plan. Strong governance
issues, programs, and curricula through which it can meet its over the years has supported the museum’s efforts to establish
mission and community goals. For example, the Dia del Niño an excellent donor and membership base and maintain a
Family Festival, which draws on average 14,000 people a year, solid financial base, including an endowment just under a
has focused on combating childhood obesity. Amazingly, million dollars.
museum admission continues to be free. NMMA believes it is in everyone’s interest to have strong,
“One of the things that has always interested me about diverse cultural organizations throughout the U.S. “Our goal is
the arts is that people in the arts always say art is for everyone, not to be larger than everyone else, but to help create a strong
but I don’t see that happening,” said Tortolero. “Our mission is network among Latino organizations and cultural organiza-
about serving the people, and serving tions of color. We are institutions of
the people is about starting with the kindred spirit and common purpose
folks right across the street from us.” that have an important role in the
Chicago is home to more than 1.3 changing demographics of this country.”
million Mexicans, and the museum The museum has made it a priority to
is deliberate in efforts to establish share its best practices with colleagues,
the Midwest as a national center for creating programs such as the Wallace
Mexican culture. It remains as commit- Mentorship Program. NMMA staff mem-
ted as ever to providing a vital gallery bers mentor staff from ethnically based
space for Chicago-based Mexican art- organizations such as Teatro Vision,
ists, curated by community artists and the Arab American National Museum,
young NMMA staff. Works by Chicago the Wing Luke Asian Museum, and the
Mexican artists went on tour in the Mexican Museum. They have built long-
African Presence in Mexico exhibition, term relationships where information
have been presented in the traveling is shared on important operation and
Sor Juana Festivals, and have provided programming topics like capital drives
the soundtrack for the national bilingual The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the and political strategies on immigration
curriculum with its extensive distribution. Present opened in February 2006 at the National issues.
Museum of Mexican Art, bringing together
The continuity and vision provided in dialogue African-American and Mexican- NMMA has found a smart balance
by Tortolero and Vice President Juana American communities. in being both opportunistic but true to
Guzmán have been crucial. Tortolero’s itself. The Wallace Foundation relation-
background in education has brought laser focus to the muse- ship is a good example of creating win-win situations for itself,
um’s education agenda, and Guzman’s knowledge of Chicago’s the field, and funder. However, Tortolero and Guzman have
cultural landscape from her tenure at the Chicago Department been vocal in challenging the museum field and funders where
of Cultural Affairs and her economic development acumen policy change is needed. Says Tortolero, “Our work is about
has put the museum on solid ground. The museum also puts political expression. We are saying we are part of the cultural
full stock in advancing new leadership and tapping the knowl- fabric of this country, but we’ve been denied. We fight back and
edge, enthusiasm, and expertise of young people. Eighty-five create our own institution that is about expressing who we are
percent of its staff is Mexican and a majority of department through our own eyes. That’s what first voice is about. We still
heads are young Mexicans under age 40. Many grew up in the are not getting our share.” While fortunate to receive consistent
neighborhood and learned the ropes in the museum as high support from major national foundations, that support has
school interns or college docent educators. Young people are come “only when there is a special diversity program, not when
thrust into positions of great responsibility, but are given the the NMMA applies based on its own needs and merits. If the
guidance and tools to succeed. NMMA is to fulfill its role as a national institution, it must secure
In 2001, the museum tripled its space. With the creation of funding on par with mainstream museums.”

Community-based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity 11

 and private support—are being tested. Many funders still These organizational models reflect the values on which
favor special programs or initiatives rather than invest- the groups were built—flexible, community grounded,
ments to stabilize operations or support steady institu- and inclusive. The groups are guided by a community
tional growth. organizing outlook rather than a corporate perspective.
At the same time, they continue to concoct fresh new
With decades of experience under their belts, leaders arts initiatives.
at these organizations have learned how to restructure
their organizations, create better financial systems, mar- Urban Bush Women, founded in 1984 by Jawole Willa
ket programs, integrate new technology, and build addi- Jo Zollar, a visionary artistic director who is still with
tional constituent followings so that their work will last the organization, is a performance ensemble that seeks
into another generation. Because many have evolved to “bring the untold and under-told histories and sto-
from scrappy shoestring organizations into established ries of disenfranchised people to light through dance.”
ones, a few have even developed innovative institutional In recent years, the organization has struggled with—
models and sophisticated approaches to sustainable and has overcome—major financial problems, allowing
management that may very well put them in better stead the group to move forward and reach new institutional
than some of the big guys. plateaus. At the same time, the organization mounted a
20th anniversary event co-chaired by Eve Ensler. Both
Zollar and Nora Chipaumire, associate artistic director,
Leaders at these organizations have have separately earned New York Dance and Performance
developed innovative institutional Awards (Bessies) for a piece inspired by pioneering cho-
reographer Pearl Primus.
models that may very well put them in
The Wing Luke Asian Museum, the only pan-Asian
better stead than some of the big guys.
Pacific American community-based museum in the
nation, has created a new model for exhibition and
program development based on intergenerational com-
Dance Exchange’s shared artistic leadership model breaks munity organizing strategies. Frequently called upon to
open the notion of a single artistic visionary leading a
performance company, replacing that approach with
multiple artistic leaders who share a philosophy, but who Family oriented activities such as the monthly Family Day at the
allow space for each person to contribute to the creative Wing are just one dimension of the Wing Luke Asian Museum’s deep
process. The Wing Luke’s culturally based growth model commitment to community and civic engagement. Courtesy of
Wing Luke Asian Museum.
demonstrates that an organization and facility can grow
and thrive based on support from within a culturally
specific community. The National Mexican Museum of
Art has repositioned itself as a national museum, with
growing international reach, while maintaining a strong
neighborhood base.

Sojourn Theatre’s nimble organizational model allows

it to be opportunistic programmatically, working across
the country, but also to maintain a core commitment
to its base in Portland, Oregon. Michael Rohd, Sojourn
Theatre’s artistic director, says, “Portland, Oregon is
a wonderful place for us to come together and do this
work that is at the heart of our collective artistic lives.
But we don’t need to be a regional theater to do that.
In fact, an attempt to sustain ourselves as a traditional
institution puts at risk many of the nontraditional core
impulses that motivate us.”30

12 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
share this model, the museum is considered a leader in asset to its community. The efforts have paid off. East Bay
the museum field regarding community-based practice. has had several annual operating surpluses in a row. It
The Wing Luke, now in its 41st year of operation, has is currently working on an ambitious capital campaign,
matured into a seasoned elder statesman of sorts, provid- scheduled for completion in 2010, to redevelop a his-
ing a convening point for other nonprofit organizations toric structure in downtown Richmond into its new per-
by hosting seminars to share its program model and its manent home.
vision of sustainable growth in the neighborhood.
Organizations are pursuing earned income opportuni-
In 2007, the Wing Luke completed an ambitious $23.2 ties, both as entrepreneurial ventures and as ways to
million capital campaign to remodel a historic hotel into minimize the impact of fluctuating foundation support.
a living museum, with preserved historic spaces, galler- The Wing Luke acquired an established neighborhood
ies, community hall, story theater, and community heri- tour business, donated by a long-time museum sup-
tage center. Significantly, the campaign, dubbed “How To porter. This new endeavor ties in very naturally with the
Keep a Story Going,” was completed with equally strong museum’s work in the neighborhood and helps generate
support from the public, private, corporate, and founda- a new stream of earned income.
tion sectors. A total of 1,600 donors—both long-stand-
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Cornerstone Theater,
ing civic philanthropists and many new Asian Pacific
and SPARC have been invited by corporations to pro-
American first-time givers—contributed to a vibrant
vide services to the private and non-arts sector entities.
campaign that allowed the museum to emerge debt-free
Cornerstone is using its theater and community-based
at the finish. During lobbying efforts to get a state appro-
research methodology to help Gilead Sciences, Inc., a
priation, several thousand Asian Pacific elderly and com-
manufacturer of HIV/AIDS treatments, understand why
munity activists, embracing the Wing Luke project as
some patients are reluctant to change their treatments. In
one of their top priorities, converged on the State Capitol
partnership with Verizon, SPARC developed a collabora-
in Olympia for a one-day rally and lobbying effort. As a
tive mural with four high schools across the country to
result, the museum received $1.5 million to help jump-
commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery
start the campaign.
bus boycott. SPARC also was commissioned by Bank of
The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, born in an America to create a work visualizing the dreams and his-
abandoned church in a tough Richmond neighborhood tory of the local immigrant population in Bell, California.
following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., In a broader context, Dance Exchange worked with a
continues to work toward “social reconciliation, social consultant to identify mission-driven revenue sources
justice, and social change.” The center offers instruction that build on its products and processes.
in music, dance, theater, and new media. Through its
Conscious of the need for human resources and training
Artist Diploma Program, diplomas in the arts are awarded
to sustain such ventures, these organizations acknowl-
to middle school and high school aged kids in recogni-
edge the need to balance new income streams, especially
tion of artistic excellence and commitment to learning. from corporate clients, with a continuing commitment
The multicultural curriculum and commitment to social to institutional mission and values.
change through community service distinguishes East
Bay from other community arts schools. Diane Espaldon noted, too, that corporate partner-
ships “aren’t always a deal with the devil made solely
Following an economic downturn in California several to increase earned income.” Some community organiza-
years ago and a period of severe funding cuts by the tions, she said, approach these partnerships as “a logical
California Arts Council, East Bay has worked diligently extension of their mission because they are able to bring
to move out of a deficit situation with the help of the their strong community values, community networks,
Working Capital Fund. Because it is located in one of the methodologies, and diversity of experience into environ-
most economically distressed and violent neighborhoods ments where these are most needed.”31
in California—serving an extremely vulnerable popula-
tion of students and families—East Bay has worked With all the experimentation and learning on the job
diligently to create a financially sustainable operation in that has happened in the field of community-based arts,
keeping with its commitment of serving as a long-term seasoned leaders have begun to look back and interpret

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 13

 Leaders at these organizations say they are very mindful
of the value of documenting their work. Still, they find it
very difficult to carve away the time and space to focus
on such endeavors when there are pressing artistic and
organizational demands that take precedence.

The organizations that have not only endured but also

thrived are the ones that didn’t just focus on program
and art; they also pay close attention—usually behind
the scenes—to developing a strong operating and capi-
tal structure. Without diminishing their own aesthetic
vision and aspirations, they have combined foundation
support with their own savvy and their own commu-
nity’s support and used the resources to leverage growth
The horror of Hurricane Katrina was addressed in “Place Matters: A and sustainability for their organizations.
Look at Displacement,” a workshop production of Urban Bush Women’s
2006 Summer Institute. “Place Matters,” directed by Jawole Willa Jo
Zollar, combined movement, music and the spoken word to evoke
that horror. Courtesy of Urban Bush Women
Collaboration: A Necessity and a Value
What can community-based arts organizations teach us
about collaboration? By their very nature, these groups
have survived because they’ve been able to initiate and
their work. Many leaders are now taking time to pause, sustain meaningful, creative, and enduring collabora-
reflect, and write down and share their best practices tions with other stakeholders in the quest for community
in “first voice.” This codification of best practices and betterment.
philosophy will be especially valuable as some of these
leaders leave the field or prepare for retirement, and as Emiko Ono, director of grants and professional develop-
others who follow in their wake try to understand and ment at the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, said:
learn from those who came before them. “The kind of collaborations that happen at the grassroots
are extraordinary. Smaller organizations are the incuba-
tors for new ideas. The big guys can’t innovate at the
same level. In the past, these ideas have been co-opted,
Codification of best practices and but now there’s a recognition of where these ideas came
philosophy will be especially valuable from. The simple idea of listening—that came from the
community-based organizations.”32
as some of these leaders leave the field
Urban Bush Women as a company has worked hard to
or prepare for retirement. be recognized as a contributor to civic life since settling
in Brooklyn. It has formed a partnership with a busi-
ness incubator and has an ongoing relationship with a
In 2006, Cassie Chinn, a long-time exhibition developer housing community center to serve young people. The
at the Wing Luke, authored a handbook on the com- latter has resulted in B.O.L.D. (Builders, Organizers and
munity-based exhibition model. The East Bay Center Leaders through Dance), a program combining dance
is beginning to document the philosophical underpin- training, literacy activities, and dialogue to nurture
nings of its multicultural curriculum to produce what problem solving, consensus building, and leadership
Jordan Simmons calls “valuable interpretive knowledge.” development. The program has been so potent that local
Cornerstone has developed The Cornerstone Community elected officials are helping identify other Brooklyn sites
Collaboration Handbook for its Institute Summer Residency and resources to support replication of the model.
and to preserve a legacy of the organization’s work. Dance
Exchange has created online tool kits to share its prac- At the same time, Amy Cassello, executive director of
tices with the field. Urban Bush Women is also exploring Urban Bush Women, looks to ensure reciprocity in all
how it might document its artistic history. its partnerships and build the potential for combined

14 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
local and national impact. That’s where listening skills Appalshop has deep expertise in an array of media produc-
are being tested anew. She described efforts to deepen a tion—films, video, theater, music, spoken-word record-
partnership with the People’s Institute for Survival and ings, radio, photography, multimedia, and books. For the
Beyond, a New Orleans-based group that teaches com- past nine years, through its Holler to the Hood project,
munity organizing through its Un-Doing Racism work- Appalshop has used radio to bring together prisoners and
shop. The People’s Institute has been involved in Urban their families during the holiday period. The project was
Bush Women’s Summer Institute in Brooklyn. Next year, developed in response to the complex social issues created
the Summer Institute will be held in New Orleans.33 by the growth of supermax prisons in central Appalachia.
At the same time, this kind of audience participation has
“For the past five years, we’ve talked about developing a helped provide a voice for prison reform.
more comprehensive way of working together,” Cassello
said. “How do you create a meaningful partnership?
How is our work complementary? How do you fund-
These groups have survived because
raise together? How do you work out differences and
similarities in mission? How do you create a meaningful they’ve been able to initiate and sustain
relationship with non-artists? How can integrating move-
meaningful, creative, and enduring
ment into their presentations benefit their work?”34
collaborations with other stakeholders in
The National Black Arts Festival has struggled with simi-
lar questions. While expanding to year-round education the quest for community betterment.
and family programs in addition to its signature festi-
val in July, NBAF is advancing a carefully thought-out
strategic long-range partnership with the Woodruff Arts “One thing we’re looking at is how to get the different
Center. Together they seek to bolster the festival’s long- media working together on larger projects than any
term sustainability and the Center’s capacity to expand one program,” Art Menius, Appalshop director, said.
the diversity of its programs and audiences. “Support systems need to begin to operate in a more
integrative way in order to enable collaborations across
Leaders in the field acknowledge that to achieve social or
fields and sectors.” Menius adds, “One aspect of this is
civic as well as artistic goals, they need to extend part-
that we want to look for nontraditional funding sources.
nerships across disciplines and fields. As collaborations
We want to move out of the social justice and arts fund-
necessarily extend across fields, systems, and sectors, the
ing silos. So, for example, we want to see what kind of
complexity of the endeavor increases. Cultural organiza-
funding might exist in the sciences. We’re concerned
tions find themselves honing skills and knowledge bases
about the environment of central Appalachia and what
to collaborate effectively and credibly.
kind of future economy we might have as coal resources
are depleted from this region.”35
A reading in Lebanon, Virginia of Appalshop’s Thousand Kites, a com-
munity-based performance, web, video, and radio project centered on
William Cleveland, author and director of the Center for
the U.S. prison system. © Thousand Kites.
the Study of Art & Community, said the arts commu-
nity in America has historically “both isolated itself and
been isolated from the working of the broader commu-
nity.” “There are many fellow travelers involved in paral-
lel movements that are part of the creative community,
people involved in sustainable development, commu-
nity social justice, environmental work, green industries,
political and social reform,” he says. “The boundaries
need to melt.”36

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 15

 SUPPORTING, SUSTAINING, AND
DEVELOPING LEADERS
Community-based cultural organizations attract and
develop a distinctive kind of leadership. These groups
believe in artistic and cultural expression as the primary
catalyst for engagement around civic, racial, ethnic, and
community issues. Generally small and midsized, they
are resourceful despite chronic undercapitalization. They
have committed leaders who have encoded true diversity
into core values, mission, and practice.

For all these reasons, the leaders of these community-

based arts organizations have become the new field
leaders. They are sought out for funding panels and as
A young person learns van painting as part of the 2007 Hip Hop
speakers at field conferences. Many veterans have been Festival sponsored by the Village of Arts & Humanities in Philadelphia.
distinguished with significant honors—MacArthur © 2007 The Village of Arts & Humanities.
Fellows Program “genius” awards, New York Dance
and Performance “Bessie” Awards, Ford Foundation
Leadership for a Changing World awards, and others. As a generation of leaders who have founded commu-
nity-based groups has reached middle age, some want
Kumani Gantt has been artistic and executive director of to move on to rediscover themselves and pursue fresh
the Village of Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia for a interests, allowing others to make the leadership ascent.
little more than four years, following in the footsteps of Leadership transition is increasingly a concern for many
founder and painter Lily Yeh. Working with residents, community-based groups, raising questions of how artis-
the Village transforms vacant lots in the neighborhood tic vision is sustained and even if artist-driven organi-
into gardens and parks. zations can continue when founding leaders choose to
move on. If a community-based arts organization is good
Gantt, a Philadelphia native, worked for 11 years at at what it does, what is at stake—with the departure of a
Center Stage, a regional theater in Baltimore, before key leader—is not simply the potential loss of an artistic
returning home to Philadelphia. “I stay involved because vision but a key community asset that drives economic
I see the connection between art and issues of justice development and a broader community vision.
and equity,” she said. “Regional theater is about people
coming to you—to the sacred door. Here, the people
live right next to our office. We’re right here where the What is at stake—with the departure of
people live.”37
a key leader—is not simply the potential
Gantt said that being executive director—the first time loss of an artistic vision but a key commu-
she’s filled this kind of position before—is “a lot of work.”
She feels good that the Village focuses on building staff nity asset that drives economic develop-
skills and that she’s helping mentor a young man to be a ment and a broader community vision.
future leader. However, she doesn’t believe that she will
be able to sustain the level of activity and number of
hours she put in the last year. “To be frank, for me to stay Beyond this, how will the field attract a new younger
in this field for another ten years, I would have to find generation who might want this work as a career, but
a way to regain a creative life. That’s more important to who don’t want to become new martyrs to the cause,
me than money.” Gantt is definitely worried about the living on starvation wages like those who worked in the
money too. “In four more years, I’ll be 50. I’m very con- trenches before them?
cerned because I’ve worked in the field for a long time,
but I don’t have enough for retirement. When I look at In 2005, Bill Rauch stepped down as the visionary artis-
my economic health, it’s not great. It’s not horrible, but tic director for Cornerstone Theater after leading the
it’s not great.”38 organization for 20 years. During this time, Cornerstone

16 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
had become one of the leading forces in creating theater Colleges and universities offering courses and programs
in collaboration with local communities, using issues focusing on community arts practice have begun to
of tolerance and social justice as underlying messages. convene to discuss ways to create curriculum and insti-
Cornerstone stakeholders realized they were facing the tutional support for this new movement. A study of com-
greatest organizational change in their history. Board, munity-based arts training was conducted by Imagining
ensemble, and staff members met the challenge head-on. America, a consortium of higher education institutions
They spent two years planning for the transition, mak- committed to public scholarship in the arts, humanities,
ing a careful hiring decision and overlapping some of and design. The study has helped to isolate the strengths
Rauch’s remaining time with incoming artistic director and weaknesses of classroom and field education among
Michael John Garcés. these largely new programs as they prepare new commu-
nity-based artists and arts administrators to be skilled
When Liz Lerman, founder of the Liz Lerman Dance artists and community cultural workers.
Exchange, wanted to shift her role in the organization in
order to focus on certain artistic priorities, the company Current leaders of community-based arts organizations
went through what former artistic director and company tend to strongly value the fostering of young leadership
member Peter DiMuro described as an “externalization within the organization. Carlos Tortolero, president of
of a person’s methodology into the value system of an the National Museum of Mexican Art, points with pride
organization.” The company established a shared artistic to many of the young people who have practically grown
leadership model that is working.39 up at his institution. “Passing along the vision is easy
at a culturally grounded institution like the National
In my own case, I left my position as executive director of Museum of Mexican Art,” he says. “We have five or six
the Wing Luke Asian Museum in 2007 after 17 years and people who have worked at the museum since they were
completion of an ambitious capital campaign. Even before 15 and have spent half or over half of their lives at the
the campaign began in 2001, I told my staff and board I museum. They get it! As a founder, I am confident that
did not intend to stay in my position beyond the cam- the museum will not only continue after I am gone, but
paign. Right away, my executive director responsibilities will flourish. People who work at culturally grounded
began shifting to other members of the leadership team. institutions aren’t looking for their next job in the arts.
Planning began in earnest to develop a strategy to allow They have found a place where they truly belong and can
the museum to be up and running once the campaign contribute to a vital cultural presence and vision.”41
was completed. My other leadership team members, Beth
Takekawa and Cassie Chinn, now anchor the museum as Jordan Simmons, who rose from student to teacher to
executive director and deputy executive director. artistic director, said he still feels useful at age 53 and
cherishes the chance to be with a circle of instructors
Even in these circumstances of dramatic organizational “one generation above me in their ’60s” as well as second
change, community-based arts organizations are testing and third generation youngsters “coming in and taking
and offering strategic and creative approaches for others responsibility for the place.”42
to consider as models for the field.
Young artists are also being nurtured into leadership
Where will the next generation of community arts lead- roles—artistically and in relation to community work—
ers come from and how will they be prepared? in organizations like Urban Bush Women, Cornerstone
Theater, Sojourn Theatre, and Liz Lerman Dance
Undergraduate and graduate programs in community- Exchange. These same organizations take seriously their
based arts are attracting a new generation of young peo- responsibility to share time-tested methodologies—and
ple and spurring a new interest in the arts. Observers protect the integrity of these methodologies—by offer-
note that this is similar to what happened in the 1960s ing training institutes. These institutes have expanded
under President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the era of the to meet demand and have provided an earned income
Great Society, when the country renewed its commit- source for these groups, allowing them to share their
ment to education, civil rights, and the war on poverty. model at the same time they are rewarded for their
“You have idealism coming back to the college campus,” knowledge and expertise in the performing arts.
William Cleveland says.40

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 17

 At the same time, the hip-hop generation—those who
have come of age in the urban youth rebellion of the post-
Civil Rights era—have founded new organizations that
are forums for melding their interests in artistic expres-
sion and social activism. Case in point is Youth Speaks,
a San-Francisco-based organization established in 1996
as a presenter of spoken word performance. The group,
which works with 45,000 teens in the Bay Area alone,
has created partner programs across the country and
has organized numerous local and national youth poetry
slams as well as literary arts and theater programs.

Founder and Executive Director James Kass said Youth A poet performs in the Grand Slam Finals at the 12th Annual Youth
Speaks Teen Poetry Slam, April 2008. Photo by Scott Chernis.
Speaks is one of the few performing arts organizations that
isn’t worrying about diminishing audiences. “Audiences
aren’t our problem because our work is situated in the
community,” he said. “We’re constantly moving to big- Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Nathan Cummings
ger and bigger auditoriums and spaces. We used to go Foundation have also invested major dollars in small and
into high schools back in ’96 and ask how many people midsized arts organizations that work at the intersection
like poetry. Maybe two or three people would raise their of diversity, community empowerment, and social issues.
hands. Now, we go in and ask the same question and
Through much of the 1990s and early 2000s, the
maybe half of the group raises their hands—and it’s with
Rockefeller Foundation’s Creativity and Culture Program
enthusiasm.”43
was an essential anchor for what many then and now
Kass said hip-hop has begun to move further and further refer to as the field of community cultural development.
beyond the boundaries of race and class as young people The foundation provided funding for arts and humani-
across the globe have begun to find a voice for issues that ties through PACT (Partnerships Affirming Community
speak to their lives. “As young people write about the Transformation) and MAP (Multi-Arts Production Fund).
environment, they’re shifting away from polar bears and
Ben Cameron, program director for the arts at the Doris
shrinking ice caps. They want to talk about dilapidated
Duke Charitable Foundation, noted that while his foun-
schools or the drugs in their immediate environment—
dation supports the full spectrum of arts organizations—
the neighborhood they live in. It’s about getting young
from those who believe solely in “arts for art’s sake” to
people in front of mayors and officials—not only just
those with a heavy commitment to social issues—more
bringing them into the conversation, but allowing the
dollars have begun flowing to support organizations with
conversation to shift to them.”44
community missions as the demographics of the country
have begun to shift. As the foundation has moved away
THE SUPPORT OF FUNDERS from supporting “big infrastructures through endow-
In the past decade, several Ford Foundation initia- ments,” Cameron said, community-based organizations
tives, supported through its Arts and Culture program, have gained greater advantage in vying for a piece of arts
have helped shine the light on community-based arts. funding.45
These included the previously mentioned Animating
Democracy, Working Capital Fund, and ARTOGRAPHY Huong Vu, senior program officer for the Paul G. Allen
programs, as well as the Shifting Sands Initiative (sup- Family Foundation, said, “We have to be more sensitive
ported through Ford’s Asset Building and Community to the idiosyncratic needs of the sector.” In communities
Development program), which looked at arts as a com- of color, the arts thrive in community centers, churches,
munity development strategy. gymnasiums, festivals, and family settings. “There’s less
of a hierarchy between artist and audience member. It’s
On a national level, the Ford Foundation has not been not like going to the symphony or the opera where you’re
alone in the support for community-based arts. The supposed to sit over there in that section of seats and the
Wallace Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, Doris stage is over there and you dress a certain way; you’re

18 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
quiet and you clap when you’re supposed to. At centers be the wrong end goal. “Perhaps we should be striving
of color, a lot of times, you stand up, and you whoop and for maximum flexibility, and our organizations could
you holler. You get up and dance. You go get a drink of expand and contract as opportunities arise.”48
water, you go back to your seat. You talk to someone. It’s
more fluid and participatory. The norms and behavior Claudine Brown, program director of the Arts and Culture
are very different.”46 program at Nathan Cummings Foundation, and Roberta
Uno, of the Ford Foundation, share a sense of hope that
Some national funders, such as the Wallace Foundation, substantial new arts initiatives will come to pass under the
have partnered with state arts agencies as a way to expand administration of Barack Obama. Obama has expressed a
the reach of the arts to underserved populations. These commitment to expand partnerships between schools and
public bodies—committed not only to excellence but arts groups and develop an artist corps to work in low-
also to community building and citizen participation— income schools and the community.49
often have their ears closer to the ground and can make
good judgments about the best places to invest arts dol-
lars. Here and there, a small grant of several thousand
dollars and solid technical assistance to a thinly sup-
“We’re not only in a position to solve
ported organization with great potential might make the problems, but we also bring joy—and
difference between survival and oblivion.
joy should not be underestimated when
The Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC)— this nation is confronting its greatest
struggling with how to support the arts in relatively iso-
lated communities and in new emerging demographic challenges.”
pockets across the state—received money from the
—Claudine Brown, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Wallace Foundation to support that very goal. According
to Mayumi Tsutakawa, manager of grants to organiza-
tions at WSAC, the commission used the Wallace grant
to support ethnic, low-income, and disabled commu- During the new administration, Uno said, community-
nities through established organizations like the Wing based arts and cultural organizations will continue to be
Luke Asian Museum and smaller lesser-known organiza- “on the forefront” of creating the type of art that “cata-
tions like the Arab Center of Washington, the Longhouse lyzes public discourse and community engagement.” The
Education and Cultural Center at the Evergreen State infusion of government funds will be critical to support this
College, and BrasilFest. “In the case of all these organi- work, she said, because “the type of money the foundations
zations, they strongly represent their communities,” she have is not enough to create the kind of sustained change
said. “They demonstrate artistic excellence. They show that we need. The foundations cannot be looked at to sus-
leadership. They are artistically risk taking. In all these tain the entire field.”50 Claudine Brown adds that commu-
communities, it’s important to support the young artists nity-based arts organizations could become the home and
and the nontraditional arts.”47 training ground for potential artist corps workers.51

Still other local arts agencies explicitly commit their pub- Following a meeting of arts and social justice groups,
lic resources to small and midsized cultural organiza- Brown urged community-based arts groups to be asser-
tions, especially those that serve specific cultural groups tive. In 2008, as banks and the auto industry lobbied
that have been ignored or under-supported. The San for help from the government, she reminded, “We help
Francisco Arts Commission’s Cultural Equity grant pro- those who are sometimes the ones who have the greatest
gram is one example. And recently, the Arts & Science needs. We’re not only in a position to solve problems,
Council in Charlotte, North Carolina decided, amid some but we also bring joy—and joy should not be under-
controversy, to cap funding to mainstream institutions so estimated when this nation is confronting its greatest
that it could increase support to smaller and midsized challenges.”52
groups serving culturally diverse populations.
Animating Democracy Co-directors Barbara Schaffer
Michael John Garcés wonders whether the elusive stabil- Bacon and Pam Korza agree that community-based arts
ity that many arts organizations strive to achieve might organizations are well positioned to satisfy multiple

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 19

 were other individuals who also believed that art, history,
and culture could and should be rooted into the fight for
As cultural relevance and equity become community empowerment. I came to understand I was
a stronger focus for policy makers and part of a larger grassroots movement, the outlines of which
were shrouded somewhat in darkness because most of us
public and private sector funders, these were too impoverished and too busy to see outside beyond
culturally grounded groups can be the individual silos in which we worked.

recognized and supported as the vital The Anacostia Community Museum was seeded by the
Smithsonian Institution in 1967, the height of racial ten-
community institutions they are. sions, as an “experimental storefront museum.” At the
time of our meeting, it had moved out of the impover-
goals—artistic, social, civic, and economic—because ished neighborhood in which it had first found its voice.
they operate on multiple levels in community. As cultural Now it was grappling with how it might rekindle the
relevance and equity become a stronger focus for policy spirit of its founding director, John Kinard, the educa-
makers and public and private sector funders, these cul- tor who pioneered the creation of exhibitions that spoke
turally grounded groups can be recognized and supported to social issues. Although Kinard was gone—he passed
as the vital community institutions they are. “Funders— away in 1989—his legacy and the spirit of his commit-
public and private—need to embrace community-based ment and genius shone over those of us gathered in
arts institutions,” said Korza. “In the changing faces of Washington, DC.
communities and against a backdrop of social and civic
Over a decade and a half after I got my first glimpse
needs, these organizations should be considered primary,
into the field of community-based arts, the field is now
alongside and equal to the traditional mainstream orga-
teeming with networked peer organizations whose staffs
nizations. Foundations and public funders need to make
talk frequently to one another online and in person.
available institutional support to these groups as a regular
Nowadays, it is not so unusual to hear—in the national
grantmaking commitment, not as a special initiative, so
news—about a special program at one of these cohort
that they can grow and stabilize.”53
organizations and how it changed a life or created new
hope in a forgotten community or ignited a change in
CLOSING public policy.
Back in the early 1990s, at the beginning of my career
in museums, I attended a gathering of about 20 cultural As the practice of community-based arts continues to
activists in Washington, DC, hosted by the Anacostia mature—and the organizations at the center of this work
Community Museum, a neighborhood museum born take their rightful place in the cultural landscape—they
out of the Civil Rights Movement. I was told that the will continue to provide new vibrant models, develop
goal of the organizers was to bring together like-minded innovative work, and serve as leaders in the arts for
individuals working to link community issues to muse- this nation. It will be especially important to not simply
ums and cultural centers. acknowledge and support this work, but also to cultivate
a broader appreciation for its complexity and delicacy
It was affirming for me—a community journalist and and to see the potential that lays waiting as many others
activist turned museum director—to know that there begin to build on this strong tradition.

20 www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy
Endnotes
1
Anan Ameri, interview by author, October 27, 2008. 24
Beth Takekawa, e-mail to author, November 10, 2008.
2
Ralph Pena, interview by author, November 6, 2008. 25
Ralph Pena, interview by author, November 6, 2008.
3
Donald Adams and Arlene Goldbard, Creative Community: 26
Ralph Pena, interview by author, November 6, 2008.
The Art of Cultural Development (New York: Rockefeller 27
Stephanie Hughley, interview by author, November 5,
Foundation, 2001). 2008.
4
Diane Espaldon, interview by author, October 28, 2008. 28
Leatrice Ellzy, interview by author, November 5, 2008.
5
Barbara Schaffer Bacon, interview by author, October 24, 29
Marina Tristan, interview by author, November 7, 2008.
2008. 30
Michael Rohd, 2009 New Year’s letter, Sojourn Theatre,
6
Ibid. http://www.sojourntheatre.org/aboutus_ny2009.asp
7
Caron Atlas, “Shaping a Critical Discourse: A Report on (accessed March 29, 2009).
the Joint Convening of Artography: Arts in a Changing 31
Diane Espaldon, interview by author, October 28, 2008.
America and the Animating Democracy/Working Capital 32
Emiko Ono, interview by author, November 19, 2008.
Fund Exemplar Program” (August 2007), http://www. 33
Amy Cassello, interview by author, November 8, 2008.
AmericansForTheArts.org/animatingdemocracy/read-
ing_room/reading_019.asp (accessed March 29, 2009).
34
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
35
Art Menius, interview by author, November 4, 2008.
9
Ibid.
36
Bill Cleveland, interview by author, November 3, 2008.
10
Diane Espaldon, interview by author, October 28, 2008.
37
Kumani Gantt, interview with author, November 7,
2008.
11
Ibid.
38
Ibid.
12
The term “first voice” is used in this context to describe
or designate self-determined efforts by a specific culture
39
Americans for the Arts, “Report on the Animating
to create, collect, display, interpret, document, etc., its Democracy/Working Capital Fund Exemplars
culture from its own point of view as opposed to the Convening” (Santa Fe, NM, December 7–9, 2005) 5.
point of view of others outside that group or culture.
40
Bill Cleveland, interview by author, November 3, 2008.
13
Hip-Hop Theater Festival, http://www.hhtf.org/pages/83.
41
Carlos Tortolero, interview by author, October 24, 2008.
htm (accessed March 29, 2009). 42
Jordan Simmons, interview by author, October 25, 2008.
14
Jan Cohen-Cruz, “An Introduction to Community Art 43
James Kass, interview by author, February 23, 2009.
and Activism,” http://www.communityarts.net/reading- 44
Ibid.
room/archivefiles/2002/02/an_introduction.php (accesed 45
Ben Cameron, interview by author, November 17, 2008.
March 29, 2009). 46
Huong Vu, interview by author, November 24, 2008.
15
Donald Adams and Arlene Goldbard, Creative Community: 47
Mayumi Tsutakawa, interview by author, November 17,
The Art of Cultural Development (New York: Rockefeller
2008.
Foundation, 2001), 43 & 46.
48
Michael John Garcés, interview by author, November 4,
16
Ibid., 55.
2008.
17
Ibid., 53. 49
Claudine Brown, interview by author, November 20,
18
Marjorie Schwarzer, interview by author, November 6,
2008.
2008. 50
Roberta Uno, interview by author, November 21, 2008.
19
Vanessa Whang, interview by author, November 2, 2008. 51
Claudine Brown, interview by author, November 20,
20
Marjorie Schwarzer, interview by author, November 6,
2008.
2008. 52
Claudine Brown, interview by author, November 20,
21
Laura Zucker, interview by author, November 19, 2008.
2008.
22
Ibid. 53
Pam Korza, e-mail to author, October 17, 2008.
23
Vanessa Whang interview by author, November 2, 2008.

Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity by Ron Chew 21

This essay was developed for and supported by the Exemplar Program, a program of Americans for the Arts,
in collaboration with the LarsonAllen LLC, funded by the Ford Foundation.

© 2009 Americans for the Arts

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