Post by Shweta Dharap, in collaboration with Emily Carroccio

 

A lot has changed since the onset of the pandemic–with first the shutdown and then the reopening of the economy–and I find myself continuously trying to work through the changing situations. I am sure that is the case for most of us trying to make sense of each day. I often feel that I overlook some important conversations happening in the dance field due to my busy schedule. Hence, I have tried to summarize an important dialogue about ‘Creating New Futures’ (CNF) which addresses ‘Working Guidelines for Ethics & Equity in Dance & Performance’ for people who are interested in knowing more but are also pressed for time. You can also find more information about current arts policy issues and advocacy initiatives in this companion blog post by Merritt Stults.

 

Creating New Futures: Phase 1

CNF Phase 1 gatherings and research resulted in a “living document” addressed to the dance and performance field in the US by arts workers. This document looks to address “inequities, deficiencies, and power imbalances” that reflect capitalist and neoliberal structures in the dance world. It is both a compilation of testimonials, a handbook for promoting equity, and a tool for positive change. The COVID-19 pandemic has unearthed inadequacies that have long been a part of the dance world, and the document calls for change to be shared by artists, dance institutions, and funders that also play a part in the ecosystem.

The Phase 1 working group envisioned to create the following core components of the dance & performance field:

• Acknowledgement of the need for reparations for Indigenous and descendants of the enslaved Africans who built the nation to secure wealth and wellness, redistribute resources, and invest in ways that center Black and Indigenous people.
• Acknowledgement of systemic and individual oppression and promote protection of the environment.
• Promote transparency, accountability and collaboration between all artists.

 

The Phase 1 document lays out the following working principles and guidelines for the dance & performance field:

Principles

• Focus on resource and power sharing over capitalistic competition.
• Share financial and reputational risk equitably.

Guidelines

• Programmers should try to facilitate safe and generative space for artists, from safe working conditions to seeking a receptive audience
• Share risk equitably in contracts. Acknowledgement of risk and investment on both sides.
  • Do not include “cancel at will” without payment clauses.
  • Payment should reflect opportunity cost of holding a date and labor invested before the time of the event, even in the case of a force majeure event.

The suggested alternative to cancellation is to honor commitments to artists as much as possible by being flexible with funding and discussing the possibility of alternative work or postponement. If cancellation is unavoidable, it can be done ethically by compensating for any labor already done and considering technicians and performers who cannot absorb the lost income.

 

Creating New Futures: Phase 2

The CNF Phase 2 document has the original notes sent to National Endowment for the Arts and the document is addressed to public, private funders, and organizations. This dialogue is a continuation of the original document- Creating New Futures: Phase 1.

The CNF Phase 2 document is grounded in these suggestions:

• Build sustainable funding systems, field wide gatherings of artists, presenters, producers, organizations and funders is needed, since it’s not the job of funders alone to change.
• Move from a transactional way of working in arts to a relationship-based model where emphasis should be on making connections in the community by funders and artists and then supporting each other’s work wherever that is presented by showing up.
• Create a rotating Ethics Council (Xounxil) and a collectively written Ethics Pledge

The document discusses following issues:

DISABILITY JUSTICE

• It urges people to consider intersection of identities. The funders should be careful not to have a generalized disability funding but have a more nuanced system to fund the most marginalized within the disabled community.
• Funding approaches for artists with disability so that their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicare or Medicaid isn’t reduced or lowered.

REPARATIONS

• Grant amounts to BIPOC artists and organizations must be larger in amount than for white artists and organizations and must be greater in number. To decide what ‘larger’ means a conversation should be led by BIPOC community leaders
• In order to receive funding, an organization’s board, staff and leadership should reflect the local demographics and include the indigenous people.

DECOLONIAL ACTION

• Decolonial assessment and strategies for change need to be adapted by institutions and that will need specific attention which are more specific than Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) processes.
• Decolonial Action Coalition has identified 4 priority areas for institutional decolonial assessment- Access, Representation, Education, Indigenous acknowledgement, Land Presence and Return
• Funders should stop funding organizations that refuse decolonization and perpetuate white supremacist values

REPARATIONS IN TERRITORY

• Significant investment in arts and culture and funding of artists located on the islands- American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico

END GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

• Advocating funding to the organizations and artists who are invested in doing culturally specific anti-oppressive work in their community

TRANS/GENDER NON-CONFORMING RIGHTS

• Funders must sign ‘Grantmakers united for Trans Communities’ (GUTC) Pledge

MEANTIME STRATEGIES: CHANGING THE FUNDING STRUCTURES TO SUPPORT ARTISTS

• Recognizing that artists are businesses and the choice of artists not to form a 501(c)(3) must not be penalized.
• Fund artists directly not through intermediary sponsorship organizations
• Art workers should receive funding because they are working rather than on assessment of work, project descriptions, financial statements or artist statements or meritocracy
• Funding should not be project based but it should be unrestricted- for artists to decide to pay their rent, health care, studio space or childcare etc.
• Eradicate invitation only grants for selected artists
• Fund artists for multiple years not for a few months as the application process is exhausting
• Fund artists who have been working for a long time and avoid asking older artist to reapply to the same program

REGISTRATION BASED MODELS TO REPLACE THE GRANTS

• Guaranteed income – move beyond valuing the artistic product and begin to value the humanity of the artists to be paid predictable and regular incomes.
• Giving Tax credits for arts workers

 

Resource List: Some of the many other initiatives organizing for systems change

Anticapitalism for Artists offers educational courses and events for the purpose of “raising the class consciousness of artists of all kinds in order to transform the living conditions of both arts workers and the world” (Mission).

Launched by the Caribbean Cultural Center Aftrican Diaspora Institute, #ArtsGoBlack calls for art institutions to pledge to greater accountability and concrete action to end racism. The website features demands, principles, the pledge, and anti-racism training information.

artEquity provides training, newsletters, and webinars (among other resources) to promote equity and inclusion in the arts.

The Arts Administrators of Color Network (AAC) is an arts service network that focuses on networking and community building  to provide a voice for arts administrators and artists of color where there may not be one.

Black Dance Change Makers is a community for Black identifying dancers to connect and thrive “through leadership, education, service, and community building” (Black Dance Change Makers Mission).

Creatives for Black Lives is an online platform connecting black-owned small businesses with photographers, graphic designers, and writers (to name a few) looking to do pro bono work.

A Vision for Black Lives calls for cultural reparations at all levels of government through actions such as commemorating sites of Black history and teaching Black history without downplaying or whitewashing in order to acknowledge and honor the experience, heritage, and oppression of Black people throughout the history of the United States.

Dancers Amplified is a dancer-led global alliance that aims to center marginalized perspectives and empower artists, individuals, and organizations working towards social justice and cultural equity in dance.” To name a few, Dancers Amplified has created blog posts, a podcast, and the Global Active Practices and Solidarity Pledge, which is a living document created through research and data collection that includes methods of resonating action for diversity, equity, inclusion and access.

Final Bow for Yellowface seeks to eliminate Orientalism and Asian stereotypes in ballet. They offer a pledge against Yellowface in addition to a book, lecture demonstrations, and consulting services.

HowlRound Theater Commons is an open access, resource-sharing video archive for theatermakers worldwide.

Imagine Just is an initiative led by Enrich Chicago to create an ALAANA/ BIPOC – led vision for Chicago’s arts & culture sector that is rooted in an anti-racist, anti- oppressive practice.

The International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) created The Black Report to examine the dance sector. It calls for equitable practices and an end to structural racism in dance.

Movers and Makers Addressing Performance Systems (MMAPS) is a Chicago-based initiative of independent artists desiring structural change in dance and giving voice to the concerns of working artists through testimonials of lived experiences in the field.

Not Just Money researches “funding patterns at nation and local levels and the demographics of decision-makers in the nonprofit cultural sector” (Not Just Money).

PolicyLink seeks racial and economic equity through federal policy changes and their initiative Lifting Up What Works which focuses on three areas: equitable economy, healthy communities of opportunity, and just society.

We See You White American Theater is a collective of BIPOC American theatermakers who have made a call to action demanding the rejection of systemic racism in theater.

Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) is a grassroots, people-powered, member–driven, national service organization.

Working Artists for the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E)* works for more equitable and sustainable relationships between artists and contracting institutions. W.A.G.E. publicly recognizes non-profit organizations committed to paying artists fairly.

*Chicago Dancemakers Forum is a W.A.G.E.-Certified organization.

 

ARTICLES

“Solidarity Economies, the Arts, and the Future of Funding” | Jul 20, 2021 | Sophia Park of Fractured Atlas

“What We’ve Learned About Universal Basic Income (UBI)” | Jul 19, 2021 | Nina Berman of Fractured Atlas

“Imagine Just Initiative seeks a Shared Vision for an Anti-Racist Arts and Culture Sector” | Jul 9, 2021 | Danielle Sanders of the Chicago Defender outlines Enrich Chicago’s latest initiative.

“It’s Time to Reimagine Dance Funding” | Feb 25, 2021 | Kimberly Bartosik reflects on the project-to-project funding in dance and envisions a system of “sustained support” and “cycles of nourishment” for the community.

“What Does Fair Pay for Dancers Actually Look Like?” | Aug 27, 2019 | Zachary Whittenburg explores unionization, transparency, and minimum wage as movements toward fair pay in dance.

“How Much Can You Make In Dance? Here Are More Than 200 Actual Salaries” | Jul 18, 2018 | This article contains over 200 submissions from Dance Magazine’s online survey about readers’ dance work and pay in 2017.

 

 

Image: kellysikkema for Unsplash