In this 2019 interview, author and educator Renée Watson talks about her prize-winning YA title, Piecing Me Together and Watch Us Rise (co-written with poet Ellen Hagan). Both look at the lived experiences of black girls as they grapple with identity right at the intersection of race, class and gender. But Watson is a story-teller not a sociologist and, as … [Read more...] about Meet prize-winning YA author and educator Renée Watson
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Feasting on Arts Participation Survey Data—But First, Some Appetizers
Next year, the National Endowment for the Arts will offer a comprehensive view of how Americans experienced art forms in the second year of the pandemic, and how those patterns have shifted since pre-COVID times. This reporting will draw from two datasets to be released in 2023: the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) and the 2022 General Social Survey’s … [Read more...] about Feasting on Arts Participation Survey Data—But First, Some Appetizers
Quick Study: Job Quality Measurement and the Arts
In this episode, we look at a recent report on job quality measurement and consider its implications for strengthening the arts workforce. A transcript is available here. … [Read more...] about Quick Study: Job Quality Measurement and the Arts
Meet Step Artist and Founder of Step Afrika!–C. Brian Williams
In today's podcast, C. Brian Williams talks about the art of stepping—defining and historicizing the art form and discussing its deep connection to African-American fraternities and sororities. (He learned to step when he was accepted into a fraternity at Howard University). He talks about the creation of Step Afrika! which began in 1994 as a dance festival in South Africa and … [Read more...] about Meet Step Artist and Founder of Step Afrika!–C. Brian Williams
Making Space for Indigenous Practices in Government Data about the Arts
One of my former colleagues used to complain that arts funders and administrators are “data paupers.” This must have been more than a decade ago. Even at the time, I questioned the assertion, but nowadays it may provoke stares. I mean, far from experiencing an arts data shortage, it often feels as though we’re swimming in the stuff. Quite apart from the increasingly … [Read more...] about Making Space for Indigenous Practices in Government Data about the Arts