What an honor to present with this panel of bright stars at the 2021 NAEA National Convention: Perspectives from Professionals of Color in Museums and Cultural Institutions. My talking points, in summary, follow:
I am a teaching artist with experience in the context of schools, museums, city art centers, community art initiatives, and creative project management.
How are we to survive institutional spaces?
Approach with humility: I acknowledge that if I am to succeed, I need support. I seek support from colleagues I respect and sense I can trust, offering support in return, continually building and maintaining relationships with like minds. Discount no one based on their level of seniority; we are all humans with the human need to connect. Connect with people at all levels of institutional authority, at a human level.
Once basic safety and means of survival have been established: I examine the space I have carved out and inhabit, asking, "What is my own agency? What is my scope of authority and influence? How can I enact positive change?"
1) On collaborative projects, I formally consult stakeholders at all levels of the organization. This is a basic of project management but, to be meaningful, it must come from a place of humility, genuine curiosity, and respect for all contributors. This formalized discovery phase allows me to gather input early on in an initiative, holding sanctioned space to voice ideas and raise concerns that shape the project going forward.
2) I shed the narrative of victimhood. “Playing small” serves no one. I have experienced no disadvantage in life except for disrespect from those who make assumptions about my experience. I value and actively advocate for my own ideas, reminding myself that I am an authority in my field—and that I actually have a special advantage of being able to see concerns and opportunities in institutional blind spots (as a person who generally inhabits institutional blind spots). This enthusiastic self-regard empowers anyone at the institution who identifies with me (for any reason: skin tone but also age, personality, religion, etc) to realize their own agency and to speak with authority and to go into potential conflict with the confidence that they are not alone and that I will support a course of integrity.