Americans for the Arts

Berkshire County in western Massachusetts is an incredibly rich place for the arts. It contains such a critical mass of artists, arts institutions, and arts resources that in 2016 the county was named the 12th most arts vibrant small- to mid-sized community in the nation by the National Center for Arts Research. With this abundance of creative activity comes a necessity for arts leadership, although here, these positions aren’t reserved for executive directors and upper management of large institutions. A new generation of community arts leaders in North Adams is surfacing as junior employees and other non-executive workers are beginning to cultivate leadership roles outside of work.

My name is Elbert Joseph, I have cultures in me, because of experiences and battles; I have learned. I live in cultures where I have to pick between a community and the chance to fit in. My cultures are Black, Deaf, and Gay. Family, friends, and colleagues are different from each other. Not many of them understand about certain matters: with acting I have to learn mostly on my own to improve my articulation and diction, for the sole purpose of equalizing myself to my hearing peers. I combat hearing privilege in the theatre community, working twice as hard for my skill and talent to be seen and appreciated. But I had to choose to fight. 

I have been involved in many deep discussions regarding diversity and often leave the conversations thinking, what can I do?

I realized that I needed to start by making  PERSONAL CHANGE—TO LISTEN AND NOT JUST HAVE AN AGENDA. Based on conversations, interactions with people, and my own person soul searching I’ve arrived at what I call the 10 Think-Action Steps regarding diversity.

Women have never held more than 27% of leadership positions in American non-profit theatre. Why? In a field in which “representation” is important to the stories we present to the public, the persistent underrepresentation of female leadership is puzzling and problematic. A 2013 research study was able to unravel some of the reasons behind leadership gender imbalance through a multi-informant and multi-method design, which made clear that the issue is not a pipeline problem. There are sufficient numbers of women in next-in-line positions in the field. Action plans that address this “glass ceiling” need to be developed to correct the disparity and will be explored at the pilot Berkshire Leadership Summit in October 2017.

For many artists and cultural leaders, being a part of a political campaign is the farthest thing from their mind. Concentrating on a new creative inspiration, the upcoming show, ticket sales, are often the #1 focus for an artist or arts administrator.

Yet, we all have to remember the arts and cultural community is a public good. Like schools, police departments, and roads, the arts deserve public investment as they are vital to the health and vibrancy of our communities.

Public policy decided by our political leaders is a major factor in deciding the level of resources and support for the creative sector’s work. If the arts, cultural, and creative community wants the resources and support necessary to build vibrant, healthy and equitable communities, it has to start embracing and running political campaigns to build that public support.

It’s the late 70s and I’m standing in the rotunda of the Massachusetts State House with a 10-foot-wide Boston cream pie. A pencil-thin line of white frosting drawn from the center outward like the minute hand of a watch is punctuated by a tall cardboard flag that says, “A piece of the pie for the arts.” This might get us some curious onlookers, maybe some pictures, I think. But before I know it, every elected official and staff member in the entire statehouse is drawn to the spectacle and descends into the rotunda not only to view it, but to get a piece. My fellow advocates and I served a lot of pie that day … and we also got an increase to our arts budget.