A Missing Narrative: An Ethnographic Analysis of Black Teaching Artists

After exploring and archiving existing, documented knowledge related to teaching artists and Black arts-based teaching and learning, Creative Generation and the Black Teaching Artist Lab crafted a research question: What are the current attitudes and perceptions of Black-identifying teaching artists about their work in the United States? A survey instrument was created in response to the identified gaps from the documented knowledge and this blog contains our findings.

Read more

Hustle Culture: Are We All Just Hamsters Running on an Endless Wheel?

Professionals from every field are trapped in an endless cycle of work, sleep, repeat, which leads to burnout. Hustle culture and the approaches to reorganize are not one-size-fits-all, but there are steps we can take to have a more healthy and satisfactory work experience. This blog unpacks the creation, existence, and now disruption of hustle culture, to shed light on key research points and spark hope for current and new generations of creatives in the workplace.

Read more

Making the Case for Social Justice

The term “social justice“ is commonly referenced as the objective of creating a fair and equal society, with equitable distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges, where individual rights are recognized and protected, and decisions are made in ways that are fair and honest. To realize the principles of social justice in and through arts and cultural education, the author considers practical considerations for social justice through the following areas: access and participation, board development, teacher recruitment, and curriculum development.

Read more

Taking Action: Stakeholder Participation and Engagement

A key component of any social change effort is in the engagement and participation of stakeholders. Regardless of the size, stakes, and subject matter of advocacy campaigns, outcomes depend in great part on the engagement of those individuals and groups who care deeply about the issue. Stakeholder engagement describes a process of accountability. How are stakeholders informed and empowered? Stakeholder participation is a metric that is used to look at advocacy effectiveness. Who is engaged and what are the outcomes? In this seventh article in the series, the author examines what it means to take action in advocacy for arts and cultural education.

Read more