ArtSpan’s Principles of Community & Cultural Equity

As a non-profit, membership organization, ArtSpan is committed to creating a thriving arts community where staff, members, and volunteers come together to create art, grow as artists and appreciators of art, and exchange ideas, with respect for each other and openness to understanding differing perspectives and viewpoints. ArtSpan is firmly anti-racist and believes that diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to a thriving, effective, and successful arts organization. Acts of hostility or aggression against any member of our community - including members of the public attending ArtSpan events - by any other member of our community on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship or immigration status, socioeconomic status, or religion will not be tolerated. Our mission and vision move us to directly challenge ourselves and to deconstruct frameworks of oppression while building opportunities for learning, change, and accountability for all those who participate in our community and events.

We believe that cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people—including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented—are represented in ArtSpan’s support of artists, our nurturing of accessible venues for expression, and the fair distribution of ArtSpan’s programmatic, financial, and informational resources.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & AFFIRMATIONS

• In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously addressed and changed.
• Cultural equity is critical to the long-term viability of the arts sector.
• We must all hold ourselves accountable, because acknowledging and challenging our inequities and working in partnership is how we will make change happen.
• Everyone deserves equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential to a healthy and democratic society.
• The prominent presence and visibility of the full diversity of artists in our community challenges inequities and encourages alternatives.