This fall and winter, Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA), in partnership with The Leadership Institute for Compassionate Changemaking, hosted 9 Strategic Community Gatherings to culminate qualitative and quantitative data to inform its upcoming strategic plan, launching in 2024.
The Strategic Community Gatherings will mirror the vision in its process and:
- Collect and distill comprehensive and inclusive feedback from the state for MCA to use as the cornerstone of the creation of the upcoming strategic plan.
- Center the voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color throughout the process as an embedded commitment to antiracism.
- Heighten disruption by prioritizing BIPOC artists, BIPOC-led organizations, BIPOC and White artists with disabilities, and BIPOC and White rural communities in the process.
- Nurture spaces of exchange for the Maryland arts community for continued collaboration.
- Practice and model compensatory exchange within communities by curating events and meetings that recognize the time and energy of sharing thoughts and ideas and compensate material benefit to participants as a part of the process.
Following the Gatherings across the state, the team will connect with smaller groups and individual stakeholders, in alignment with the goals of the process.
Dana Parsons, founder and Principal Creative for The Leadership Institute for Compassionate Changemaking. Her organization collaborated with OUT40 to host its gathering in Frederick featuring local artists, artisans, advocates, and organizations who convened to explore and discuss anti-racism in the arts.
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About MCA: Maryland Citizens for the Arts is an arts advocacy organization committed to expanding the nonprofit arts sector through public investment and service, thereby enhancing lifelong learning, quality of life, and economic vitality for all Maryland citizens.
Featured Photo Credit: Karel Appel