On May 20-21, 2021, join American Composers Forum (ACF) for our virtual Artist Equity Summit, where we are inviting Twin Cities arts leaders to discuss their longtime history of work in the community, share the lessons they have learned, reflect on the challenges they have encountered, and highlight the successes they have celebrated.
Local arts and cultural organizations play an essential role in our communities. In difficult times, they often act as the elastic threads that keep the fabric of the community together. The spaces they create act as amplifiers for the voices and archivists of local history and transformation. Through their storytelling, they serve as places of healing.
2020 was a year that highlighted the importance of these treasured institutions. As we have reached out to artists and leaders in the Twin Cities, we hear a consistent need and desire to connect with one another and support each other. ACF seeks to share our platform to bring our circles together and build relationships, share experiences, and strengthen our work through dialogue and artmaking.
Dameun Strange, ACF Director of Community and Belonging, will moderate two panel discussions that serve as a culmination of these earlier conversations. We hope, through this convening, we can encourage collaboration, audience development, and new opportunities for the exceptional artists who reflect our diverse city to create new artistic experiences.
Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 4PM CDT (Register here)
Keno Evol (Black Table Arts)
Sha Cage (TruRuts)
Alejandra Tobar-Alatriz (Rootsprings)
Junauda Petrus-Nash (Free Black Dirt)
Friday, May 21, 2021 at 3PM CDT (Register here)
David Hamilton (Cedar Cultural Center)
Ananya Chatterjea (Ananya Dance Theater)
Mary Anne Quiroz (Indigenous Roots)
About the organizations
Black Table Arts is a community-driven arts cooperative located in Minneapolis, Minnesota gathering black communities through the arts toward better black futures. Complete with a bookstore, shared workspace, and a performance space (BTA) makes bold the connection between art and grassroots organizing by providing programs that invite local artists to see themselves as change-makers and organizers of their collective liberation.
TruRuts is an artistic organization based in Minneapolis with a history of high caliber work, ranging across all expressive media: films; theatre performances; music; workshops and residencies; radio; and visual art.
Rootsprings is stewarding liberating space for BIPOC artists, activists, healers, and community centering LGBTQ folx. As a retreat center, we envision nurturing artistic and spiritual development steeped in revolutionary principles. we are guided by relationship building between people and the land for healing.
Free Black Dirt is a performance company/art collective that creates original performance art that highlights and amplifies the black experience.
Cedar Cultural Center’s mission is to promote intercultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music and dance. The Cedar is committed to artistic excellence and integrity, diversity of programming, support for emerging artists, and community outreach.
Ananya Dance Theater is the leading creator of contemporary dance in the global arts and social justice movement. Invoking the dreams of BIPOC Women, Womxn, and Femmes, we radically reframe the ground on which we dance, inspiring our audiences through visual and emotional engagement.
Indigenous Roots provides accessible space and programming to promote and practice holistic well-being through indigenous arts, culture, and tradition. In May of 2017, the Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center opened as an incubator space for artists, cultural groups, and organizations dedicated to building, supporting, and cultivating opportunities for Native, Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.