Our View: Producing for Equity
Communitas Arts + Culture has made an intentional commitment to to the practice and development of “cultural producing.”
Cultural producing, for us, means moving past historical conceptions and practices of a kind of producing that privileges unchecked power, white supremacy/Euro-centric ideals, racism, colonialism, patriarchy, paternalism, inequitable extractive practices inherent to capitalism and its resulting commercial, hierarchical, transactional norms. Historically, producers - through earned and un-earned material, social and political capital - have acted as cultural trendsetters by positioning what is (and what is not) to be considered worthy of mass cultural attention, consumption and contemplation. This level of power has historically resided in the hands of very few across all sectors of society and has limited the full breadth, depth and nuance of the diverse cultural identities, narratives and lived experiences that make up the souls our communities and our country as a whole.
“If the arts are core elements of culture, and producers are responsive and accountable facilitators of the making of art, then we believe the act of producing in the 21st century needs to shift from transaction to transformation. The transactional means of production can no longer be divorced from the usual aspirational message of most production. We believe we can center the stewardship of cultures of equity and care along with systems change work as fundamental outcomes of producing.”
- Wilfredo Hernandez | CAC Founder + CEO
We take our inspirational and methodological departures for a practice of producing for equity from contemporary movements, models, thinkers and activists. From the practice of impact producing in the documentary arts to the expansion of solidarity economy movements, from calls for decolonization/curatorial justice in museum spaces to calls for remaining responsive to emergence as a practice (Adrienne Maree Brown) and the decolonization of wealth writ large (Edgar Villanueva and the Decolonizing Wealth Project), we know there are better ways to do the work.
AREAS OF CREATIVE FOCUS
queerness & DRAG ARTS
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LATINEDADES & DIASPORA
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food & drink culture
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NARRATIVE ARTS & CHANGE
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Myth, religion & spirituality
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