03 Jun How are The Arts and Culture Affected by Gentrification?

How are The Arts and Culture Affected by Gentrification?

HigherSelf University | by Staff

Posted: 11:00 am EDT

HigherSelf invites you to Artists in Transition: a conversation on preserving arts and culture amid the effects of gentrification. Join us as we initiate this dialogue between community leaders, residents, and cultural institutions in an attempt to find answers and create solutions.

Date ——— Saturday | June 21^st | 3:00 pm

Venue ——- La Maison d’Art, 259 W 132nd St, New York, NY 10030

Artists play a substantial role in the cultural gate-keeping of their local communities. Their art often tells the stories of these communities; expressing and bringing to life the ideals, traditions, emotions, necessities, and disparities of their environments. As longtime residents of New York City’s neighborhoods continue to vanish and be displaced, so does much of the art and culture they have helped to create. Community redevelopment often seems to privilege all those except native residents — “out with the old, in with the new”. These storytellers are often threatened by the loss of their environments, the loss of control over their community narratives, and their roles as artistic voices.

We believe that HigherSelf and other local cultural organizations play major roles in being a voice and reflection of our local communities. We seek to challenge ourselves and other organizations to examine the roles we play in gentrification and how we can create safe spaces to address the role of the arts and culture in these transitioning areas.

Some of the questions being raised at this panel:

• What roles do today’s artists / arts organizations play in maintaining the cultural integrity of neighborhoods?
• How is, and should their work be used to help prevent or perpetuate community development?
• How do we deal with community artistic programs and traditions serving people of color vanishing?
• What are our longtime community arts institutions doing to keep our voices heard and culture preserved?

…and much more.

Our panel will be moderator by writer and activist, Jessica Lynne.

Joining this conversation as panelists:

DeVeor Rainey – teacher, musician, activist

Nellie Hester Bailey – community organizer, activist

Akeema Anthony – artist, community resident

Eda Faison – activist, artist

Seating is limited. Register here!

Share your thoughts on this issue in the comments section.