A NEW ALLIANCE INITIATIVE: The Harlem Project

The Alliance, Columbia University Teachers College, and the Harlem Arts Alliance are collaborating on an innovative new Research Apprenticeship project in the Fall 2006 which will give students at Barnard, Columbia and Teachers College hands-on experience advocating for the arts with the Harlem community.  

This project emerged as the Alliance considered many of the issues confronting our field as they emerged and were discussed in our 2005 research to understand the trends and issues facing New York State’s cultural organizations. We began that project with an online needs assessment survey, followed by regional forums and the Fast Forward Think Tank Meeting in Glens Falls in Sept 2005. The resultant Fast Forward Report asked the following questions:  

Who Are the Next Generation of Arts Leaders?Nonprofit organizations of all types are on the brink of a huge retirement wave in the next 5-15 years that will sweep veteran leaders from staffs and boards in unprecedented numbers.  Are there enough future arts leaders in the pipeline or will the field be scrambling to recruit and train leaders?  Are those coming into the field trained and prepared to deal with the excruciating competition for audience and dollars, changing demographics, and shifting trends in entertainment and learning? Do they understand the power of grass roots advocacy and can they exercise it to its potential? What will happen to public discourse about the arts if there is not a younger generation with a passion about the arts to replace them?

Can we create a network of stakeholders with a common community arts agenda that includes students, arts leaders, artists, board members, audience members, parents, elected officials, and the general public with a vested interest in advancing a dynamic community arts agenda?

Can we provide real life training grounds to develop professional skills in leading and managing organizations with increased capacity, funding and community relevance? Advocacy strategies and public discourse about arts public policy are an essential part of this picture.

Can we integrate new internet networking and communication tools to better position communities with an advocacy advantage?

From this thinking emerged a new collaboration with Columbia University Teachers College and the Harlem Arts Alliance that will be a research apprenticeship where students develop appropriate research and advocacy tools; have joint advisement from the Alliance and Harlem Arts Alliance and community interaction; develop practical tools, materials, projects and presentations for real-world advocacy for the arts, artists and arts institutions and participate in Arts Day in Albany.

The Alliance hopes to engage students in NYS arts advocacy and create a group of next generation arts leaders with advocacy experience; identify stakeholders in Harlem community and engage them and their issues in statewide advocacy efforts; expand use of the Alliance Online Advocacy Center among Harlem residents and students; create a model of how we can work with student advocates in other parts of the state. 

The Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations has a long history as New York's primary service association for community based arts and cultural organizations. The Alliance provides leadership and vision, and delivers services, resources and tools that strengthen cultural organizations. The Alliance informs the field on statewide and national issues affecting the arts and assists local arts agencies in building community support.

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