Cultural Equity
Image by Lucy Gellman. Photo courtesy of The Arts Paper
What is the Cultural Equity Plan?
The document is a collection of ideas, questions and activities about culture in our city. It also includes a list of action items for the City and other cultural leaders in our communities.
It is a tool to identify opportunities for equitable change, and to better understand each of our roles in creating a new future. It also includes a set of activities and specific action items we can each use to practice equity in our day-to-day lives and to weave equity into our systems.
The plan is an ever-evolving document. It is the beginning of a conversation that we, the residents of New Haven, the institutional leaders, and the creatives, artists, and culture holders must continue to have.
What Is Culture?
Often in our city, the kinds of culture that get recognized and funded are created by people who are wealthy, white, straight, English speaking, and able-bodied.
However, culture is made every day by people in our city who do not fit within this narrow set of identities. Communities gather on porches to make music and share news. Drag queens and other independent artists perform at local bars. Families pass down stories and recipes in their kitchens.
Expanding our imagination about what culture looks like, who creates culture, and where culture happens is a necessary step as we work to support a more diverse network of culture holders.