racial equity

The Social Justice Through Arts Education project aims to increase Arts Corps’ organizational understanding of discriminatory systems of power and privilege, and to grow the organization’s capacity to address these systems through the lens of artistic learning and expression. Arts Corps is poised to take a leadership role in the Youngstown youth arts community by developing and modeling a comprehensive racial healing program, creating the conditions for young people of color to find and express their full selves through powerful arts learning experiences.

This 3-year project plan will encompass: an Equity Team of board members, staff, teaching artists, youth and program partners selected to oversee the project, participate in comprehensive trainings around cultural competency and undoing institutional racism, and develop facilitation skills to continue the work; capacity development for teaching artist faculty to authentically lead a comprehensive anti-racist organizational assessment; and cultural competency training for all staff and board members. Finally, a yearlong curricular exploration of racial justice will be developed by a teaching artist workgroup, enabling full engagement of new instructional strategies and competencies in the classrooms – and sharing this model with partner organizations to further their own work in social justice and racial healing through peer led mentoring and trainings.