AKRON, Ohio — Among the top 10 public priorities identified in the recently developed Akron Cultural Plan is ensuring equity for all within the city’s robust cultural scene.
Years in the making, the cultural plan was conceptualized in 2016, its planning process kicked off in 2019 and the plan released in 2020. Engaging hundreds of community members from all walks of life, the plan sets forth a 15-year strategic road map designed to strengthen the community through arts, humanities, culture, natural resources and heritage.
According to organizers, during planning, more than 97 percent of participants spoke of the importance of equity in regard to the city’s cultural future, positioning equity as No. 1 in the plan’s list of stated priorities.
Springing from those results in early 2021 was creation of the Black Artist Guild, a group that advocates for Black artists, designers and makers, cultivating the artists and amplifying their work.
“Our first year was focused on experimenting with ideas about what the guild could be,” said artist Dominic Moore-Dunson in a release. “As we walk into 2022, we have a clearer vision of how we can support Black artists in Akron via artistic and educational opportunities.”
According to the cultural plan’s findings, nearly 18,000 jobs are associated with the Akron metropolitan region’s creative economy, generating $1.4 billion in economic activity. The plan identified Akron’s creative sector as the region’s largest employment block, with 2,738 independent artists, writers and performers.
Ahead of Giving Tuesday on Nov. 30, the Black Artist Guild seeks partners in bringing needed resources and educational opportunities to Black artists in 2022, and to bring collaboration and diversity to the forefront, said artist Dara Harper.
“We’re here to help push our artists forward in their field, in their ideas, and support collaborations,” Harper said.
Among the guild’s top priorities for the new year is to seek ways of providing professional resources to artist entrepreneurs.
“The full spectrum of talent in the region should be supported and on view,” said Arnold Tunstall, director of University Galleries at the University of Akron, Myers School of Art. “The work of the guild is a key puzzle piece to help advance us as a complete community.”
The guild’s suggested donation levels on Giving Tuesday include:
- $100 artist professional development
- $300 artist digital portfolio development
- $500 artist residency/scholarship for emerging artists to showcase at ABAG annual exhibit
Moore-Dunson and Harper posited the idea for the Black Artist Guild during a community forum in 2019, while engaged in the cultural-plan process. The guild formally launched in early 2021 under those artists’ leadership and with support from the Knight Foundation.
The guild operates in partnership with ArtsNow, a nonprofit that works to forward the arts as an economic driver for the region.