New York, NY, Field Office
Description:
The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC) NYC Field Office dares to imagine a world where liberation for all means racial, economic and social justice for all. We believe that art and culture are the heartbeat of our social movements. We believe that in order to win systemic, material or policy change we must create the cultural conditions, by winning the hearts and minds of the people.
The NYC Field Office advances and embodies the USDAC values through collaboration, creative action and collective visioning with artists, activists, organizing and social justice communities in NYC to address the root causes of systemic racism, economic exploitation, climate justice and social inequity.
Our "Field Office" is wherever we make it. Our membership is broad and comprised of citizen artists, working artists, community organizers, activists, cultural workers, scholars and community residents.
The USDAC NYC Field Office believes strongly that:
- Collaboration with and accountability to those communities that are directly impacted by racial, social and economic inequities must be central to our work.
- We should prioritize local cultural organizing activities, art/media projects and other creative social justice efforts that support the self-determination of communities to tell their own stories of identity, struggle, and collective liberation.
- The embodiment of "Citizen Artist" means that every single person has a story to tell, life experiences they carry with them, and possesses the ability to creatively express themselves.
- The artistic and cultural projects we get involved with must have a strong social justice component and prioritize the participation and leadership of those most directly impacted by injustices - people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ, the working poor.
- Arts and culture are powerful vehicles to bring people together to discuss difficult social and political issues that affect our everyday lives and to unleash our imagination and envision the future city we want to live in.
Stories:
- You can read more about the NYC 2015 Imagining: Creative Strategies to Fight Gentrification: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/gentrification-strategy-betty-yu-new-york-city
Field Office FB: https://www.facebook.com/USDACNYCOffice
Twitter: https://twitter.com/usdacnyc
Contact: Cultural Agent Betty Yu, - nyc@usdac.us