LANE Conversation Series: “Bingo! How Lived Experience Informs Learning”
April 23, 2020 • 3 minute read
LANE cohort members Central District Forum of Arts and Ideas (Seattle) and The Theater Offensive (Boston) interview each other at the 2019 National Performance Network Conference.
What does it take to equip organizations with the tools they need to influence systems of equity? What practices or structures might offer organizations alternatives to the dominant culture and oppressive systems?
Through participatory action research methodology, Leveraging a Network for Equity (LANE) cohort members have identified seven ways in which their organizations approach these questions and others like them:
- Organizational capacity and infrastructure
- Organizational culture and power structures
- Leadership
- Transformation
- Risk
- Relationships
- Influence
In this six-part monthly series, LANE presents cohort discussions filmed at the 2019 National Performance Network Conference, where cohort organizations interviewed each other and shared reflections on using their lived experience to move through learning.
Nina Yarbrough and Merri Ann Osborne of CD Forum talk with Evelyn Francis and Harold Steward of The Theater Offensive about:
- what can be frightening about engaging a transformation process as leaders
- what restoration looks like as institutions change
- how good it feels to see a boss you admire gain national recognition
- and being joyfully realistic about what’s going to happen next
Alex Buffalohead and Angela Two Stars of All My Relations Arts talk with Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez of MACLA about:
- approaching things (even applications) with optimism
- transitioning from a scarcity mindset to one of generosity
- and the change you know you’re going to make versus the unexpected change
Damiya Khanboubi of Junebug talks with Natalia Neira and Tara Dalbo of La Peña about:
- bridging the gaps between the “OG” elders and the “young Gs” in our communities
- visioning and making time for planning
- working at organizations that have come out of people’s movements
- and shifting a company work session to a company dream session
Linda Parris-Bailey and Jonathan Clark of Carpetbag talk with Meena Natarajan, Dipankar Mukherjee, Adlyn Carreras, and Anh Pham of Pangea about:
- what LANE brought to them and what they brought to LANE
- being entrusted with the organization that taught you what art is
- and how art education programs can be opportunities for the village to raise our children.
Krys Holmes of the Myrna Loy talks with Angela Lee of the Hayti Cultural Center about:
- the relationship between personal self-care and institutional equity work,
- the power of telling a cultural organization’s story in authentic and personal ways,
- and the transformational potential in overcoming narratives of scarcity and poverty.
Sage Crump of NPN talks with Tanya Mote of Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center about:
- staff rapport and rhythm,
- the ways a background in facilitation benefits an organization,
- and ways to build both infrastructure and a movement.