Original Threads: Equity and Access in the Arts for Hispanic/Latinx Communities

American Artscape | 2022 No. 2
Woman with long braided hair and purple flower over her ear dancing on stage with a long orange scarf

At Jacob’s Pillow in August 2022, Vanessa Sanchez and her ensemble La Mezcla performed selections from Pachuquísmo, which unveils a forgotten history of Mexican American female youth and explores the struggles that communities of color continue to face today. Photo by Danica Paulos, courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow

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About this Issue

In 2022, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) created an Equity Action Plan to provide opportunities to increase arts participation and engagement in historically underserved communities. The plan also laid out concrete policies and procedures for providing access accommodations for persons with disabilities and limited English proficiency. As part of this work, the agency has ongoing initiatives to engage Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) and be more accessible to Hispanic/Latinx-serving arts organizations, such as providing Spanish translations of its funding guidelines as well as other material on the website. The Arts Endowment is committed to advancing engagement with, inclusion of, and equitable access to arts, culture, and design created by and in Hispanic/Latinx communities.

In this issue, we look at some of the Hispanic/Latinx artists and arts organizations who share, in their own words, how they are making an impact on U.S. culture today.

SPANISH PDF

Included in this Issue

Woman with hair pulled back and wearing glasses sitting in an auditorium.
The Importance of Artful Lives | La Importancia de Vidas Artísticas
An Introduction by NEA Chair Jackson
Woman with long braided hair and purple flower over her ear dancing on stage with a long orange scarf
Dancing Outside the Box
Vanessa Sanchez y La Mezcla
Portrait of woman with long dark hair wearing black-rimmed glasses and wearing a purple shirt.
Creating a Latinx Space in the American Artistic Landscape
Alana Hernandez of CALA Alliance
Portrait of a middle-aged Hispanic man with short dark hair and moustache wearing a blue suit.
The Power of Music
José Diaz of Diaz Music Institute
A man with gray hair and goatee, wearing glasses and a blue shirt; woman with long dark hair wearing a black shirt; bald man with moustache where dark blue shirt.
Resilience through the Arts
Disaster Recovery with Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
Portrait of an older woman with red hair wearing a lacy top outdoors.
Telling Our Stories
Rebecca Medrano of GALA Hispanic Theatre
Video Available
Man wearing a baseball cap and blue denim shirt looking down at a guitar.
Across Borders and Generations
A Talk with Luthier and Activist Manuel Delgado
Audio Available