CVAN - Call to Action; Fair and Equitable Toolkits
Following the first year of Fair and Equitable programme research, CVAN are delighted to announce the launch of our Call to Action toolkits.
These toolkits pick up on themes covered in our Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts Sector report. Three toolkits are for organisations, and the fourth is for artists and arts workers.
These toolkits are intended to act as a stimulus to encourage the development of further work toward a fairer, more equitable sector, helping to translate theory into practice and action. The toolkits highlight the necessity of having a good (or outstanding) approach to equality and inclusion internally, as this will impact an organisation’s ability to deliver this work externally. They also recognise that this work should be taking place without waiting for direction from others.
The toolkits aimed at organisations include insightful prompts to assist with self-reflection. They also provide a structured resource divided into bite-sized sections that can be used to encourage discussion and reflection around gaps and strengths.
Toolkit themes
For organisations
Toolkit 1: preparing for equity and inclusion work
Toolkit 2: talent development of underrepresented and marginalised artists and arts workers
Toolkit 3: exploring intersectionality
For artists and arts workers
Toolkit 4: for artists and arts workers from underrepresented and marginalised communities to share with host or commissioning organisations to gauge the organisation’s approach and commitment to equality and inclusion work
https://cvan.art/call-to-action-fair-and-equitable-toolkits
Toolkit 4 aims to relieve artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities of some of the ongoing and repetitive additional work required around equity and inclusion, and to demystify an organisation's approach to equity.
The toolkits are offered as live resources that should grow and evolve. They suggest multiple approaches to equity and inclusion, highlighting the many varied resources that will help organisations on this journey. They also recognise that developing an excellent organisational culture and approach towards inclusion and equity is a continuous process of improvement rather than a one-off initiative. To ensure buy-in from senior levels, these toolkits have been created for senior staff such as directors, trustees and chairs.
We hope you’ll find these toolkits practical and valuable – even if you’ve been doing this work for a while.
The first toolkit will be launched in March 2023, followed by the others in April, May and June.
About the Author:
The Call to Action toolkits have been created and developed by Monique Jivram. Monique’s career spans more than ten years in arts organisations as a funder and practitioner in inclusive community, public engagement and visual arts programming. Operating at the intersection of curation and inclusive public programming, Monique’s work focuses on improved inclusion, more efficient distribution of resources, and supporting underrepresented people to thrive in the arts sector.
Toolkit 1 was kindly edited by Dr Cecilia Wee FRSA, author of the Fair and Equitable programme research report, Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts Sector. Cecilia is an independent curator, educator and agitator, addressing equitable infrastructures for art and social action. Cecilia’s work concerns our interconnectedness and relationships within and beyond capitalism, working with practitioners using experimental sound, performance, visual and design practices.
The toolkits build on sections of CVAN’s 2022 research report Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts Sector, written by Dr Cecilia Wee and Veionella Spaine, with further programme support from Rukhsana Jahangir.