40 West Arts District Receives Funding To Create ‘Equity in the Arts’ Committee
Lakewood, CO – 40 West Arts is proud to announce that funding from Community First Foundation has been secured for the creation of the 40 West Arts Equity Committee in 2022. 40 West Arts recognizes that public art and event performances should be selected by the communities where they are intended to bring impact.
40 West Arts sits in an area with a larger-than-average Latinx population. 41.8% of residents in the census tracks surrounding the district identify as ‘Hispanic Origin’ versus 23.1% in the City of Lakewood overall. For this reason, 40 West Arts has been working over multiple years to engage and employ more Latinx artists within the surrounding community.
The committee will be made up of local community members, particularly those from historically marginalized groups, who will be paid stipends and given a budget to research and hire artists to execute on district projects. 40 West Arts District will provide training and mentorship opportunities, but this group will exercise full control over the selection and hiring process for specific public art installations and events, ensuring that the artistic voice for the community comes from the community, and providing more authenticity, equity and diversity to art projects implemented within the district.
“Our hope is to embed community engagement and thoughtfulness for our audience in everything we do,” says Liz Black, Executive Director. “Collaboration and empowerment are key and distinctive features of the work that 40 West Arts strives to do.”
The 40 West Arts Equity in the Arts committee will be made up of 5 representatives with direct ties to Lakewood’s West Colfax corridor, particularly individuals who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the corridor. Additionally, we are looking for diverse representation from this group. Examples include but aren’t limited to cultural, racial, gender, religious, age, sexual orientation and disability diversity. 40 West Arts believes that a diversity of voices at the table will ensure more equitability and inclusion in the artists and artworks that are chosen to represent our community. The Equity Committee will manage an annual budget to bring experiences, artist groups, speakers or other to the district, and will serve as the art selection committee for many of the public art installations that occur annually.
The desire to implement this committee came from a realization on the part of 40 West Arts Board members and staff that too often, arts projects are selected and implemented by a body of ‘experts’; individuals who may have a background or experience in the arts, but might not live, work, or interact directly in the communities that projects are intended to serve. Additionally, through systemic racism, historic marginalization of groups, favoritism and other, many individuals were not granted equitable opportunities to gain expertise or education in a particular area, and thus would not, by historic definitions, be considered ‘experts’ in public art, public placemaking, installations and other.
More details regarding the committee will be released later this year.
This committee would not be possible without the help and support of the Community First Foundation. 40 West Arts is grateful for this generous and important partnership which will allow both the district and Community First Foundation to further their shared goals of building resilient communities.
"Community First Foundation has been an incredible partner of the district and the entire Jefferson County community for many years. Their work has provided critical help and assistance to so many non-profits, and we are honored that Community First Foundation has included us as one of their grantees this year,” says Bill Marino, Board Chair.
Community First Foundation has been connecting donors and innovative Colorado nonprofits since 1975. We help donors with philanthropic planning, support nonprofits with grants and endowments, and together, build resilient and connected communities. Our work is rooted in radical listening and a commitment to equity and inclusion. Our mission is to connect ideas, people and nonprofits so that Jefferson County is thriving.
40 West Arts is a non-profit, state-certified creative district along Lakewood’s historic West Colfax Avenue with the mission of energizing West Colfax through community art spaces, experiences, exhibitions, and events that engage the whole family. We are an inclusive organization with a commitment to creativity that inspires artistic experimentation for both the novice and professional, and expands the creative, cultural, entrepreneurial, economic, and physical vitality of our community. Create, connect, and celebrate with us.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
40 West Arts District
Katy Zeigler, Communications Director (she/her)
303-275-3430
info@40westarts.org