The New Face of Arts Leadership in the West - westaf - The Western ...

e that leadership and be in control of that
power dynamic. Maybe that is something
we need to consider as we go through this.
Danielle Brazell: How do we do that within the
traditional White, nonprofit, hierarchical structure
governed by Internal Revenue Service rules of
501(c)? How can we comply with those rules
when they may not work with our particular
focus or organization? How can we revolutionize
that process, transform that governmental
process, and open it up to allow more staff and
different kinds of stakeholders to have a voice
in guiding the way the organization operates?
Brenda Allen: I think, for one, you decide that
is what you want to do, and you find allies who
are interested in helping you accomplish that
goal. I think it is very important to become
resolute about it. When you are resolute,
you can attract more ideas and allies.
Danielle Brazell: I am curious to know if
anyone else around the table has this concern
or has found this to be an issue in their work.
Juan Carrillo: You brought up the subject of
art making for the purpose of social justice,
and you equated art making with social justice.
I’m not sure I heard that expressed earlier as
clearly as in your statement. The assumption
that art making should be used for the purpose
of advancing justice in our communities is not
shared by everyone. I share that assumption with
you, and that perspective has been a big part
of my belief that artists should be engaged in
work that connects them to their community.
Many years ago, at the California Arts Council,
we encountered people who didn’t want to
work in the traditional nonprofit structure. There
were individual artists who wanted to work in
cooperatives and did not have a nonprofit
legal structure in place. We were challenged
to find a way to provide financial support to
those artists to assist them in their work. We
were fortunate in that we were able to fund
individual artists. As a result, we funded individual
artists representing those cooperatives.
At the Arts Council, staff shared this sense that
somehow we had to find a way within the
structure to support artists in doing what they
believed needed to be done to engage in
community work. We struggled to find a way
for government to carry out its commitment
to support artists, whether through established
channels or through new loopholes that paved
the way for new practices and procedures.
Brenda Allen: One quick recommendation,
which is from Stephen Covey’s work. 4 Perhaps
you have heard of this notion of circles of influence?
The analysis is used to gain clarity regarding
where you do have power and how you
can wield that power to accomplish whatever
it is you are trying to do. We need to recognize
those larger systems and not deny their power,
but just trying to figure out what one’s circles
of influence are and brainstorming what can
be done in those circles is useful. Within this
room, I dare say, we have a great many circles
of influence. As a result, we have much more
power than sometimes we believe we do.
Nan Elsasser: I want to respond, Danielle, to
what we did when we were challenged. We
started our work as an all-volunteer entity.
We had no structure or organization. Then
we morphed into a sort of collective kind of
organization. Then we ran into 501(c)(3) kinds
of issues. For example, there are foundations
that tell you they want grassroots representation
but that really want just the opposite. They say,
“Well, I don’t know anyone on your board”
or “Who in New York is on your board?” They
also adhere to standard 501(c)(3) procedures
against having staff on boards and so forth. So
what we have done is we have a traditional
board in terms of their credentials, but part of
our agreement with them is that the staff and
students of the organization have total control
over policy and artistic decisions. You have
to be willing to trust that. The board members
do a lot of work for us, but they join the board
knowing they are not going to have certain
powers. We also invite board members to
28