On June 30th, Erie Arts & Culture held a PRO Network webinar with Dr. Jeffreen Hayes, curator, scholar, and Executive Director of Threewalls, a Chicago-based organization, to discuss inequities in the art world and offer solutions.
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What does it take to reimagine a new world where injustices do not reign supreme? How is the art and culture field culpable in reinforcing inequities experienced in our society? Are the current structures capable of change?
In this session, Dr. Jeffreen M. Hayes, curator, scholar and Executive Director of Threewalls, a Chicago-based organization, discussed inequities in the art world and offer solutions. Her discussion centered ALAANA (African, Latinx, Arab, Asian and Native American) artists as one simple step in beginning the work of righting wrongs that exist in the field.
About the Creative Catalyst Speaker Series:
Erie Arts & Culture is excited to launch the Creative Catalyst Speaker Series, which builds off of last year's Placemaking Speaker Series. The intent of this series is to build the capacity of our region by sharing methodology on how creative practices can be aligned with social issues. Funding for the series was provided by Erie Insurance and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development through the Neighborhood Assistance Program.
About Dr. Jeffreen M. Hayes:
Jeffreen Hayes, Ph.D., merges her curatorial practice into her cultural leadership of supporting artists. As an advocate for racial inclusion, equity and access, she creates approaches for community participation, particularly for those in underrepresented groups. Her curatorial projects include SILOS, Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman, AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People, AFRICOBRA: Nation Time, and Embracing the Lens: The BlackFlorida Project.
As the executive director of Threewalls, Dr. Jeffreen Hayes provides strategic vision for the artistic direction and impact of the organization in Chicago. Under her leadership, Threewalls works with artists to help manifest the organization’s vision of art connecting segregated communities, people and experiences together.
