September 2019 Meet Our Artists: Rachel DeGuzman

Our Members, Fiscally Sponsored Artists, and other program participants represent a wide range of career stages and disciplines. We love them - and, as fellow artists, we're always inspired by them. With this monthly feature, we hope you'll feel the same way!

Name & Pronouns:  Rachel DeGuzman, she/her/hers

What do you do?  Arts administrator, producer, curator, convener and artivist

What inspires you?  I am driven by the belief that art and creativity – the most authentic and soulful expression of humanity – can provide the most effective platform to center the marginalized and bring us together. I want to foster more opportunity and equity for women of color (WOC). I seek to center the histories, voices and narratives of women of color. Together, with other women of color, I hope to harness our collective power to effect change in and through the arts.

Rochester City Newspaper "Power Peers"
cover story featuring WOC Art Collaborative

What are you proud of?  I am very proud of establishing At the Crossroads: Activating the Intersection of Art and Justice a year ago, and the 20 events it has produced because they were collaborative, inclusive, relevant, and centered the lives and perspectives of women of color. The At the Crossroads Long Table Conversations/ Installations are very meaningful to attendees, some of whom have attended at least half of them. Arts editor of City Newspaper Rebecca Rafferty has attended most of them – acting, in some ways, as a witness (à la James Baldwin) as well as providing critical feedback – and has deemed them (more than once) as some of the most important arts programming in Rochester, New York. 

More recently, I did found and launch WOC Art Collaborative with 10 other WOC creatives. We do have a headquarters and access to a 2,700-capacity rehearsal, performance, exhibition and event space 240 days per year. See more here and here.

What are your goals?  To continue presenting the Long Table Conversations, to deepen the connection to the 20+ collaborators that I worked with in 2017/18, and to establish new collaborative relationships with artists, higher education, presenting organizations, and the Rochester City School District. To establish a collaborative center for real equity in and through art – comprised of a diverse cohort of WOC artists/creatives. All of the aforementioned are in the planning phases or underway.

Do you have any advice for your fellow artists?  Follow your vision. When you encounter a roadblock, regroup, and then reroute. Trust your instincts and don't waste precious time on dead ends or regret.

How does The Field help you?  The Field provides my work with critical fiscal sponsorship and some exposure through its website and programs.

© Rachel DeGuzman
21st Century Arts & WOC Arts Collaborative

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February 2019 Meet Our Artists: Theresa Ruth Howard

Our Members, Fiscally Sponsored Artists, and other program participants represent a wide range of career stages and disciplines. We love them - and, as fellow artists, we're always inspired by them. With this monthly feature, we hope you'll feel the same way!

Name: Theresa Ruth Howard

What do you do? 
I work as a Diversity Strategist and consultant assisting arts organizations better understand, design and implement DEI programs and initiatives. Pacific Northwest Ballet invited me to curate and facilitate a Townhall gathering entitled Beyond Ballet, a conversation investigating aesthetics, diversity, equity, and the efforts to redesign arts institutions. Presently I serve as a member of the Design and Facilitation Team on The Equity Project: Increasing the Presence of Blacks in Ballet, a three-year partnership program to support the advancement of racial equity in professional ballet companies. The Equity Project brings together a cohort of artistic and executive leaders from 21 large budget, professional ballet organizations for in-person meetings and coaching, with the purpose of increasing the presence of Blacks in ballet in all areas of the industry.

I am also the Founder & Curator of MoBBallet. MoBBallet preserves and presents the contributions of Blacks in ballet globally. MoBBallet’s inaugural project was a partnership with the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) organizing of the first annual audition for Black female ballet dancers at their 2015 conference in Denver. I helped facilitate the dialogue on diversity in ballet with the 15 major ballet organizations in participation.

In addition to MoBB’s online initiative to curate the stories of Black Ballet artists internationally, it presents panels, workshops and gatherings dedicated to building bridges of understanding and education between communities and cultures in dance and beyond. MoBBallet’s "DO YOU KNOW..." social media campaign introduces followers to Black ballet dancers and accomplishments that are not widely known in an effort broaden the awareness of the contribution of Blacks in ballet.

Follow @mobballet on Instagram

What inspires you?
We are inspired by the artists we advocate for. Bringing the legacy of Blacks in ballet out of the shadows and shining light on their virtuosity in the form is thrilling!

What are you proud of?
MoBBallet is proud that in the short time we have been in existence we have made an impact. We have forged relationships with large ballet organizations and have a seat at the table in discussions of diversity and inclusion – and we hope to encourage EQUITY.

What are your goals?
MoBBallet is working to bring forth more stories from the artist's mouths. We are working to have artist's pages for EVERY one of the 327 (so far) dancers on our Roll Call from which we aspire to build a mentoring program. There is work to be done!

Do you have any advice for your fellow artists?
We encourage all brown ballet artists to keep making stories for MoBBallet to tell. We are here to support and document your successes and will advocate for you every step of the way.

How does The Field help you?
The Field has been essential to our growth, and has provided guidance and support in our foundational moments. Thank you for your support.

All content © Theresa Ruth Howard / MoBBallet

Additional Viewing:

IABD's First Annual Audition for Women of Color HD

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How Can We Really Earn the Name, The Field?

by Jennifer Wright Cook, Executive Director of The Field

The name “The Field” is ambitious. It implies that we believe that the whole ecology of artists and makers is vital to the health of our world. “The Field” means that we believe that all voices and visions are key. Maybe we haven’t earned that name?

From May 2017 til May 2018 The Field was one of 60 arts organizations in the Race Forward’s Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab, an amazing yearlong training program to improve racial equity in the arts and culture sector. Representing The Field was former Program Manager Wilfredo Hernandez, and myself - Executive Director, Jennifer Wright Cook.

Click to read their June 2017 press release,
"Race Forward Announces Distinguished Roster of
Participants for Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab."

After several workshops and skill-sharing (and dance parties), each organization had to launch a prototype to advance equity in their organization. The Field focused our prototype on Fieldwork, our 32 year old flagship feedback program that has been used by tens of thousands of artists and educators nationally and internationally. 

For context, Fieldwork artists/participants have historically skewed primarily white, primarily female, primarily dance/movement-based work. Our four Fieldwork facilitators are artists of color; three of whom have facilitated for 10+ years. In order to support our facilitators and sustain the program as a whole, we realized (1) We have some work to do, and (2) We are gonna do that work.

Wilfredo and I analyzed the pedagogy and practice of Fieldwork by looking hard at the Facilitator Manual and the participant Guidelines. We looked for coded language and silent references to the lifting up of white Eurocentric aesthetics around style, structure, design, body type, etc.

The work we set out to do was co-created with our Fieldwork facilitators. They are vital to the work. We collaborated with Fieldwork facilitators Pele Bauch, James Scruggs, Shalewa Mackall and Naoko Maeshiba via discussions, and review of writing and processes.

Current Fieldwork facilitators, L-R: Pele Bauch, Shalewa Mackall, Naoko Maeshiba, and James Scruggs

Field Deputy Director Shawn René Graham and National Field Network Manager Katherine Longstreth participated in our discussions and revisions. Full Field staff was looped in to the process and resulting programmatic changes.

Here are two key problem areas we identified together, and our processes to address them:

1. Problem: The emotional labor of our facilitators is real. We need to support them more, check in more, listen more, and pay them for check-ins and debriefs.
   Process: We are baking in regular check-ins and debriefs to our facilitator engagements, and we are adding money to the budget to support this work.
2. Problem: We need to be race explicit. Our public-facing Guidelines had not intentionally and authentically included artists of color.
   Process: We added more inclusive language. For instance, we included the following text to the Guidelines used by all participants, and made them available on our website: “If you feel like the feedback is too much or is biased by race, gender, culture or other -isms, the facilitator will lead the group to ensure that the artist’s work and vision is centered authentically and respectfully.”

In case you’re wondering, “Is this just a Diversity Initiative that just aims to get more artists of color in Fieldwork?” – the goal of this work is not to get more artists of color in Fieldwork – although that might happen.

The goal is to ensure that artists of color feel intentionally and authentically seen, supported, and engaged. As Wilfredo said,

"If we are going to create the circumstances in which artists of color feel supported and uplifted, then we need to scaffold that experience and make sure we are co-creating that reality each time we enter into the room. That requires some level of standard language and practice."

So what’s next?

• Fully bake in the new practices and protocols so that Fieldwork can better support artists of color
• Share our work with our national Fieldwork sites
• Connect to more outer borough and/or artists of color led spaces for Fieldwork

Overall we are deeply grateful to Race Forward for this incredibly ambitious effort to impact the NYC arts and culture sector - for putting in heart, muscle and brains, and for empowering us to move ourselves and our organizations forward toward equity; and to the NYC Cultural Agenda Fund for funding this ambitious effort – and for putting out the RFP that made space for the work to happen! If there is no incentive for equity work, unfortunately, most white-dominated organizations will not do it.

We also want to thank our cohort partners at DanceNYC, ARTs East New York, and Spaceworks; as well as our coach Ellen Gurzinsky for making us work harder and laugh more.

The work is ongoing and consistent. It doesn’t end; it is iterating and shifting and growing forward.

PS. Here is full scoop on what we did and what we learned.

GOBSMACKED

I love words.   They are powerful and personal.  They can create connections and community; and they can disrupt, disturb and deface.

Here are some words: equity, diversity, access, inclusion, social justice.*

In the arts and culture sector these words are trending hard these days.  A quick twitter search for #equity, #artsequity, etc. is humongous.

That’s great.  People are really talking about big, tough issues.  People want the world to be better.  People will do the necessary and hard work to activate these words.  I hope.

The more we use these words though, the more they lose their power.

I was at a community forum recently and a brave/stupid soul asked the large group, “What do you mean by ‘equity’?”The entire room was gobsmacked (gob-smakt; adjective, Chiefly British Informal; utterly astounded; astonished)

For many of us, it’s hard to talk about these words and what they mean.  We are afraid of getting it wrong, of feeling stupid, of offending someone.  And on top of these fears, for many of us, the word equity has become a buzzword. It’s everywhere.

In part because we all have so much work to do.

In part because there’s a lot of money on the table right now for equity and diversity work.  And we all need some money to do the work we want to do.

To be transparent, The Field is right there too.  Doing the work, launching some programs, trying to get some money for the work we are doing.  Our very own Field Leadership Fund is building the skills, resources and power of a group of 12 amazingly ambitious next generation arts leaders.
(Watch out world.  They are in it to win it.)

In my gut though, The Field knows that these words, equity, diversity, access, inclusion and social justice have deep meaning and that the work to achieve them is long-term, it’s intentional and thorough and conscious.

The words are real and the work is real and hard. It is changing us.  And it will change you.
Join us in activating the words.  This July The Field is thrilled to co-sponsor the Undoing Racism workshop for artists and cultural workers.  This is a powerful workshop that focuses on what racism is, its history and how we can un-do it.  This knowledge builds our language muscles, builds our vocabulary, and builds our activism muscles. We believe that it is a vital opportunity to learn how to activate ourselves for the vital work of justice in the arts. (Join us at Undoing Racism here in July).

-- By Jennifer Wright Cook, Executive Director of The Field

* from Merriam Webster merriam-webster.com/dictionary

• equity: noun, eq·ui·ty \ˈe-kwə-tē\ fairness or justice in the way people are treated 
• diversity: noun, di·ver·si·ty \də-ˈvər-sə-tē, dī-\ : the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.; the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization 
• access: noun ac·cess \ˈak-ˌses also ik-ˈses\ a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone; way of being able to use or get something ; permission or the right to enter, get near, or make use of something or to have contact with someone.
• inclusion: noun in·clu·sion \in-ˈklü-zhən\  the act of including; the state of being included; a relation between two classes that exists when all members of the first are also members of the second; the act or practice of including students with disabilities in regular school classes
• social justice.*a definition of this was not available in the free version of Merriam Webster online.  

Wikipedia had this to say.  Social justice is the fair and just relation between the individual and society. This is measured by the explicit and tacit terms for the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity and social privileges… In the current global grassroots movements for social justice, the emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers for social mobility, the creation of safety nets and economic justice.”  [excerpt]

Field Leadership Fund: Equity - The Balancing Act

By Rajeeyah Finnie-Myers

The Field Leadership Fund’s (FLF) Opening Retreat took place back in December 2015. Following the retreat the Fellows took part in the FLF 8-week Workshop Intensive. When designing the Intensive, I had hoped that it would foster a feeling of community among the cohort and set the stage for strong collaborations. I think it successfully accomplished those goals.  But perhaps just as importantly, it also brought up valid questions around creating a safe space that supports the work of disrupting systems of inequity. There is a balancing act that needs to happen when designing such a space. On one hand The Field wants Fellows to feel that the space is theirs to create, explore, question and own; but on the other hand if there isn't enough structure people may be less willing to take risks. Trust, responsibility and accountability are all two way streets and it can be challenging when both sides don't necessarily see eye to eye on what these aspects look like in our day to day interactions.

Kendra Ross & Aya Lane

There were practical ways that both sides met the challenge. I made it a point to prepare each guest facilitator ahead of time so that all involved understood the kind of environment we were creating at the workshops. I also shared the facilitators’ intended outcomes for each workshop with Fellows ahead of time. The FLF evaluation consultant collected feedback from the Fellows after each workshop and we were able to use some of that feedback to adjust our approach along the way. Fellows took it upon themselves to come together and form clear and tangible ways that The Field could give them what they needed. They asked questions and made requests as a way of making this experience work for them. The Field was always willing to consider requests - sometimes saying yes and sometimes saying no. 

Eric Lockley & Bryan Glover foreground;
 Sydnie l. Mosley & Azure D. Osborne-Lee background

On the last day of the Intensive, the cohort went through what we called the “pairing process” which ended with each Manager Fellow being paired with an Artist or Arts Organization Fellow. These partners would then set out to work together for the remainder of the Fellowship (through April 2017).  Artist/Arts Organization Fellows expressed their desire to make the decision about who they would work with and Manager Fellows expressed concerns about their potential partners having unrealistic expectations of them. The Field took both sides’ concerns into account by having each Fellow rank with whom they’d prefer to work. The rankings weighed heavily in The Field’s decision making process. And though there was pushback about The Field making the final decision of who would work with whom, overall Fellows expressed that they are really happy with their FLF partner. 

With the ultimate decision-making power being in the hands of The Field, an important question arose: what is the difference between trusting someone and surrendering your power to over to someone?  This question can come up in any relationship, rather it be with donors, presenters, critics, board members, collaborative artists or staff. Additionally, what happens if there is money (or any other resource) on the table? 

At The Field we are left reflecting on what true equity looks like in these instances.  Weigh in with your thoughts and look for more from The Field on this topic as we continue to learn from FLF.

Photograph from the pairing event.*

All photographs by David Flores

*Azure D. Osborne-Lee, Kyoung H. Park, Goussy Celestin,  Rachel DeGuzman, Aya Lane, Bryan E. Glover, Eric Lockley,

 Kendra Ross, Jehan O. Young, Sydnie Mosley and Alexis Convento. Not pictured: Emily Berry 

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.

Field Leadership Fund: Meet Eric Lockley& Rachel DeGuzman

Artist Fellow, Eric Lockley is a Baltimore native and NYC - based actor, writer and producer. Regional theater credits include Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy at the Studio Theatre in DC, How We Got On at Cleveland Playhouse, Game On at the National Black Arts Fest in Atlanta and black odyssey at the Denver Center Theater. New York stage credits include The Colored Museum, Hope Speaks, Holes, CATO and The Winter’s Tale. Lockley will also be featured in upcoming films Assisted Living starring Olympia Dukakis and Macy Gray, and Knockout Game. Television credits include features on HBO, MTV & BET. Lockley’s written works include his “affirmative action” comedy Blacken the Bubble and the sci-fi thriller, Without Trace. As a solo performer, Lockley has written and performs Last Laugh, exploring the mental health of 2 black entertainers, and Asking for More, an educational solo show that encourages health consciousness in urban youth.

As a founding member of two Harlem-based organizations, The Movement Theatre Company and OBIE-award winning, Harlem9, Eric has produced numerous productions, events and theatrical presentations that over the years have showcased over 400 artists of color at various stages in their careers. Stand-out achievements have been, Harlem 9's annual one-of-a-kind event "48 Hours in . . . HARLEM", and The Movement's acclaimed productions of Bintou and Look Upon Our Lowliness.  Eric’s most recent endeavor has been writing and producing his first film, “The Jump” – which explores one black boy’s special relationship with the water. www.ericlockley.com

"Sustaining a career in the arts without institutional or commercial support requires a significant amount of focus, faith, prioritizing, negotiating, creativity, patience, flexibility and determination. I’ve been able to sustain thus far and I look forward to thriving with the support of FLF."

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Manager Fellow, Rachel Y. DeGuzman is president & CEO of 21st Century Arts, a Rochester, NY based arts consultancy. She is the founder and executive producer of A Call to Action symposiums and the recently launched A Street Light Festival.

DeGuzman is an active member at VisitRochester and Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council Tourism/Arts Work Group. Rachel is a program partner of Janklow Arts Leadership Program at Syracuse University. She serves as an ongoing pro-bono advisor to several local arts and cultural organizations. Rachel writes a community arts blog at democratandchronicle.com and is the host of a weekly radio show, Up Close and Cultural, on WAYO 104.3 FM where she also serves on its leadership team..

Ms. DeGuzman was 1 of 14 national arts professionals selected by Association of Performing Arts Presenters for 2012/2013 Leadership Development Institute - where she spent a year in collective inquiry focused on the theme of Knowing and Connecting Art with Community. Her past positions include director of advancement/external relations at Rochester City Ballet and marketing and publicity manager of Nazareth College Arts Center.

She was director of development/communications at The Commission Project and director of development at Garth Fagan Dance. Rachel served on Mayor Warren's Neighborhood: Quality of Life transition focus group; was a grant panelist for Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester and NYSCA/REDC. She was a member of the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester’s Cultural Diversity Initiative Committee.  DeGuzman was a past member of William Warfield Scholarship Fund board.

"The barriers that prevent us from creating a more diverse, inclusive and equitable field are systemic and must be addressed collaboratively and sector-wide. I am committed to owning leadership in that transformation."

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.

Field Leadership Fund: Meet Emily Berry & Jehan Young

Arts Organization Fellow, Emily Berry is the Artistic Director of B3W Performance Group, which has performed in the US, England, Greece, Italy, Thailand, and Mexico. In New York City, B3W has performed at Henry Street Settlement, Dance New Amsterdam, Dixon Place, BAAD!, the 92nd Street Y, The Irondale Center as part of FlicFest, and the Manhattan Movement Arts Center among others.

B3W received the Mondo Cane Commission from Dixon Place where we premiered Confined in September 2010 with a three-week run. Spin Art, B3W’s newest evening length work premiered at the Irondale Center January 30th, 2014 with live music by DBR. Spin Art inside of a cube with flying paint premiered in Queens in November of 2014.

Eva Yaa Asantewaa (InfiniteBody) describes Berry’s work as “Memorable, intelligent, strong”. “Violent but engaging” are the words attached to Berry’s work by Clare Croft in the Washington Post. Maura Donahue (Culturbot) writes about Confined as, “Clear expression of idea in movement”.

Emily has performed with danceTactics Performance Group/Keith Thompson, Boris Willis Moves, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh & Company, Restless Native Dance/Tamieca McCloud, Lesole’s Dance Project, and Ashe Moyubba/Alafia Afro-Cuban Folkloric Dance Ensemble. Emily is a Certified Movement Analyst. She also has a MFA in dance from George Mason  University. Her Bachelor of Dance Arts was earned from the University of Michigan along with a Bachelor of General Studies in Women’s Studies and Political Science. She is currently an assistant professor of dance at Queensborough Community College.

"FLF will give us the help, support, and community to be more effective and efficient in our commitment to resource sharing, addressing issues of diversity, and developing B3W Performance Group as a company making work and engaged with communities in New York City, nationally, and internationally"

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Manager Fellow, Jehan O. Young, Born in Northern California, a week early and in time to attend my own baby shower, I have not been on time for anything since. 

My family eventually headed south of the Alameda County border and in the valley of the shadow of Big Bear Mountain I began to exhibit a certain penchant for performance. Caught in an exclusive living room engagement of lip-synched Peter Alsop covers, adorned with the luxurious cotton mane of a t-shirt belonging to a basket of laundry I was supposed to be folding cascading down my back, I was duly enrolled in ballet.

As a rising fifth grader and the latest transplant to a new school, I managed to land a part in the annual summer camp musical; not the lead, per se, but the character with the most lines; yes, 37 versus the mere 24 spoken by the main character. 

After a fierce audition process comprising each hopeful going to the back of the cafegymtorium and shouting: O Say Can You See By The Dawn’s Early Light (the one line only, nothing further) I won the part, a boy, due to my voice being considerably deeper than any other prepubescent. 

Two years out of college I landed in the Delta terminal of La Guardia airport with one degree, in pursuit of another and a suitcase full of things destined for a charity bin or the nearest curb. I haven’t looked back since. To Be Continued...

"I believe FLF is an opportunity to create a safe space for artists and arts supporters to experiment, to fail and then, to have failure inspire growth. As I endeavor in my own artistic pursuits and work towards gainfully supporting other artists, I am hopeful that I will be empowered to become a more resourceful and active participant of the arts."

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.

Field Leadership Fund: Meet Kyoung H. Park & Aya Lane

Artist Fellow, KYOUNG H. PARK was born in Santiago, Chile and is the first Korean playwright from Latin America to be produced and published in the United States. He is author of Sex and Hunger, disOriented, Walkabout Yeolha, Tala, Pillowtalk and many short plays including Mina, which is published in Seven Contemporary Plays from the Korean Diaspora in the Americas by Duke University Press. For over a decade, Kyoung has worked internationally in Brazil, Chile, England, India, and South Korea in search of contemporary theatrical models that integrate his passion for peace studies and playwriting. Kyoung writes and directs his own work as Artistic Director of Kyoung’s Pacific Beat, a peacemaking theater company.

Kyoung is currently under commission by Mixed Blood Theater Company (Minneapolis) and is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Theater Writer’s Lab and Soho Theatre’s Writer’s Hub (London). Kyoung is recipient of an Edward Albee Playwriting Fellowship, Theater of the Oppressed International Exchange Fellowship (Rio de Janeiro), Target Margin Theater’s Institute for Collaborative Theater-Making fellowship, grants from the Arvon Foundation (London), Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, GK Foundation (Seoul), and was named a 2010 UNESCO-Aschberg Laureate (Paris).

Kyoung received his BFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU, MA in Peace and Global Governance from Kyung Hee University, and MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University, where he was a Dean’s Fellow. He lives in Brooklyn with his husband, Daniel Lim, and continues his self-education in Buddhism, following his refuge vows with His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India.

"...having the opportunity to work with a professional arts manager is a game-changer. I look forward to working with someone who not only understands the field, but the context, values, and community for which my work is created."

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Manager Fellow, Ayanna Lane, who goes by her given name, Aya, is a creator hailing from Atlanta, GA. As a queer woman of color from the South, her story is a unique one. She tells it through writing, pole dancing, DJing and healing. She’s a performance artist who combines these mediums mentioned above and is a dance teacher. She firmly believes in art as a way to connect to your innermost truths and using those gifts to connect to people in your community. She lives in East Harlem, owns every Outkast CD ever recorded and is obsessed with avocados.

"For me, it’s critical for me to be on the other side. I want to know how to assist other artists, whose stories are so often ignored. These stories, this work, and this art, are the building blocks to transform our society."

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.

Field Leadership Fund: Meet Bryan Glover & Kendra Ross

Manager Fellow, Bryan E. Glover, is an award-winning arts producer, filmmaker, writer and professional coach. As an arts producer, he is particularly focused on showcasing alternative, contemporary voices. He is a co-founder of Harlem9, producers of the Obie award winning “48Hours in…Harlem,” the highly anticipated annual showcase featuring emerging and established Black theater artists in New York City. Bryan has supported the arts and emerging artists for over 25 years, having worked with musicians, choreographers, performance artists, and playwrights in a variety of contexts and cities. He has also worked previously for over two decades in the social service sector in a variety of capacities and professional environments both in private and non-profit organizations.  He is committed to using his skills to enhance and promote the careers of artists, and lending his prior management experience to strengthening arts organizations. He is especially interested in enhancing and promoting the voices of LGBT artists of color, having served as a founding board member of Freedom Train Productions, the groundbreaking Black LGBT theater company based in Brooklyn, NY from 2006 - 2011. He has also served on the board and executive committees of several community based organizations over the years, supporting a variety of social justice and organizing efforts. Bryan has recently opened his practice as a trained professional leadership and life coach, supporting people in adopting a leadership stance in their life and manifesting their vision.

"Artists are indeed activists, as their work often reveals to us things about our world – and ourselves – that we may not see, moving us towards action. "

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Arts Organization Fellow, Kendra Ross is a proud Detroit native working as a dancer, teaching artist, choreographer, arts administrator and community organizer in her current home, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. As a dancer in New York City, Kendra has worked with Urban Bush Women, Andrea E. Woods/ Souloworks, Vissi Dance Theater, Monstah Black, MBDance, Moving Spirits Dance Company and Oyu Oro. In 2013 she also danced in a European tour with DJ Kid Koala in Vinyl Vaudville 2.0.  Kendra is currently a company member of Ase Dance Theater Collective. Kendra’s choreographic work has been presented at the Detroit Performing Arts High School, Joffrey Summer Intensive, Halftime Performances at Florida A&M University, the off Broadway show 7 Sins, and Museu de Arte in Salvador, Brazil. Her community work began as a member of Urban Bush Women’s B.O.L.D Network co-teaching dance workshops and co-facilitating community engagement workshops.  Along with sharing her art world-wide, Kendra serves as the Founder and Director of STooPS, an outdoors-based community building event that uses art as a catalyst to strengthen ties between different entities in Bed-Stuy.

Additionally, Kendra currently serves as the Director of Programs and Administration at Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance who offers dance and music classes and cultural events that educates and celebrates the joy of African cultures and cultures descended from Africa.

"For Cumbe, we are at a pivotal moment as we enter into an intense strategic planning process.  As we delve into critical critique and change in various aspects of our organization, we welcome the fresh perspective that the FLF Arts Manager assigned to us will bring. "

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.

Field Leadership Fund: Meet Alexis Convento & Sydnie Mosley

Manager Fellow,  Alexis Convento is a New York City-based, Filipino-American producer, administrator and manager working within the dance and performance art worlds. Her interests include artist and programming development, brand identity and strategy, and performance curation; her creative direction has led to sold out houses, close artist relationships and cultivation of an audience with an enduring interest in the performing arts. Alexis hopes to further locate collaboration between organizations, to create dialogue across genres, and to develop partnerships between the art communities and its public.

Alexis is founder and producing director of the CURRENT SESSIONS, a performing arts organization that develops and presents the work of emerging “contemporary” dance artists through the production of curated performances, residencies, artist-led laboratory sessions, and open discussions. She is also on faculty of the Joffrey Ballet's Jazz & Contemporary Trainee Program, teaching composition and improvisational movement techniques to the next generation of dance movers and makers.

Previously, Alexis was administrator and production coordinator at Gowanus Art + Production, former arts division for Gowanus Hospitality Group; has written about artists, creatives and food on the blog Union x Bond; and was one of three speakers at a Dance Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for the senior class of Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Alexis holds a BFA in Dance from Fordham University with the Ailey School, with additional training from the LINES Ballet and the Contemporary Traditions Program at Jacob’s Pillow.

She is honored to be one of twelve fellows in the 2015-2017 pilot cohort of the Field’s Field Leadership Fund.



“As a daughter of first generation immigrants, a female Filipino-American working in the arts and a self-taught administrator, my success is frequently hampered by other’s acknowledgement of my managerial capacity and my recognition within the arts.”

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Artist Fellow, Sydnie L. Mosley is an artist-activist and educator interested in work that is both artistically sound and socially aware. Currently she is a 2015-2016 Artist in Residence at The Performance Project at University Settlement where she produced her second evening length work BodyBusiness. She is also currently a 2015-2016 Dancing While Black Fellow. She is an alumna of the Create Change Fellowship with The Laundromat Project, and the Gibney Dance Institute for Community Action Training. With her 2012 work, The Window Sex Project, which uses movement to respond to the sexual harassment of women in public places, she became the inaugural Barnard Center for Research on Women Alumnae Fellow. She earned her MFA in Dance Choreography from the University of Iowa, and earned her BA in Dance and Africana Studies from Barnard College at Columbia University.

As a performer, Sydnie danced with Christal Brown's INSPIRIT: a dance company from 2010-2013, and continues to be a guest artist for Brooklyn Ballet, since 2009. She is a teaching artist for the DreamYard Preparatory School, YMCA and designed and teaches Barnard College's Dance in the City Pre-College Program for high school students. She is currently consulting with the Barnard College undergraduate humanities course, “The Worlds of Ntozake Shange and Digital Storytelling,” to develop a movement curriculum to accompany the study of Shange’s work.

An advocate for the field, Sydnie served on the Dance/NYC Junior Committee 2011-2015 leading as Vice Chair in her last year. She has also contributed writing to Dance Magazine and The Dance Enthusiast.


"I am committed to being a dance artist working in New York City for the long term - and as a woman of color, without a partner, without family wealth and without major institutional support - answering these questions through my creative/advocacy work for myself and for other often marginalized artists is urgent."

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.

Field Leadership Fund: Meet Goussy Célestin & Azure D. Osborne-Lee

Yesterday the Fellows began the workshop phase of Field Leadership Fund. For the next eight weeks they will be hard at work learning important entrepreneurial and equity leadership skills that will inform their work for the rest of the Fellowship, pairing process and beyond.

During this phase, we will post the bios and photos of two randomly selected Fellows each week so that you can get to know them, in their own words. Please stay tuned here and on Twitter via the hashtag #FieldLeadershipFund to learn more about the Fellows and the program.

Artist Fellow, Goussy Célestin's personal mission has long been about stirring up all her musical influences into a moving experience, incorporating both her music and dance background.

Goussy's versatility has received favorable reviews in the NEW YORK TIMES, where she was called a "renaissance woman ". A longtime member of Retumba and Ase Dance Theatre Collective alum, Goussy currently performs throughout the NYC-Tri state area as a musician and dancer.  She has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Del Terzo Studio at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, SOB's, the Knitting Factory, NJPAC, Tilles Center, Newark Symphony Space, Joe's Pub, to name a few. Her performance travels include Cuba, England,

Wales, Japan, Haiti, and the U.S.

Currently, Goussy is a faculty member for the Middle School Jazz Academy and WeBop programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She is also mother to two young boys, ages 2 and 5 - what she calls her "greatest creative compositions".

"While I have already been doing leadership [teaching] work in my communities, FLF is not only a good fit, but the catalyst/fuel to sharpen my leadership skills.My voice, as a mother/artist/member of Haitian diaspora and my experience as a multi-tasking artist/ dancer/ teacher/ musician/ mom, is one unique perspective I bring to the table."
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Manager Fellow, Azure D. Osborne-Lee is a writer, director, and performer from South of the Mason-Dixon Line. He holds an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice from Royal Central School of Speech & Drama as well as an MA in Women's & Gender Studies and a BA in English & Spanish from The University of Texas at Austin.

Azure currently serves as Grants Coordinator for Brooklyn Arts Council, where he has worked since July 2014. Over the past couple of years, Azure has also worked for Cherry Lane Theatre, The Billie Holiday Theatre, and The Foundry Theatre in a variety of capacities.

Azure is a Lambda Literary Fellow in Playwriting (2015 & 2016) as well as an alumnus of both Rising Circle Theater Collective's INKtank (2014) and EMERGENYC, the Hemispheric New York Emerging Performers Program (2014). 

Azure has held playwriting residences with Brooklyn Community Pride Center (2015), New Shoes Theatre (2011), and Freedom Train Productions (2010), and he was recently awarded the 2015 Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Award for his first full-length play, “Mirrors.”

This past October, Azure presented new writing at Fire & Ink IV: Witness in Detroit, Michigan. On January 25, 2016 he'll receive a reading of his newest full-length play, “Glass,” as part of The Fire This Time Festival. You can keep up with Azure's work at http://azureosbornelee.com.

"I love art and I fold it into my life every chance I get.  I'm a natural administrator. When I'm not making work of my own, I want to be supporting other artists in the creation of new work -- after all, somebody's gotta be the details guy!"

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.

Field Leadership Fund- What Do We Stand to Gain?

By: Rajeeyah Finnie-Myers, Field Leadership Fund Project Manager

What do we stand to gain by working towards a more equitable arts sector? What do we stand to lose if we don’t?

It’s been two months since the final deadline for Field Leadership Fund applications and it feels like we’ve already learned so much when it comes to these two questions. Thank you to all of our applicants and to our adjudication panel for being such a valuable part of the process!

When we first started planning the application and adjudication process we were hoping for somewhere around 60 applications. Much to our surprise we actually received over 200. It was exciting to see such a strong response but also a lot more work to get to our final 12 fellows than initially expected.  There were 2 rounds of adjudication –first by an internal panel and then by an outside panel. Next, we interviewed a little over 40 finalists. The upside was that we had a lot of really strong applicants and learned about some awesome work that is currently taking place in the arts sector. On the downside, a lot of deserving people will not be a part of the final cohort. No one wants to be told no after investing time and energy into something that they’re hoping will propel them forward in their work. But with only 12 places available not everyone gets a yes. It was extremely difficult and it is clear that we have a lot of work ahead of us if we hope to stay true to the mission and goals of FLF. The cohort has the potential to hold us accountable in a way that promises growth for all of us involved. I was inspired by how folks came to the room during our group interviews. Applicants entered the conversation willingly and thoughtfully. It was a preview to what could be and a reminder of how much is lost when we don't create space for equity in the arts sector.

We sent out notices to every applicant about our final decision last week. Overall, most of the feedback/responses have been positive and supportive. A few have been more on the critical side - questioning the process and the decisions made thus far.  My message to the outside world is please remember this pilot is only one small step towards a major shift that we are seeking. Perhaps with more time and resources we would have done things differently, but I'm confident that we have the right people in the mix. The FLF cohort and I will all be in the room together in December and then again in the New Year.

Look for more from us as we get to know these 12 amazing people that make up the first Field LeadershipFund Cohort. And let us know what you think about the questions posed.

A very special thank you to our FLF Adjudication Panel...Sarita Covington □ Andrew Dinwiddie □ Kimani Fowlin □ Daniel Gallant □Sara Juli □ Jonathan McCrory □ Sophie Myrtil-McCourty□ Morgan von Prelle Pecelli □ Yvette Ramirez □ Tiffany Vega

Learn more about the Fellows here.

Learn more about the work the paired Fellows are doing here.