Founded in 2017, crea+e, the Coalition for Racial Equity in the Arts + Education, is a national voluntary group of artists, educators, activists and thought leaders of color who advocate, teach, research, and publish on issues related to racial equity in the arts and education.
crea+e works to understand racism and its interaction with other forms of oppression and develop actionable frameworks, practices, and policy recommendations in order to advance racial justice in and through the arts and arts education broadly defined. We are a collective of creatives who work in a variety of settings, including elementary, middle, and high school arts educators; college and university professors; university students preparing to become art educators; researchers and scholars; teaching artists; administrators and supervisors; and art museum educators.
Christian (1987) states, “The pervasiveness of this academic hegemony is an issue continually spoken about—but usually in hidden groups, lest we, who are disturbed by it, appear ignorant to the reigning academic elite. Among the folk who speak in muted times are people of color, feminists, radical critics, creative writers, who have struggled for much longer than a decade to make their voices, their various voices, heard… (p. 53).”
Structure.
crea+e is a membership organization that is governed by a Steering Committee. We hold annual gatherings for all members as well as strategic subversive interventions.
Vision.
To make race being central to conversations of art, design and education.
Draft, articulate and teach a history of art that positions the stories of multiple peoples, a more expansive canon.
Draft, articulate and teach pedagogies that draw and expand upon the strengths of the global racial majority/racially marginalized and oppressed peoples.
Values.
Centering race and equity in art education
Trust
Respect
Validation
Mentoring
Networking and Collaboration
Joy and Liberation