Arts, Culture and Solidarity Economies
On May 26, 2021, NOCD-NY hosted a conversation, co-sponsored by Art.Coop, to explore place-based practices and cultural organizing strategies to nourish a new, liberatory economy. Event recording and summary below.
The COVID-19 pandemic and social justice movements underscore the persistent failures and inequities of capitalism. Solidarity work and cultural organizing efforts prove to be resilient and invaluable as communities respond and recover. Artists and cultural organizers are essential to the creative manifestation and impact of solidarity economies. These economic systems, such as coops and collectives, create value and exchange that nourish our shared humanity as well as the places we live and work.
DeeArah Wright (Dandelion Homesteads & Mumbet’s Freedom Farm) facilitated the discussion, which included guest speakers Natalia Linares (New Economy Coalition and Art.Coop); Monxo López (South Bronx Unite, Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards and Cooper Square Community Land Trust); Josh MacPhee (Justseeds and Interference Archive); and Mark Winston Griffith (Brooklyn Movement Center and Central Brooklyn Food Coop).
The group explored questions including:
What is the historical and current ecosystem of solidarity economy work and what is its relationship to arts and culture?
How are arts, culture, and solidarity economies interdependent and why is that important?
How can artists and cultural workers sustain their lives and work through solidarity economies?
How can neighborhoods and communities build on existing, place-based cultural infrastructures to strengthen relationships and solidarity economies?
About the co-sponsor:
Art.Coop: Solidarity not charity! Building the power and networks of arts and culture towards a solidarity economy. A report (commissioned by Grantmakers in the Arts and co-authored by Caroline Woolard and Nati Linares), a website and a community. Learn more: www.art.coop
This program is supported in part by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, The New York Community Trust, and National Endowment for the Arts.
Artwork: The New Economy, by Favianna Rodriguez | favianna.com