www.artsy.net: On September 26th, New York-based designers Amélie Lamont and Timothy Goodman took to Twitter to announce their newest passion project: People of Craft, an online directory of creative professionals of color—from artists to writers, entrepreneurs to creative directors.
Lamont tweeted her personal goals for the project, stringing together a series of 140-character messages that resembled a mission statement: “As a person of color, I find that we often get placed into boxes. These boxes end up defining how people think of us,” she wrote.
6 comments:
I think this concept is great. Whenever we hear about the advocacy for Ethnic artists, it's always presented to us in that way, these are people of ethnic backgrounds doing art that is ethnic, but I like how this website emphasizes the fact that these artists make diverse art. Sure, we are all inspired by who we are and where we come from, but that doesn't mean that the art of a Hispanic women can only be for and about Hispanic women. I think its great the creative team itself is diverse. The fact that they have already gotten so many requests to join this network is great. People are ready to be recognized and the diversity of this field is immense. I like what they said about those who should be involved, “As long as you identify as a person of color, and you believe what you’re doing is creative, then you belong on the site, and you should reach out to us,”.
This is a really interesting idea to me. I guess I was thinking it would be more of a collective: a space where you can view the art of a couple of creatives of color who work together. The idea of having a database is an awesome comeback at employers when they say they simply couldn't find people of color who were also creatives. Clearly there are tons of creatives of color and hopefully this database will help employers accountable for their subtle racism they implement when they imply that there are simply no creatives of color who could do the job. I love seeing people of color loudly demanding space in places. It's important to have diversity in the creatives that you hire so that ideas can be fostered in new and innovative ways. Hopefully "People of Craft" will continue to grow and change and help add a little more color to creative spaces.
This is a very positive approach to a very hard and negative issue that is persisting within our society. While it doesn’t seem like a lot this is really just the first step in making a difference. Every group that makes a difference begins with gathering the right people and helping others to be aware of the problem. Once enough people have gathered, then the movement can begin as there is strength in numbers. I look forward to seeing what this group will be able to accomplish as it seems that they already have some excellent ideas as to how to continue to help keep the momentum going including their plans for a lecture series and the 28 Days of Black Designers project. Now it is our responsibility to not just wait and see what effect they will have but rather to find ways to get involved and make a difference too.
A lot like Kyrie I think that this is a really positive way to try to fix our obviously very broken system and field. What is hard about these projects is that often they don't get a lot of traction outside of their bubble. It seems like this project is starting to break that trend, and I am excited to hear that. I actually saw this article all over my Facebook page this week and I had read it before today when I saw it on the page. Not only is this encouraging because it is brining new voices to our art form but it is exciting because it seems like more and more people are starting to see the value and necessity of having more voices and giving people who don't have voices more power. I hope that more things like start to come together and more people in the field promote and use this work around the county and world. As a young person in the arts I think that it is really important that I see and that my peers see that producing this art is just as important as creating it. Lets get working and keep moving forward, progress is coming but we have to push it a long faster.
Another great idea to help diversify. In this case art in general. It's a great idea, a sort of directory of artist of color. It kind of reminds me of the ‘we buy black’ movement, thing to get the economy of colored people independent. It's also an interesting idea to have a campaign for white men to promote to other white men to fight for diversity in their work places. I am not sure i have herd of this concepts but it is a great way for people of privilege to work toward an American that all are created and treated as equals. It's inspiring so see this partnership with this mission, working to get the most array of art possible out in the world for every one to see. I can not wait for the day this website ‘People of craft’ has its first million members.
The concept of compiling together artistic people of color and provide a database for people to access is incredible, as it is a way to put the ball back in the playing field of the employers who are being called by the public to diversify their population. It is so important for art to be impactful and understanding, but it’s also impossible to have a widespread view on art if you only have one perspective. Progress can only happen if we embrace the differences that make art a unique reflection of who the artist is, and that reflection is going to vary from person to person, from woman to man, from race to race. I truly hope this project (and the other similar databases mentioned in the article, like Queer Cartoonists, Women Who Draw, Women Who Photograph, and Cartoonists of Color) is able to grow and spread to potential employers so more diversity and intersectionality can appear across all platforms, instead of falling behind and unnoticed which has happened so many times before.
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