{"id":1433,"date":"2021-05-07T11:59:38","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T15:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/?p=1433"},"modified":"2021-10-05T15:31:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T19:31:13","slug":"on-art-and-economic-development-tapping-artists-potential-to-drive-post-covid-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/2021\/05\/07\/on-art-and-economic-development-tapping-artists-potential-to-drive-post-covid-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"On Art and Economic Development: Tapping Artists’ Potential to Drive Post-COVID Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson<\/em><\/p>\n

Joanna Castro \u201998 helps revitalize\u00a0communities by supporting artists and programs that educate, inspire, stoke pride and drive economic development. She calls her work \u201clife in the ACE\u201d\u2014referring to the ways in which the\u00a0arts<\/a>, communities and\u00a0economics<\/a>\u00a0(ACE) can intersect in service of the common good.<\/p>\n

ACEING IT<\/h3>\n

Born in NYC and raised in Venezuela and Washington, D.C., Castro double-majored in\u00a0international studies<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Spanish<\/a>\u00a0at Dickinson. She loved art, but never considered a career in that arena. Then she served\u00a0an\u00a0internship<\/a>\u00a0at the Picasso Foundation, during her\u00a0junior year abroad<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0M\u00e1laga, Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my first arts internship and the first time I saw arts managers in action,” Castro recalled. “It planted a seed.”\u00a0Back on campus, she wrote an honors thesis on the Picasso Museum and, as a member of the\u00a0Student Senate<\/a>\u00a0finance committee, dipped her toe in arts funding work. Returning to Spain after graduation, she immersed herself in the European arts culture and earned\u00a0a master\u2019s degree in arts and cultural management at the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid.<\/p>\n

As part of her master’s program,\u00a0Castro conducted research on cultural diplomacy and tourism. That led to a job in Manhattan, promoting Spanish language and culture on a global scale at Instituto Cervantes New York. A Manhattan-based career “in the ACE” had begun.<\/p>\n

As longtime program director of Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA), and in her new role at West Harlem Development Corporation, Castro has worked to strengthen local organizations, develop community spaces and increase access to public resources. She\u2019s launched a hospital exhibition series; developed panel discussions on arts and social justice; partnered on arts initiatives with elected officials, government agencies and economic-development corporations and dramatically expanded community arts programs. She\u00a0also has helped artists and community leaders sharpen their skills, led youth-development programs and advised the Emerging Leaders Program at the New York Foundation for the Arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cArt really is the economic engine of the community,\u201d she says, \u201cand I think there\u2019s been a greater appreciation in recent years of what artists do, which is to empower and reflect community and galvanize.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARTS LEADING THE WAY<\/h3>\n

Given the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has presented during the past year, Castro notes that arts role in community-building is more\u00a0critical than ever. Art that addresses issues exacerbated by the pandemic, such as housing and food insecurity and racial justice, she says, can help move the needle on social justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange is needed, and it\u2019s possible. \u2026 Nimble, community-based organizations can and will quickly pivot and do exciting new programming that will be great for the community, \u201d Castro explains.\u00a0\u201cArtists are incredibly resilient. They have the tools in their toolbox to change perceptions, build relationships and foster action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castro recently discussed her work in a public lecture about how\u00a0community-based<\/a>\u00a0cultural and arts initiatives can help heal and unite during challenging times. Delivered via Zoom, her talk was a\u00a0part of\u00a0The Clarke Forum<\/a>\u2019s The Good Life series.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson Joanna Castro \u201998 helps revitalize\u00a0communities by supporting artists and programs that educate, inspire, stoke pride and drive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4094,"featured_media":1434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1309,2903,113605],"class_list":["post-1433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arts","tag-community-building","tag-spanish-majors","first-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/spanishandportuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}