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Join Public Health Grand Rounds at the Aspen Institute for a lunchtime book talk on Monday, on March 20, 2023 at 12pm at the Aspen Institute in D.C.. Author’s Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross discuss their new, ground-breaking work, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us shares the new science behind humanity’s evolutionary birthright — to make and behold art and its power to transform our lives. What artists have always known, and researchers are now proving is that arts, in all its forms, amplify physical and mental health, learning and flourishing and build stronger communities.” Learn more and RSVP here.

From the Ford Foundation: “Today, Borealis Philanthropy and the Ford Foundation announced the launch of the $1 million Disability x Tech Fund, the only national fund supporting disability-led groups working to bring about transformational change at the intersections of disability rights, justice and technology.”

“The Disability x Tech Fund’s inaugural cohort of grantees is comprised of five disability-led organizations and two individual fellows addressing fieldwide harms that occur when people with disabilities are excluded from the development, deployment and governance of tech. Those include algorithmic bias that undermines access to necessary benefits, biometric surveillance that disproportionately punishes people with disabilities and barriers to participation in the digital economy, among others. The Fund’s grantees seek to address these harms through research, litigation strategies, accessible content creation and interpretation, and frontline community-developed open source platforms.”

“The Disability x Tech Fund was born out of a yearlong process led by an advisory committee made up of people with disabilities, representing a wide range of expertise and backgrounds at the intersection of technology, disability rights and justice. This advisory committee informed philanthropic investments from Borealis and Ford on strategies to address harms at the intersection of disability and technology, and it nominated and selected the inaugural cohort of grantees. In doing so, the Disability x Tech Fund models a vision for the world where the leadership of people with disabilities is not only considered but prioritized in technology development.”

“‘Many people with disabilities live at the intersections of inequity, bias and discrimination, but we are often siloed from broader equity and justice movements,” said Sandy Ho, director of the Disability Inclusion Fund. “The Disability x Tech Fund intentionally supports disabled leaders who are most directly impacted by systems of oppression and who understand that we all do or will experience disability at varying times, to varying degrees. We fundamentally believe that disabled perspectives, innovation and expertise will strengthen efforts to advance technology solutions, eliminating ableism — which hinders broad and necessary possibilities for all human beings now and especially into the future.'”

“The Disability x Tech Fund will expand the participation, leadership and thought partnership of overlooked and under-resourced people with disabilities across the tech sector. The Fund is grounded in the belief that designing solutions for a more just and inclusive technology future requires an investment in the leadership, expertise and experiences of those who are most directly impacted by technology bias and discrimination. To that end, the Disability x Tech Fund supports organizations that are disability-led and disability-serving, particularly those led by Black, Indigenous and people of color; queer and gender nonconforming people; and women.”

Read the full announcement here.

“‘If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.’ This Zora Neale Hurston quote was what started to rattle around my head this morning, after waking up to the news that Angela Bassett’s visible heartbreak – for not winning Best Supporting Actress at last night’s Oscars – was already being critiqued by the talking heads of Twitter for its lack of ‘graciousness’,” said author Ella McCann-Tomlin for Ardent.

“Ahh, graciousness. A term that we Black women know all too well. A term that’s lobbed our way anytime we do not show the required level of civility and gratitude for the crumbs that white institutions deign to throw our way. When the facade that we so lovingly craft of agreeability and likeability and ‘grateful just to be here’ is cracked, even for a moment, the condemnation is always swift.”

“But imagine being a Black actor that’s been at the very top of her game for over 30 years; someone who should arguably have won multiple Oscars already, but who has only ever been nominated twice. Imagine working in an industry known for its anti-blackness, known for its snubs, and its disrespect – but holding out hope that this could finally be your night. And then being criticised for your authentic reaction to the news that you probably knew was coming, because history has taught you what to expect.”

“Working in DEI means challenging and critiquing systems. It means wrestling with the hopeful desire to transform institutions that have long excluded certain groups, and the deep concern that these institutions may never truly recognise or include us. When it comes to the Oscars, this mix of joy and sorrow is built into our relationship with the ceremony.”

“So – many of us are feeling a mixture of emotions today, as is often the case post-Oscars. The many history-making ‘firsts’ are both a wonderful, heartening sign of progress, and a damning indictment of how far we still have to go. Ke Huy Quan’s admission that (before making his glorious comeback) he quit acting for decades because of the lack of roles for Asian actors isn’t just an inspiring story of grit and perseverance, it’s a shocking revelation about industry-wide racial exclusion. And how wonderful it would have been to finally see a deserving Black actress win for a part in a Black-led film, in which Blackness is not only respected, but celebrated. Angela Bassett’s crestfallen reaction to yet-another snub in a decades-long line of snubs was both heartbreaking and refreshing. It was an invitation for Black women to be authentic (if only for a moment) in a world that expects only graciousness from us. Our pain is valid and we don’t have to be silent about it.”

Read the full article here.

From Aspen Institute: Join us Monday, March 13 at 12:30pm-1:30 pm (EDT) for a webinar to review the progress and future plans of the NeuroArts Blueprint initiative.

Dedicated to strengthening the essential role that the arts can play in advancing health and wellbeing, neuroarts has captured the attention of an expanding network of researchers, practitioners, arts groups, health providers, and other public sector and private sector organizations. We are honored to serve as a hub for the growing body of knowledge they are generating, and to act as a catalyst to inspire more.

In the year since publishing the NeuroArts Blueprint in December 2021, we have made important strides in our shared understanding of how the arts can be used to expand the boundaries of medicine. A newly released Progress Report updates our collective efforts to implement the recommendations and action steps detailed in that foundational document. Learn how we are advancing research, practice, education, policymaking, advocacy, leadership, and communications in this emerging field.

The Blueprint Progress Report will be presented by the initiative’s codirectors, Susan Magsamen (Johns Hopkins University International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics) and Ruth J. Katz (Health, Medicine & Society Program of the Aspen Institute). Renee Fleming, NeuroArts Blueprint cochair, will offer a special welcome.

Also joining us will be NeuroArts Blueprint advisors Emmeline Edwards (Division of Extramural Research, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health) and Sunil Iyengar (Office of Research & Analysis, National Endowment for the Arts) to share their views on the state of the field.

Register for the webinar here.

From Artist Communities Alliance: ACA’s President and CEO, Lisa Funderburke hosts a conversation with four arts leaders, who are committed to supporting Black arts workers in the artist residency field and beyond.
Panelists include:

Dr. Samantha E. Erskine, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Boston
Quanice Floyd, Executive Director, National Guild for Community Arts Education
Jeffreen M. Hayes, Ph.D., Executive Director, Threewalls
Paul Rucker, Artist, Assistant Professor Virginia Commonwealth University, Executive Director of Cary Forward

The year 2020 was marked by platitudes and statements from organizations promising change for racial equity. Was there in fact a reckoning in the arts? Were these well-publicized pledges backed up with clear and consistent action? Are Black arts workers and artists receiving more support outside of your organization and within your professional communities? What can non-Black arts workers do to create true transformation? Through an open conversation, panelists will discuss these questions and more, holding accountable the arts sector as we work towards transformative action.

Register for the webinar here.

From the National Endowment for the Arts: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Packineau (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Pueblo of Jemez, Pueblo of Laguna) as NEH’s first Strategic Advisor for Native and Indigenous Affairs.

In this new position, Packineau will serve as the lead policy and strategy advisor for NEH’s outreach and engagement with Tribal Nations and Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. He will also coordinate NEH’s Tribal consultation policy, develop partnerships that enhance the agency’s support of Indigenous communities, and support convenings, listening sessions, capacity-building, and information sharing among state and jurisdictional Indigenous networks.

“’We are thrilled to have Jason Packineau join NEH in this important and historic role,’ said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). ‘Packineau brings with him wide-ranging expertise in K–12 and higher education and deep ties to Indigenous communities throughout the country. We are excited to have him spearhead NEH’s outreach to Tribal Nations and communities to expand access to humanities resources and help bring the hidden histories of Native American peoples to light.'”

Packineau is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation in North Dakota, with family connections to the Pueblo of Jemez and Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico. His career in education has broadly covered direct teaching efforts and administration in both K–12 and post-secondary education settings. Most recently, Packineau was the Associate Director for the Harvard University Native American Program and currently serves as the Board President for the NACA-Inspired School Network (NISN), a nationwide organization that supports and promotes Indigenous-led education efforts. For seven years, Jason worked as an elementary school teacher in the D.C. Public Schools system.

Read the full announcement here.