These voices from a recent PBS special speak to the cultural diversity of our 21st century American society. These individuals could live in almost any community of our great nation. We are distinguished from and united with them by our differences and similarities according to gender, age, language, culture, race, sexual identity, and income level—just to name a few. Such diversity challenges our intellect and emotions as we learn to work and live together in harmony.

All I know is that I came from North Carolina and happened to move to Pittsburgh, PA, and I’m an American. That’s my vision, where people begin to realize that we have nothing else but this.

-- Ray Henderson

We live in West Orange, New Jersey. Basically we’re just an all-American family, other than being African-American and Native American.

-- Monique Perry

I have German on my father’s side and Irish on my mother’s. It was quite an interesting marriage, a German and an Irish person. Then, on my mother’s side, my grandfather was an American Indian.

-- Debbie Burtle

My padrino, Cleofes Vigil, used to be asked all the time how long he had been in this country. And Cleofes would look at them very pensively and say, “I can take you to my grandfather’s grave and to his grandfather’s grave and to his grandfather’s grave. That’s how long I’ve been in this country.” I think our family goes back to 1598, to the settlement and conquest of New Mexico.

-- Vicente Martinez

Each person’s map of the world is as unique as the person’s thumbprint. There are no two people alike. No two people who understand the same sentence the same way… So in dealing with people, you try not to fit them to your concept of what they should be.

-- Milton Erickson

In a recent speech, Social Contract for the Year 2000: Diversity as an Asset, former U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Henry G. Cisneros eloquently communicated the importance of our collective need to recognize, celebrate and embrace our diversity. “The decisive questions in America’s civic and democratic future are those concerning whether it will be truly possible to incorporate ideas of multicultural inclusiveness into our institutions and our decision-making structures. Among the most critical of these questions, the most controversial and the most difficult are these: What will it mean to be an American in the 21st century? Who indeed are the Americans? What are the core beliefs and social bonds to which one must adhere in order to be American? What are the essential elements of a social accord that would allow people who are characterized by profound differences to function as a society and to prosper and share leadership in a global setting?”

Any society needs to achieve essential conditions of accord, to agree to a minimal social contract so that its members can work cooperatively, engage in a positive dialogue, and decide national directions.

As we extend respect to diverse cultural heritages in school curricula and in the arts, the question of whether there is a minimum core of ideas that constitute the American idea begs for an answer. As we begin to hear languages from areas of the world that have not been part of the local cultural superstructure, we must find ways to engage in a new civic discourse. As fewer of our fellow citizens look like “real Americans,” we will have to adapt our images and learn to feel less threatened by the different faces and the different voices.

Meeting the Needs of Culturally Diverse Organizations in Montgomery County
During the meetings and interviews conducted for this study, four major goals were identified related to recognizing cultural diversity and fostering arts development in Montgomery County. These were to:

• Identify and support the increasing number of cultural organizations that preserve the arts, humanities and cultural traditions of the changing population in the county and the individual artists and scholars who create work based in these cultures.
  
• Expose the community-at-large to the rich cultural heritage of the diverse population in the county.
  
• Encourage major institutions to expand their marketing and programming to reflect the changing population in the county.
  
• Teach young people about the importance of diversity through arts, cultural and humanities programming in schools, community-based programming, exhibitions and outreach programs.

How the cultural system in Montgomery County meets the needs of a diverse community is closely tied to the ability of culturally diverse organizations to access funding and technical support. In most cases, this is a role best handled by the Arts and Humanities Council. In some cases, certain roles that the County, through the Arts and Humanities Council, might fulfill could be provided by other entities or through partnerships and joint venturing with other community service agencies. For example, if the Arts and Humanities Council’s role is to provide technical assistance to diverse cultural programs, partnerships with other County agencies could help facilitate that goal. The Montgomery County government is making a dramatic and important statement about its commitment to ethnic diversity with the opening of the Charles W. Gilchrist Multi-cultural Center this
coming August. The center will provide direct County services to culturally diverse individuals and groups, including a new Americans welcome area, classes and an information and referral service, a small business development office, and a cultural exchange and education component.

The Arts and Humanities Council, for its part, can serve as a catalyst for public participation in the arts. Its community arts development efforts should engage people in arts, culture and heritage preservation programs specific to their cultural origins. Providing opportunities for people to experience the arts in their geographic neighborhoods and ethnic communities ultimately connects that experience to the larger system of support for the arts.

Identifying Culturally Specific Artists, Scholars and Cultural Organizations
As noted earlier, Montgomery County is quite diverse in the many cultures and ethnicities represented in its population, with more than a quarter of its citizens being of African-American, Asian or Hispanic origin. Perhaps more importantly, these segments of population are growing. From 1990 to 2000, there has been an increase of 85% in the Hispanic population and 60% in the Asian population. It is critical that development of the arts and humanities in the region begin to reflect all of the cultures of Montgomery County’s residents.

The identification, development and promotion of culturally specific artists, scholars and organizations that represent diverse cultural traditions is essential to the creation of a mature cultural system. Involving these groups adds value to the education system, civic awareness and political process.

Within the current cultural life of Montgomery County, there are a growing number of different ethnic communities that present their particular artistic expression and aesthetic. By all accounts, this growth in the immigrant and culturally specific populations will continue to make a significant impact on cultural offerings in the area. Many groups come together to celebrate traditional holidays and festivals, some in public outdoor spaces with the help of the Recreation Department. Others hold events at churches, school campuses or in whatever space they can secure.

These events currently are not supported nor recognized as “cultural projects” by the Arts and Humanities Council. Yet, they are mounted under similar circumstances and face the same issues as do events sponsored by the “recognized” small and mid-sized organizations in the county. The “projects” exist without facilities and the institutional framework that could offer opportunities to stimulate new cultural expression.

Beyond these limitations, the artists, projects and organizations that do arise from culturally specific communities are not well known outside their own communities. As a result, the tremendous resource represented by these groups is excluded, by default, from the cultural and educational system. Also, other cultural organizations are deprived of opportunities to expand their programs to appeal to a broader, culturally diverse audience.

Nurturing Culturally Specific Artists, Scholars and Cultural Organizations
In order to nurture the development and strengthening of emerging, culturally specific artists, scholars and organizations, a variety of elements must be in place. The following represents the range of issues and concerns voiced during this study around this topic.

• When talking about small and culturally specific programs and organizations, respondents complained repeatedly, throughout the assessment phase of this plan that they “didn’t know what is out there.” At the same time, the cultural organizations complained that they had no visibility and connection to the rest of the cultural delivery system. The simple act of maintaining a directory of artists, cultural organizations, humanities groups and other resources could be a powerful tool for creating new opportunities and linkages. This would be especially true if the directory could be put on a website, allowing instant access to the information. An electronic directory would have the additional advantage of being easily updated by the organizations listed on it and readily updated when new organizations are identified.
  
• Many of those interviewed cited the arts and humanities as key resources in addressing community issues. The Arts and Humanities Council was cited as being in a unique position to initiate partnerships with other city, county and private agencies to create positive responses to such community issues as:

  - Crime prevention;
  - Local neighborhood preservation and vitality;
  - Education;
  - Employment for young people;
  - Cultural tourism;
  - Leisure activities for youth;
  - Higher standards of cultural programs;
  - More collaborations between cultural and humanities organizations; and
  - More private funding for the arts.

• The need for exhibition and performance space was a common theme throughout this planning process. For smaller and culturally specific artists and organizations, this issue is even more profound. Lack of exhibition space creates more barriers to the visibility of culturally diverse projects.
  
• Lack of office spaces and administrative support resources create barriers for the growth of culturally diverse organizations. Many operate from the founder’s spare bedroom and rely on the local copy shop for services such as copying and faxing.
  
• Smaller and medium-sized groups, including culturally specific “projects” that produce and present throughout the year, expressed a need for management and technical support services. Many are unsure how to create and run a formal nonprofit organization or how to make their organization known to the larger public.
  
• Accessing either funding from the Arts and Humanities Council or from the County’s Facilities Improvement Program is prohibitive because of the restrictive criteria. A large group of organizations, even those who were not identified as “culturally specific,” are not even aware of the resources available and lack the capacity to navigate through the county system to identify a point of entry.
  
• Another major factor associated with inclusiveness and nurturing of culturally specific artists involves the larger institutions. During the interview process, the issue of diversity elicited both an embracing stance and a defensive one. Many groups agree that broadening and diversifying their audiences is a goal they would like to achieve. Others noted that on the programming side, they present some programs that feature artists of color, or they partner with a culturally specific organization to augment their season of offerings to the public. In all cases, these efforts are valuable and important. However, one-time events may or may not reflect an embedded commitment to diversity throughout an organization.

On an even broader level, the Arts and Humanities Council has the added responsibility as the County’s agent for distributing and monitoring public funds that support art and culture. Certainly no one wants “the bureaucracy” to mandate inclusiveness. It is incumbent, then, on the Arts and Humanities Council and its Board of Directors to establish policies and funding programs that can encourage and support the development of significant initiatives. These should be designed to assist the major institutions in planning for more inclusive programs, audiences, and the development of a broader volunteer and donor base.

Major cultural institutions, as a rule, are involved in cyclical planning and development modes. Earned income, fund development, restructuring, leadership, etc., are only a few of the topics that organizations will engage professional outside expertise to work on with board and staff members for the purpose of identifying short-term strategies to reach long-term goals. Diversity initiatives in the areas of audience development, marketing, programming, and human resource development, are often relegated to a category labeled “outreach.” While outreach is very important, it does not fully address the need for thoughtful planning to ensure that public funding serves the community as a whole.

In addition to directing its attention to promoting inclusiveness in cultural organizations within the county, AHCMC should make special efforts over the coming years to create a more diverse staff and Board and should ensure that its services and grant guidelines are designed to be inclusive of all cultural groups. It will be difficult for the Arts and Humanities Council to develop policy recommendations around the issue of cultural diversity unless AHCMC itself is diverse. Whenever new hiring opportunities come along at AHCMC, efforts should be made to recruit from diverse communities.

3. Ethnic Diversity: RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 In all aspects of its work, the Arts and Humanities Council should assume a role in creating collaborations and partnerships that will promote the role and visibility of emerging and culturally specific organizations, as well as history and humanities organizations.

Partnerships and special initiatives are labor intensive, but have a tremendous yield for a community. The Arts and Humanities Council should act as a catalyst and initiator of partnerships that seek to assist both the cultural community and civic and nonprofit organizations within Montgomery County in meeting the needs of county residents. Many of these partnerships will target traditionally under-served neighborhoods, low to moderate-income families, new immigrant families, young people, seniors and individuals with physical or developmental handicaps. These partnerships will require relationship building and may not be fully implemented for three to four years, but the potential for new sources of funding is encouraging. A few of these potential partners include area YMCA’s and YWCA’s, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice; Boys and Girls Clubs; HUD; and County agencies serving specific geographic areas.

Cultural/community partnerships are usually developed to meet specific needs. The following short list of potential partnerships would employ artists, promote youth involvement and encourage heritage preservation.

Neighborhood Arts Teams involve teams of artists in neighborhood improvement projects, after-school programs for young people, innovative safety programs, inter-generational programs with child care at senior centers, mentoring/apprentice programs that match youth offenders with artists, etc.

Youth Entrepreneurial Projects establish enterprise opportunities for young people in arts industry-related skill development projects, e.g., docent training programs, usher/theater hosts, public art conservation projects, revitalization projects, such as murals, repainting public trash receptacles, art works in public transit stations, etc.

Leadership Development involves teens as trustees or on a youth advisory committee for area cultural and humanities institutions to work with mentor trustees and executive staff.

Artist Residency Programs encourage artists to work on site in community settings to teach, conduct workshops and exhibit or perform in a non-traditional setting for at least four to six months.

Lead Agency: AHCMC
Timeline: FY2003 and ongoing

Initial Steps:

• AHCMC staff meet with community service organizations to establish potentials for collaborative programs
  
• AHCMC identify feasible programs and join with service organizations to seek grants to fund new programs

3.2 As described in the section on funding, incentive grants above the base formula funding should be awarded to organizations that develop partnerships with emerging artists and culturally specific groups.

Incentive funding to encourage partnerships between arts and humanities organizations could help initiate programs that would benefit the established organizations in reaching new audiences and engaging artists from a broad spectrum of cultural backgrounds. The benefit to the emerging artists and culturally specific organizations would be increased exposure and access to larger audiences, as well as technical assistance and mentoring.

Lead Agency: AHCMC
Timeline: FY2002

Initial Steps:

• Develop funding guidelines for FY2003.
  
• Create opportunities for organizations to share resources about successful collaborations.

3.3 The cultural institutions in Montgomery County must embrace the concept of cultural diversity by embedding a commitment to diversity throughout their organizations, with support and assistance from the Arts and Humanities Council.

The Arts and Humanities Council should engage in a planning process to discover ways it might serve as a stronger resource to the larger cultural institutions in the area of diversity. However, it would be presumptuous to outline strategies for the organizations themselves without first having a plan for AHCMC that outlines goals and timelines set by the Board. The following are possible approaches that AHCMC might take:

• Audit current diversity initiatives: The Arts and Humanities Council could review its funding programs to determine if they create barriers for larger institutions seeking to broaden their programs, or barriers to emerging and community-based culturally specific organizations whose management structures do not fit the Council’s eligibility requirements.
  
• Set general objectives: The Arts and Humanities Council could develop a commitment statement that outlines AHCMC’s goals for diversity. The County and the cultural institutions -- their boards, staffs and other volunteers, should be involved in the development of this commitment statement. The organizational commitment should be discussed before launching any new initiatives, and all aspects of the AHCMC’s work should be sensitive to the commitment.
  
• Consult stakeholders: The Arts and Humanities Council should be prepared to educate, and to be educated by, the different constituents they serve. That may include prospective new corporate donors, the cultural community, colleagues and partners within the county, arts organizations and other service agencies like the Collaboration Council, United Way, etc.
  
• Develop consistent messages: The Arts and Humanities Council should communicate with constituent groups, grantees, elected officials, etc., about their commitment to diversity. It also will be important to be honest with grantees about the Board’s commitment and how that might affect funding through AHCMC.
  
• Engage constituent organizations: The Board and staff of the Arts and Humanities Council should move forward with planning to ensure greater access to public funds and services by culturally-diverse groups. However, some well-established organizations may be resistant to change. In any case, care must be taken to engage constituent groups in an ongoing dialogue that can result in increased public participation in the arts in Montgomery County.
  
• Agency action plan and budget requirements: As with any new initiative, a commitment to inclusiveness and diversity will require new resources. The Board of the Arts and Humanities Council will need to consider cost/benefit analyses of management assistance, new funding programs and staff time needed for new initiatives. A specific plan and budget will ensure that follow-through can be achieved in support of AHCMC’s commitment to diversity.

Lead Agencies: AHCMC
Representatives of arts and humanities organizations

Timeline: FY2002 - 03

Initial Steps:

• Convene advisory group that includes AHCMC Board members and representatives of arts and humanities organizations.
  
• Begin developing policy on diversity and strategies for implementing the policy.