Behind the scenes...

It's been a minute, friends.

Those who see action in inaction and inaction in action are truly wise amongst humans - Bhagavad Gita 4.18.

It’s been a minute, friends. The digital rest has been good.

Subscriptions have been paused. My virtual voice has been hushed… but my cup and my plate have been full. I felt it was time to check in with my substack community, and share some equity advocacy ‘wins’ and personal moments of joy from past months:

• I grew and delivered a new baby girl, who is now 8 months old. Family will always be the first place I pour my energy, and I appreciate your patience and understanding. My baldessari-ed baby is pictured above, doing her ‘tummy time’ at LACMA’s Women Defining Women exhibit.

• As co-chair of the CAEA EDI Commission, I strategized and led a multi year organizing campaign around the need for change in our state arts ed organization. Our small but mighty committee collected member feedback, wrote collective demands, created a strategic plan, began an internal policy review through an equity lens, and successfully pushed for codified language around equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the updated mission statement, constitution and bylaws for the org. I have boundless gratitude for everyone involved in this work. (An aside - white folks have apparently been writing and publishing about our activism, without our knowledge, input or consent.)

  

• In a real community effort, I also helped organize the CAEA 2022 conference. I chaired a dream team organizing committee of art educators across museums and schools in Southern California. We created a beautiful event for 250 California art educators, featuring 50+workshops and classes, 2 keynote speakers (both women of color doing community based arts-ed), two local museum events, and an explicit focus on community norms and accessibility.

  

• I designed a new workshop on Culturally Sustaining Teaching and Iranian Arts + Culture, which I presented at the Adding Voices Conference at Moore College of Art and Design. (The only Art Ed conference centering social justice & art educators who are Black, Brown, or part of the Global Majority.) I also sat on the Adding Voices advisory committee, and had the pleasure of working with even more brilliant arts educators. This event was historic, transformative, rejuvenating… I’m excited to be joining the conference committee again for 2024.

  

• Over the last year, I’ve also had the pleasure of facilitating professional development and workshops for faculty and staff at several major art schools and institutions (i.e. Art Center, Otis, NYCDOE, CalArts, etc.) Not only do I get thrilled about the potential liberatory impact of the frameworks that I present - I also learn so much during these workshops, since they are so inquiry based and conversational.

It feels good to be back in communication with my digital community! I try to think of my digital life as just a social hobby - one that I do not feel beholden to in any way - but to be honest I have felt a little guilty about going m.i.a. without explanation. I hope this update at least lets you know that even when silent online, I am still being LOUD and getting in good trouble in the real world.

Thanks for being here,

Alisha