01/16
The Syllabus of Color initiative is a comprehensive effort to tackle systemic disparities and to engage families and cross-sector community partners to implement the principles of diversity and inclusion in art education for under-representative middle and high school students. Throughout this program, college students attending RCAD studying the arts will serve as student teachers. As young ambassadors, they play a fundamental role in encouraging students to explore and participate in all forms of art.
This year, we will be working with a few community organizations, including but not limited to: The Sarasota Housing Authority, The Newtown Estates Boys & Girls Club, and The Roy McBean Boys & Girls Club. Throughout this program, middle school & high school-aged students in the marginalized Newtown community will be given the opportunity to participate in an afterschool creative experience that is rooted in culture, personal growth, the visual arts, and cognitive development.
This program is funded by:
Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation
Community Foundation of Sarasota County
Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota
Floyd C. & Flo Singer Johnson Foundation
The Exchange
SBAC will be working with the Newtown community organizations participating in the Syllabus of Color Program to offer a day event called Cultural Arts in Motion / An Art Block Party.
Our goal is not simply to host an event, but rather an experience. The purpose of this family event is to deeply engage the community members in creative programming, including not only the children in each family but also the parents. We know the importance of parental engagement and support for children interested in participating in the arts, we also know the many barriers that parents face in providing that support. We strive to eliminate one of those barriers by bringing the arts to THEIR community, making this creative experience more accessible for all. Programming will offer family and youth participation in each program piece to experience different art forms.
This interactive experience is a collaboration with different arts organizations, Westcoast Black Theater Troupe, Sarasota Art Museum, Choral Artists of Sarasota, and Florida Studio Theatre
to host a family event for the Newtown community.
We believe the time is ripe and never more apparent to boldly “continue” to explore issues about the arts and racial inclusion in the regional and cultural landscape.
Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative is pleased to develop the second conversation of the Arts and Racial Justice Discovery Series. These conversations will bring together community organizations representing students and families of African descent, Black community leadership and arts organizations CEOs in Sarasota County.
Diversity is the first step in building a healthy community and the arts are a place for true engagement. We will explore and promote the power of the arts through the lens of diversity and inclusion during round table conversations. It is vital our community of African descent feels heard, and the arts organizations have an opportunity for open conversation. We are confident this process will provide positive outcomes.
Having a most successful and inclusive exhibition in 2023 celebrating A 3-part crosstown Gallery collaboration and cross-pollination representing 54 artists of African descent from Tallahassee to Miami Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative has forged a new mission and vision to: “elevate and celebrate what our cultural coast has to offer.” We have amazing arts organizations and museums, and all these institutions could do astonishing work if we collaborated. What SBAC has always been doing is to find a way of engaging these entities to serve the cultural mix in creative exploration for artists of African descent and our marginalized student populations. Therefore, we are planning a three-year initiative working toward sustainability and diversity in creative thought and the art of business. The formation of the following management team will lead this effort: Beyond Regional Boundaries: A Collective of Artists of African descent. This project will include nurturing artists through pop-up exhibitions from Tampa to Sarasota, workshops on Art and Business, professional skill development and public speaking, all while building collaborations with museums from Tampa to Sarasota. Those museums include Tampa Art Museum, The James Museum, Sarasota Art Museum and collaboration with the Arts and Cultural Alliances in Sarasota and St. Petersburg.