While it is true, it is not enough to state that the Cultural Alliance stands firmly against inequity of all kinds and is deeply opposed to and outraged by racial violence and police brutality. We recognize that we must be vigorously pro-active, more fervently align our day-to-day work with our most ambitious beliefs and aspirations, and take meaningful actions, whether small or large, that are focused directly on the inequities that define our region’s current ways.
The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is a membership coalition of some 550 artists, creatives, and organizations immersed in arts, culture, and economic development across coastal Fairfield County. The Cultural Alliance and its members represent a broad cross-section of cultural activity and encourage creative expression in myriad forms and manners. At the bottom of this page, you will find links to many of our members’ compassionate statements written in response to the terrible events and violent deaths that have demanded our attention and broken our hearts. We applaud our members’ views, commitments, and humanity, and offer these letters as a reflection of the turning tide of which we are all a part.
There is no question that ample data has identified our region as one of the most economically and racially inequitable in the country, conditions which methodically separate people and leave us feeling overwhelmed and dispirited. We experience these persistent outcomes in all that we do. While it is true, it is not enough to state that the Cultural Alliance stands firmly against inequity of all kinds and is deeply opposed to and outraged by racial violence and police brutality. We recognize that we must be vigorously pro-active, more fervently align our day-to-day work with our most ambitious beliefs and aspirations, and take meaningful actions, whether small or large, that are focused directly on the inequities that define our region’s current ways.
We will only begin to understand racial bias and inequity – its behaviors, beliefs, and structures – through a process of mutual learning grounded in the multiplicity of views, creativity, qualities, and experience that shape this region. While the global pandemic has interrupted our work in dramatic ways, we are deeply committed to broaden and deepen our relationships, hear every voice and perspective, and co-create and collaborate to achieve effective changes:
Our current list of statements is ongoing. These words, difficult to choose, can only interpret our feelings in limited ways, but we trust that our collective actions will speak clearly and help to shape a future graced with the patience and creativity to engage, incorporate, comprehend, and act.
With Love,
The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County Board and Staff
Member Statements (in process)
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
Connecticut Office of the Arts and The Connecticut Arts Council
Fairfield University Art Museum
Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts