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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Rachel Watts, Executive Director of Arts Connection
4:04:07
ยท
3 min
Rachel Watts, Executive Director of Arts Connection, provided testimony on arts education in NYC public schools, focusing on equity issues and the challenges faced by arts organizations. She highlighted the lack of mandated arts requirements in New York State and the funding cuts experienced by her organization.
- Emphasized the need for clearer definitions of equity and access in arts education across different boroughs
- Shared personal experience as the first black woman to lead Arts Connection and the funding challenges faced since 2020
- Argued that the frequent cutting of arts programs stems from a fear of empowering young people with critical thinking and problem-solving skills
Rachel Watts
4:04:07
Good afternoon.
4:04:09
My name is Rachel Watts and I'm the executive director at Arts Connection.
4:04:12
We're a nonprofit arts education organization that's been providing arts programming in New York City public schools for forty six years.
4:04:21
I've been affiliated with the organization for twenty seven of those years.
4:04:25
And over the years, we've probably served somewhere in the numbers of around 3,000,000 young people.
4:04:32
I had a prepared speech that you have there, and I think the questions that came from the council members, from all of you, really inspired me.
4:04:43
And I think I want to just focus on two elements of the questions that have to do with what do we mean by equity and what do we mean by mandated requirements.
4:04:55
New York State is not one of the 29 states in The US that requires the arts as a core subject.
4:05:04
So the things that are these benchmarks that we have suggestions.
4:05:10
And it's why we're in school where there are schools that don't have art specialists teaching the arts in the schools because it's not as that those questions that you were asking about how do we know, how are those things being lived up to is hard to when you don't have the arts as a core subject in the school system.
4:05:30
The other thing is what we mean by equity and access.
4:05:35
I've worked in Arts Connection works in all five boroughs in all art forms.
4:05:39
And we have been able to get CASA grants, very, very luckily been able to get those kinds of grants.
4:05:45
We have been at a school on the Upper East Side that got two CASA grants.
4:05:51
When we work in schools in Brooklyn and The Bronx where we know there's a need, it's like, well, what do we mean by equity?
4:05:57
And really looking at what that what that is.
4:06:00
I'm also about to say two bad words.
4:06:03
I'm a black woman, the first black woman and the first person of color to lead Arts Connection.
4:06:12
I started the role in 2020.
4:06:15
And in that year, that was the year that DCLA started to cut our funding.
4:06:19
Over the last five years, we have lost 66% of the funding, which has cut me down at the knees as a leader in terms of being able to sustain the work and really be impactful in the schools.
4:06:32
So those are the two things that I just wanted to focus on.
4:06:34
And then the other thing that has happened for me in twenty seven years of advocating for the arts is realizing it's not that people don't value the arts.
4:06:43
That's what I've always been saying.
4:06:44
People don't value the arts.
4:06:46
It's actually they do value it.
4:06:49
And they're nervous about young people being able to problem solve.
4:06:53
They're nervous about young people being able to think critically.
4:06:56
They're nervous about young people being able to ask questions.
4:07:00
And that's why it's always something that gets cut right away when there's a difficult moment in our lives.
4:07:07
Thank you so much for your questions and the time you're allowing us to speak to all of you today.
4:07:13
Thank you.