Community Spotlight: Resilient Community Arts
Meet our December 2024 Community Spotlight organization, Resilient Community Arts. Their mission is to sustain collective efforts for social progress and equity through affordable arts programming.
We believe when community members have a place to voice their experiences, to harness cultural power, and amplify their stories, we take steps forward together towards a more just and equitable world. We believe when these artmaking spaces are accessible and community-driven we foster creativity and nurture collaborative efforts to bring marginalized identities into the center of the arts.
RCA was founded in 2021 by artist and public school educator Maddie McDougall and artist Grace Vo. After working within the local arts community for several years, they observed who was denied access to the exclusive “art scene.” For people to access local artmaking and showcasing opportunities, they tend to need certain privileges like expendable income, access to childcare, and flexible jobs. RCA was thus founded with the goal to build an inclusive and accessible arts ecosystem, with a diversity of community members, to reflect our needs. In addition, the founders set the goal that by 2023 over 60% of participants in all RCA programming would come from low-income homes.
We believe people right here in our community are makers, artists, curators, activists, teachers, and experts in their own lives. This is why we center community input in everything we do. Each year we serve people through our drop-in programs, open studios, queer and trans art groups, painters and printers meet-ups, after school art programs, summer camps, multi-session specialty art workshops, and free public art programs.
We serve about 200 kids, 40 teens, 300 adults, and 35 elders each year. In addition, we employ 18 staff members to develop and lead our programs, 88% of whom are LGBTQ+ and 22% are BIPOC. Of the people we serve about 24% identify as BIPOC, 80% identify as queer and trans, 75% identify as low-income, and 25% identify as elderly.
How would you describe the impact of your work?
Our slogan for the Resilient Futures Campaign has become “Art Saves Lives”. While it has made beautiful merch and sharable posts, we really believe this is true, and that our work at RCA is saving lives.
Multiple adults attending November painting classes have shared that they signed up to prepare for their looming seasonal depression, to keep themselves busy and get out of the house.
Seniors who live alone attend our Fiber Art Friends group as their key source of socializing and connecting with others.
Many of our afterschool students in Springfield have come to the U.S. as migrants or refugees, some have seen unimaginable violence. These students have shared with us that afterschool art is so special “because I feel safe and happy and we get to have fun playing with art supplies”. For students managing high levels of stress and trauma, these outlets are crucial to their resilience and survival.
Queer and trans teens come into our Easthampton studio from all over the valley. Our summer programs have become known as a safe, inclusive space for queer and trans youth to spend the school vacation. Most remarkably, we get to see LGBTQ youth try out new names, pronouns, or identities in this safe bubble where they know no matter what they will be supported by their peers and the adults in the room. Many of these participants join in at our intergenerational programs year-round as well. Recently one teen shared this with us: “I had a really long hard day at school. I almost wasn’t gonna come tonight. But now that I’m here I’m remembering how much my body relaxes when I’m here and I just get to feel calm and make something cool and talk to nice people.”
Our staff is majority LGBTQ+ as well. Seeing trans and queer adults thriving in their life as artists is so impactful to our queer youth. It shows them that there are people out there like them, and that they can imagine a bright future for themselves where they can be who they truly are.
What’s a goal you’re hoping to achieve in the coming years?
The construction of the new Mt. View School in Easthampton has changed the transportation landscape for afterschool programming, given that the school is further away from the center of town. This fall we were able to bring back Kid Creatives, our Easthampton-based afterschool programming. We’ve been able to coordinate with the bus company to arrange transportation for Easthampton students and this has helped make the program more accessible for working families. In the coming year we’d like to grow these youth offerings to serve students twice a week versus the once-weekly format we are currently using. We’ve also seen this same community need at our Springfield-based afterschool program, where families have asked for more opportunities for their kids to engage in arts enrichment in a safe, accessible and inclusive space.
Building and sustaining youth initiatives like this is only part of what we do, but in an increasingly unstable and chaotic world, this work has only become more important to support positive youth development and safe, supportive communities. The youth mental health crisis is overwhelming, especially among queer-identifying and BIPOC populations– who make up more than 50% of our youth participants.
“Access to arts-based programming for youth can significantly enhance emotional regulation, social skills, and coping abilities. These activities help foster self-awareness, self-esteem, and resilience, offering tools for handling stress and expressing emotions constructively. Programs facilitating creative expression with resilience-building strategies are particularly effective in promoting mental well-being and empowerment for youth”. (Americans for the Arts. The Arts and Mental Health: Literature Review on Arts and Resilience Interventions. Accessed November 15, 2024, at www.americansforthearts.org)
Our world isn’t going to stop having hurricanes, war, violence, and injustices– but regardless of whether or not the government is funding youth supports, our youth are witnessing this instability all around them. As today’s youth will inherit this increasingly unpredictable world, it’s important now more than ever to support initiatives that will help them cope, understand, and process their anxieties, and give them confidence in themselves and their unique voice. We are looking to increase our youth programming in the coming years not just because it is fun and joyful, but because we see it as a crucial part of supporting and imagining a healthy future for our communities.
Despite all these factors, funding for youth programs and support from private and public sources has only become more scarce, and continues to be cut. In 2025 we plan to bring back the Art is For Everybody Fund, which supports program access for youth coming from low-income households. This past year, the decline in donations forced us to turn away students when the fund ran out. Our goal moving forward is to never have to turn away students seeking support to attend programming. To make this possible, we need community support for the Art is For Everybody Fund.
What is one simple thing an individual can start doing that could make a difference in the lives of those you serve?
Volunteer, spread the word about RCA, and donate. Attend our annual fundraiser, Ball for All (see below).
We need to raise $20,000 by January 1st to continue offering accessible arts programming into 2025. Funding from this campaign will support RCA's operational costs including:
Artist, educator & administrative pay
Studio rent & art materials
Subsidized program fees for low-income individuals & families
Fortifying RCA's foundation to continue to grow and expand programming to reach more people
DONATE TO THE RESILIENT FUTURES FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
Annual Fundraiser: Ball for All!
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Join Resilient Community Arts for the grand finale of the Resilient Futures Fundraising Campaign at Progression Brewing Company on December 8th!
The first annual Ball for All Auction: Celebrating Art, Resiliency and Inclusion in the Valley
Enjoy a spread of food from Daily Operation, Progression’s iconic brews, music from local DJ BFG, and event emcee DJ Mapes! Come be part of this vibrant tapestry of shared experiences:
Live & Silent Auctions, with bidding opportunities to spend time with local artists and makers to learn new skills! Hyperlocal featured artists will include ceramicists, photographers, fiber artists, printmakers, jewelry makers, and more
Raffle prizes from local businesses, plus original artworks
Participate in on-site art-making at the Ball to celebrate what makes our artistic valley so special: Resiliency and Inclusion.
Have your photo taken on the RED CARPET!
Dress Code: Come SPARKLE & SHINE in your hand-made fashions! Please wear at least one handmade item, whether crafted by you or a local artist and feel free to incorporate some SPARKLE to dance under the mirrorball! Think dressed up, festive, and uniquely you—glitter, shine, and originality are all encouraged! Let’s make this a night to remember, reflecting the art, resilience, and individuality that make our community so special.
9 Pearl St, Northampton, MA 01060
Event Begins 7 PM, Live Auction Begins 7:30 PM
