DEEP in the Work

About DEEP in the Work

DEEP IN THE WORK is a praise song and conversation series dedicated to the invisible labor of the field, the work of the Black Arts and Culture Worker—the folks in the admin offices who write the grants, create the pivot tables, administer the grants, manage the projects, pay the artists, so that we may enjoy some beauty and culture in the world. DEEP IN THE WORK is a project of DéLana R.A. Dameron, founder of Red Olive Creative Consulting & Black Art Futures Fund.

Publisher

DéLana Dameron

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Jun 2020

Latest episode

18 Aug 2021

Latest episodes

17 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Aug 2021

   Ep 14: Gina Duncan

   In this episode, we’re talking to Gina Duncan, who I met when she ran BAM Film in Fort Greene Brooklyn, and while there partnered with my husband’s film organization Luminal Theater. It always made me feel at home at BAM to walk in and know that a Black woman was behind the scenes and making me feel seen. I don’t know when we went from Black girl head nods across the room to sister-friends texting each other about the absurdities of the work, but I am so glad we have each other these days. As Producing Director of Sundance Institute, Gina integrates the artistic vision of the Festival with its practical elements as well and managing year-round programming and engagement among the industry and artist communities. Duncan previously served as V.P. of Film and Strategic Programming at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and was Director of Industry Engagement and Special Programs at the Jacob Burns Film Center. This episode was recorded on April 9, 2021 Produced by Lauren Francis Music by audionautix.com

2. 

   29 Jul 2021

   Ep 13: Toya Lillard

   In this episode we’re talking to Toya Lillard, one of our faves over at Black Art Futures Fund, and champion of safe spaces and theater and strong voices for our young Black women and girls. We met when viBe Theater Experience was awarded our inaugural Shay Wafer Legacy Fund, then decided to continue to do good and deep work together through Red Olive. These days we enjoy sisterhood and laughter, and pointing towards the absurdities of what it means to be Black women in this work, in the fields where we find ourselves. Toya Lillard is Executive Director of viBe Theater Experience. She has directed plays, developed curricula, led advocacy efforts and implemented innovative teaching artist training programs both in and out of New York City schools. Prior to joining viBe, Toya served as Director of School Programs at The New York Philharmonic, in the Education Department, where she helped to develop its nationally recognized School Partnership Program. In addition to leading viBe, Toya is a facilitator of “difficult" conversations” around racial equity and inclusion; most recently having served as a reflection facilitator for The National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Anti-Racism as Organizational Compass series. Toya part-time faculty at The New School, where she teaches Collaborative Theatre Practice, and serves on the Cultural Change Taskforce. Toya serves on the Board of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, where she is co-chair of the Roundtable’s TaskForce on Equity and Inclusion. Toya is also an Affiliate Representative on the Board of the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance. Toya holds a B.A. from Vassar College, and an M.A. from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. This episode was recorded on March 12, 2021 Produced by Lauren Francis Music by audionautix.com

3. 

   24 Jun 2021

   Ep 12: Novella Ford

   In this episode we’re talking to Novella Ford, super connected arts maven who read my unsolicited book of poetry Weary Kingdom then invited me to come and read my poems about Harlem at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture—a dream come true. Connecting over poetry and Black culture and Black art meant that we were destined to be fast friends, and I’m excited to be in conversation around what it means to care for Black culture, make way for others, and more. Novella Ford is a cultural producer. She connects diverse audiences to the archives and engages history through dialogue, performance, literature, and visual arts. She serves as the Associate Director of Public Programs and Exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research division of The New York Public Library. This episode was recorded on January 8, 2021 Produced by Lauren Francis Music by audionautix.com

4. 

   17 May 2021

   Ep 11: Caitlin Crews

   In this episode we’re talking to Caitlin Crews, who I met through Fatima Jones at a Black Art Futures Fund friendraiser, and we became fast friends, and neighbors in Bedstuy Brooklyn. Then over the course of the interview, we learned — it turns out— Caitlin is related to one of my closest poetry friends from my days in college at UNC Chapel Hill! What a small world, and truly, we’re all connected. Caitlin has volunteered her time with Black Art Futures Fund and encouraged her colleagues at Adobe to support the work as well. Of course, we love that! Caitlin Crews is originally from Uniontown, PA and has called Brooklyn, NY home for the past 11 years. Currently, Caitlin is the Design Templates, Lead at Adobe. Her focus is on the advancement of creatives through design on the Adobe Stock Team. At Adobe, Caitlin is the lead for Black Employee Network in NYC for Adobe (BEN), served on the Community Grant Panel Decision Committee for Adobe New York, Adobe for All site lead and is a member of the Taking Action Task Force for Advocacy and Responsibility. Previously, she worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Brooklyn Museum. At Nautica she was a still life photographer and retoucher. She was also a design and photo coordinator at Lord & Taylor and Victoria’s Secret. Her curatorial and community projects include Art 4 World Trade Center (2017) Northside Festival Block Party (2013-2018), Brooklyn Public at World Trade Center Gallery (2015), and Curatorial Assistant for Art in Odd Places RECALLed (2015). Caitlin has written for Got a Girl Crush Magazine, as well as a current member of the ISCP Young Patrons Committee. She received her M.P.S in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute and her B.S. in Photography from Kent State University. This episode was recorded on February 5, 2021 Produced by Lauren Francis Music by audionautix.com

5. 

   19 Apr 2021

   Ep 10: Hallie S. Hobson

   In this episode we’re talking to Hallie Hobson, who I first met at the Cave Canem summer poetry retreat in 2007, which was also the year I graduated from undergraduate school at UNC Chapel Hill. I knew I was moving to NYC and so meeting a Black woman who lived and worked there—and especially Harlem—was exciting, and I had NO IDEA at the time what development meant, but I was jealous Hallie got to work at a museum—then I think the Museum of Modern Art. When it became time for me to understand the idea of fundraising for culture, and doing that work as a Black woman, I turned to Hallie as a possibility model and way maker. I’m super honored to call her colleague today, and to think about what it means for us to be poets and creatives doing the work of institutional cultural storytelling in order to do the work of fundraising--what I define as moving people and resources towards a mission. As the founder of HSH Consulting LLC, Hallie S. Hobson contributes to the vitality and health of philanthropic and nonprofit institutions by developing and implementing innovative planning, fundraising and patron engagement strategies including: philanthropic strategy development and implementation; capital campaign and strategic planning; individual giving program design; major gift pipeline development; department buildout and optimization-staffing and systems; CDO coaching; board development. Current clients include Destination Crenshaw, The Ford Foundation, Junebug Productions, and The Laundromat Project. Prior to launching her consultancy, Hallie served as the Director of Institutional Advancement for the Studio Museum in Harlem and led that organization’s Capital Campaign. Prior to that she was at The Metropolitan Museum of Art where she served as Deputy Chief Development Officer for Individual Giving and the Senior Development Officer at The Museum of Modern Art. She has also held roles at a number of other cultural institutions including the New York Foundation for the Arts and The House Foundation for the Arts/Meredith Monk and has lectured about her profession at New York University, the Yale World Fellows Program, and Sotheby's Institute of Art. In addition, Hallie is an accomplished poet and playwright. She holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from UCLA and a B.A. in African-American and Theater Studies from Yale University. This episode was recorded on January 15, 2021. Produced by Lauren Francis Music by audionautix.com Note: In the interview, Hobson refers to Kinshasha Holman Conwill and it sounds like "is the director of AAMHC...". Ms. Holman Conwill is the Deputy Director of AAMHC.

6. 

   18 Mar 2021

   Ep 9: Fatima Jones

   In this episode we’re talking to Fatima Jones, who I check in with almost weekly, getting a read on everything from the Black cultural landscape and how to keep my proverbial wig on straight when folks try us (you know how that goes), to understanding how to make the marketing and communications of our Black arts spaces sing, and whose family I love love love. We met through a mutual sister-friend Jessica Lynne, and continue to be sisters in this space and beyond. Fatima has joined hands with the Red Olive Universe and hosted one of the last in-person events known to man: a brunch in her house in Bed Stuy Brooklyn before we all retreated into our homes. That communal connection—around Black art, Black culture, small and community-based Black arts organizations, and the new and old friends who love them—has continued to inspire me through the past year. Fatima Jones is a cultural strategist, marketing, public relations and reputation management leader. She currently serves as Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at the Apollo Theater, a nonprofit arts and cultural anchor committed to Black artists and audiences, located in Harlem, NY. She is the former Director of P.R. for the Brooklyn Museum (BKM) where she led the media relations and social media campaigns for all of its exhibitions, including the critically acclaimed David Bowie Is and the transformative We Wanted A Revolution: Black Radical Women. Prior to Brooklyn Museum, she spent almost a decade at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Her consultancy experience includes work with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence Dance Company, Weeksville Heritage Center and 651 ARTS. She is a former voting member of the Bessies Dance and Performance Awards and has served on many granting panels, including NYSCA and Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation. She is a mother and wife, currently living in Brooklyn, NY. Connect with Fatima: LinkedIn: @FatimaJones Instagram: @LovejonesPR This episode was recorded on December 6, 2020 Produced by Lauren Francis Music by audionautix.com

7. 

   16 Feb 2021

   Ep 8: Jess Solomon

   Episode 8: Jess Solomon In this episode we’re talking to Jess Solomon who I have been in community with for a few years in the areas of philanthropy and Black women’s labor, community-building, and influence in the arts & culture sphere. Jessica Solomon is an organization change consultant, cultural worker, and founder of Art in Praxis (http://www.artinpraxis.co/), who brings a racial equity lens and intersectional feminist analysis to her work in nonprofit capacity building, cultural organizing, and philanthropy. This episode was recorded on December 18, 2020 Produced by Lauren Francis Music by audionautix.com

8. 

   14 Dec 2020

   Ep 7: Renée Watson

   In this episode we’re talking to Renée Watson, an award-winning Young Adult author whose narratives and characters I truly wished I had on my bookshelves growing up. Her protagonists are tough cookies: brown and full-bodied young Black girls, and yet resilient. Renée herself is a dynamic world-builder who put that expertise to work in real-life with the I, Too Arts collective, a project to activate the Langston Hughes’ house in East Harlem. We talk through what it means to build a world that doesn’t yet exist, who you need with you along the way, and how Black women are truly the center of the universe, and maybe there wouldn’t even be a world without our generosity and care. You’ll hear more in the conversation. Renée Watson is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, and activist. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Her poetry and fiction often centers around the lived experiences of black girls and women, and explores themes of home, identity, and the intersections of race, class, and gender. Renée served as Founder and Executive Director of I, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit committed to nurturing underrepresented voices in the creative arts, from 2016-2019. Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon and currently lives in New York City. This episode was recorded on May 22, 2020. Music by audionautix.com

9. 

   9 Oct 2020

   Ep 6: Alison McNeil

   Episode 6: Alison McNeil In this episode we’re talking to Alison McNeil, who I met in 2019 at the Grantmakers in the Arts annual convening, but who we both learned as Black women consultants, have a lot of circles and circles of beloved arts organizations and workers in common. Alison has been helping me amplify what it means to think about data and evaluation for arts organizations, as well as how to ask the deep and right questions of our organization and mission to tell the best stories. Alison T. McNeil is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of McNeil Creative Enterprises. She is an award winning strategic thinker and creative entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of experience in performing arts and education. She leads with the intention of creating resources, removing roadblocks and designing roadmaps to make arts and culture accessible to all. With technical expertise in nonprofit management, grantmaking, assessment and program evaluation, Alison has led multi-million-dollar change efforts that have directly informed policy, grantmaking, and strategic partnerships. Her efforts have also fortified leadership and secured grants that expand equity and access for women, emerging leaders and communities of color. She has served as a thought leader and speaker on numerous grant panels, boards, conference panels, and advisory committees. If you really want to get Alison to smile, ask her about her nephew or her favorite Stevie Wonder song. This episode was recorded on May 26, 2020. Music by audionautix.com

10. 

    25 Sept 2020

    Ep 5: Shaunda McDill

    In this episode, we’re talking to Shaunda McDill, who is my philanthropy sister, and a member of the maybe newly formed “Shay’s Babies” group -- folks who have had the pleasure to come of professional age in the culture world with Shay Wafer as a mentor. We met back in 2018, but leaned heavily on each other in the early days of the pandemic, mourning, sharing best practices, fast-money-movements to organizations, and looked to the future. Shaunda McDill joined The Heinz Endowments in October 2017 As program officer for arts and culture, promoting the strength and vitality of a suite of Pittsburgh-based artists and arts organizations through general operating support and a programming portfolio comprised of the Investing in Professional Artists program, the Small Arts Initiative, the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh initiative and the foundation’s first cross-programmatic social justice initiative, Just Arts, which she helped to found. Shaunda has more than a decade of nonprofit executive and arts management experience, working for theater companies across the country. In 2006, she also founded demaskus Theater Collective, a nonprofit, service-oriented collective of artists and administrators who produce theatrical projects that share stories of the marginalized. This conversation was recorded May 1, 2020 Produced by Curtis Caesar John Music by audionautix.com

11. 

    25 Aug 2020

    Ep 4: Jessica Lynne

    In this episode, we’re talking to Jessica Lynne, a beloved sister, a Southern center for me, someone for whom I would not be in the arts + culture space without, and who I advise on most of my life moves before I make them—and someone who I ask to always to continue to journey with me, including on the executive Board of Black Art Futures Fund. I tell everyone in an introduction to Jessica Lynne that I absolutely make no life decisions without her. Yall know her also as a writer and art critic. She is a founding editor of ARTS.BLACK, an online journal of art criticism from Black perspectives. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Art in America, The Believer, BOMB Magazine, The Nation and elsewhere. She is currently at work on a collection of essays about love, faith, and the American South. This conversation was recorded on May 21, 2020 Enjoy Produced by Curtis Caesar John Music by audionautix.com

12. 

    24 Jul 2020

    Ep 3: Sherrie Belton

    In this episode, I’m meditating on what defines community, especially Black community, and what it means to be a Black cultural worker at a major museum in Columbia, South Carolina with my friend Sherrie Belton. Sherrie Belton is a Fairfield County, SC native who loves asking questions, solving problems, and causing good trouble. From classrooms to museums, she has spent the last decade doing creative community work across the Midlands of South Carolina. Though typically she serves as an arts programmer and arts educator, she began exploring what it means to be a maker through an open call for proposals for Indie Grit Lab’s Rural Project. It’s where Route 3 Box 187D was born, an audio series that celebrates the everyday triumph and resiliency of Black families in rural South. Sherrie is particularly interested in Black community regeneration, cultural preservation, and creative placemaking. This conversation was recorded on April 5, 2020. Produced by Curtis Caesar John Music by audionautix.com

13. 

    11 Jul 2020

    Ep 2: Stephanye Watts

    Deep in the Work Intro—Stephanye Watts In this episode, we’re talking to Stephanye Watts, who is a Philly native, music fan, and one of the biggest and most-active HBCU Alumni reps I know. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Stephanye is the Assembly Program Coordinator at Recess, an artist-led alternative to incarceration empowering court-involved young people to take charge of their own life story and imagine a positive future through art. Stephanye served her community in her previous post as Community Engagement Manager at Weeksville Heritage Center and continues to do so as a member of the Association of African-American Museums, CAU's alumni association, UNCF's Inter-Alumni Council, and the HBCU Hub. When the Philadelphia native isn't pushing the Black agenda, she is the woman behind the world's only R&B trivia night, #RhythmNBodyroll, a podcast, The Psyce, and the Be Reel Black Cinema Club. This conversation was recorded on May 18, 2020 Enjoy! Produced by Curtis Caesar John Music by audionautix.com

14. 

    11 Jul 2020

    Ep 1: Shay Wafer

    In this episode, we’re talking to Shay Wafer, who is a mentor, Mama, grandmama, And so much more to many Black cultural workers in the world right now. In her long career in performing arts, Shay Wafer, has demonstrated a stalwart dedication to the arts and community development through many years of service to the field. Her passionate vision is balanced with pragmatic experience, as she has held senior level positions at a number of non-profit arts organizations with a focus on African Diasporic programming and community engagement. Currently the Executive Director of WACO Theater Center in Los Angeles, Shay was the Executive Director of 651 ARTS in Brooklyn and the founding VP of Programs for the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, a multi-disciplinary center and museum in downtown Pittsburgh. Prior to that, she served as the managing director of Cornerstone Theater Company, LA Theatreworks and the St. Louis Black Repertory Company. She also was a founding partner of Marla Gibb’s Crossroads Arts Academy and Theatre. Shay has engaged in additional community and volunteer activities throughout her career including serving on the Board of Directors of National Performance Network (currently the Board Chair), Theatre Communications Group and as a New England Foundation for the Arts National Theatre Project and National Dance Project Advisor. Shay has served as a peer panelist for The National Endowment for the ARTS, MAP Fund, Doris Duke, Mellon, Kresge and Bush Foundations, among others. She holds a BS from Howard University in Early Childhood Education and a MFA from the Yale School of Drama, Theatre Management program. Our conversation was recorded on April 15, 2020. Enjoy! Produced by Curtis Caesar John Music by audionautix.com

15. 

    7 Jun 2020

    DEEP IN THE WORK: Sherrie Belton (excerpt)

    In this excerpt of the full episode, Sherrie and DéLana discuss one of two poems, and this excerpt is a poem by Marge Piercy, "To be of use" and their experiences with what it means to be an invisible / maybe essential laborer in a white work force. What does it mean to have a "responsibility" to a community, and a responsibility to self? In response to the poem, and her work in the cultural sector, specifically at an art museum, Sherrie says, "I don't want to be the one always carrying water...but I'm the only one here." Sherrie Belton is a Fairfield County, SC native who loves asking questions, solving problems, and causing good trouble. From classrooms to museums, she has spent the last decade doing creative community work across the Midlands of South Carolina. Though typically she serves as an arts programmer and arts educator, she began exploring what it means to be a maker through an open call for proposals for Indie Grit Lab’s Rural Project. It’s where Route 3 Box 187D was born, an audio series that celebrates the everyday triumph and resiliency of Black families in rural South. Sherrie is particularly interested in Black community regeneration, cultural preservation, and creative placemaking.

16. 

    7 Jun 2020

    DEEP IN THE WORK: Stephanye Watts (excerpt)

    In this excerpt of the full episode, Stephanye and DéLana reminisce about their year together in 2016 at Weeksville Heritage Center, "dreaming up possibilities with pennies." DéLana reminisces on the day Stephanye came into her office with a red wool coat and found a place for her, and what it means to look for a place for Black women with divergent careers, and then with the blessing and love from a Black woman, Tia Powell Harris program and fund a new 19,000 sq ft building with---inadequate funding from philanthropy, and yet! And yet! The work we did was not at all visible part of the contemporary story of Weeksville's "saving" so we had to do some documenting. And storytelling--what we do best. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Stephanye R. Watts is the newly appointed Assembly Program Coordinator at Recess. Stephanye served her community in her previous post as Community Engagement Manager at Weeksville Heritage Center and continues to do so as a member of the Association of African-American Museums, CAU's alumni association, UNCF's Inter-Alumni Council, and the HBCU Hub. As a non-traditional arts worker, Stephanye is invested in nurturing a generation of people like her to create a true representation of what diversity looks like in the arts.

17. 

    6 Jun 2020

    DEEP IN THE WORK: Jessica Lynne (excerpt)

    DEEP IN THE WORK podcast host DéLana R.A. Dameron is in conversation with Jessica Lynne. In this excerpt of the full episode, Jessica and DéLana read the text of an epistolary collaboration titled WHERE DO WE GO TO LIVE? WHERE DO WE GO TO GET FREE?, a component of THIS DESIRE: Poetics & Longing, a project with Able Baker Contemporary. The excerpt references three exchanges originally published in Arts.Black and Los Angeles Review of Books. Texts Referenced: Up Here, From There (https://arts.black/interviews/2016/10/up-here-from-there-jessica-lynne-in-conversation-with-delana-r-a-dameron/) - ARTS.BLACK In Church In Charleston (https://www.lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-church-in-charleston/) - LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS A Letter from an Arts Worker: DéLana R.A. Dameron (https://arts.black/?s=delana+r.a.+dameron) - ARTS.BLACK A Letter from an Arts Worker: Jessica Lynne (https://arts.black/essays/2017/04/a-letter-from-an-arts-worker-jessica-lynne/) - ARTS.BLACK Jessica Lynne is a writer and art critic. She is a founding editor of ARTS.BLACK, an online journal of art criticism from Black perspectives. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Art in America, The Believer, BOMB Magazine, The Nation and elsewhere. She is currently at work on a collection of essays about love, faith, and the American South. Jessica lives and works in coastal Virginia. Find her online at @lynne_bias.

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.