I met Fleuretta (Flo) Waltrous, owner of Flo’s Body Shop, during our first year in law school at Howard University. We both live in Brooklyn, New York, and our shared interests in dance, fitness, arts and culture, which became our bond in law school, have kept us connected for more than 30 years. Today, Flo leads international yoga, Pilates and fitness retreats for a predominantly … Continue reading Flo’s Body Shop: Creating a Cultural Bridge to Fitness and Wellness

This week, I’m happy to  share an interview I conducted with Erik Gensler, founder of Capacity Interactive (CI) , a digital marketing consulting firm for arts and culture. I first met Erik more than 10 years ago while working on the production of Margaret Garner for the New York City Opera. In addition to being a sought-after speaker on digital marketing for the arts, Erik … Continue reading Interview with Erik Gensler: Recognizing Our Blind Spots to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

As I’m sure you’ve already heard, Arthur Mitchell, who helped break the “color wall” in classical ballet and founded the Dance Theater of Harlem, died on September 19, 2018. Mr. Mitchell danced with the New York City Ballet from 1956 to 1968 and, according to the New York Times’ obituary, “displayed a dazzling presence, superlative artistry and powerful sense of self.” I am so grateful … Continue reading Revisiting and Celebrating a Legacy of Diversity and Excellence: A conversation with Arthur Mitchell and Darren Walker

My Interview with “CI to Eye” I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Erik Gensler of Capacity Interactive Partners for the company’s “CI to Eye” podcast. Capacity Interactive Partners is a digital marketing consulting firm for culture and arts, working to help build audiences, engage community and “market smarter.” In my conversation with Erik, I talked about what the arts and cultural institutions … Continue reading My Interview with “CI to Eye”

While the world was abuzz last week about Nike’s 30th anniversary #Just Do It! advertising campaign and commercial featuring a voiceover by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick—which I discussed in last week’s blogpost—there was another development that we need to keep our eyes on: the announcement by WarnerMedia that it was adopting a company-wide policy to increase diversity both in front of and behind the … Continue reading Supporting Socially-Conscious Companies in the Midst of Our Nation’s Culture War: Part 2

I have always been an advocate of corporate community engagement, especially as it relates to the arts. Since the early days of my career working as the director of marketing for Dance Theater of Harlem, I have found great value and fun in doing outreach to Diversity Employee Groups, Employee Resource Groups and human resource directors to plan arts-related outings or helping to plan in-house … Continue reading Supporting Socially-Conscious Companies in the Midst of Our Nation’s Culture War Part 1

Kitab Rollins is a proud native of Newark, NJ, and a performing arts and event producer. He currently works as the Director of Performance and Broadcast Rentals at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). For the past six years, I have had the pleasure of experiencing Kitab’s stellar producing skills. I am inspired by his devotion to his hometown; his dedication to promoting and supporting … Continue reading Kitab Rollins’s Stellar Producing Skills Create More Opportunities for Access to the Arts

When I first envisioned the formation of my company more than 25 years ago, I imagined a small operation consisting of me and an assistant. But once I focused full time on the company in 2002, our business grew so rapidly, even during the recession of 2009-10, that I had to expand my staff to provide service to our growing roster of clients. Recently, my … Continue reading In Appreciation of My Team

As my readers know, my blog Arts and Culture Connections has the mission to examine, critique and share global community engagement initiatives, as well as celebrate projects that are creating access to the arts for all people, especially those marginalized communities. This week, the focus of my blog is the ambitious effort to bridge the five boroughs of New York City through a common story … Continue reading The Mile-Long Opera: An Effective Template for Engaging Diverse Audiences

Nearly a year ago, Joseph Haj, artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, wrote an opinion article for American Theatre, in which he called for succession planning that incorporated diversity as part of the process. At the time of Mr. Haj’s article, he noted that 20 major theaters were undergoing a change in leadership. And he expressed concern that many of those positions would … Continue reading The Road to Diversifying Theater Leadership