NEW YORK CITY: The Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC) has announced the creation of the BAC Artivism Fellowship, which will provide financial support, mentorship, networking opportunities, and education workshops for artist activists who use their tools to impact the world around them. The inaugural fellowships will specifically support Black, female-identifying artist activists who use narrative or stories in their work focused on issues related to systemic racism and criminal justice reform.
“Black women have always been on the front lines leading the charge for social justice, human rights, and equality,” said BAC co-founder Adrienne Warren in a statement. “However, Black women are often left out of the narratives connected to those causes and rarely celebrated in moments of triumph. This fellowship is an opportunity to uplift, empower, and support female-identifying artists of color, while centering those directly affected by systemic racism and inequality through BAC’s methodology. We are all served when a Black woman’s voice is amplified.”
BAC, the arts-based advocacy nonprofit founded by members of the Broadway community as a response to police brutality and racism throughout the country, is offering this fellowship to 10 female-identifying artists based in the United States, supporting them over the course of six months and culminating in a digital presentation of their work.
“Since our inception in 2016, BAC has discovered ways and methods to support those directly affected by systemic racism, to tell their story and link their experiences to policies and political structures that inhibit their total liberation,” said BAC president and co-founder Britton Smith. “I’m thrilled that with this opportunity, we’re able to support the community that is the backbone to our most valued experiences of love, power, grace, facilitation and beauty. This is the kind of opportunity that will bear great fruits of change. Black women continue to do this without support. BAC is committed to supporting these women through this fellowship.”
Additional details about the fellowship and how to apply will be announced later this month, along with the names of those who will join Amber Iman, Liza Jessie Peterson, Zakiyah Ansari, and Imani Mflame on the nominating committee. BAC has also announced that the Broadway musical Wicked is a lead sponsor of the fellowship. Further information about the BAC Artivism Fellowship can be found on BAC’s website.
“I’m excited and hopeful about the work being done to create new rehearsal rooms, new creative spaces and new infrastructures, that are more equitable and safer for Black artists and artists of color,” said co-founder Iman in a statement. “I’m even more proud of this fellowship that will cultivate more artivists in our industry. It takes all of us, a community of artists who are stepping up, showing up and speaking up for ourselves and for each other to truly create the change that we so desperately need.”
