Anti-Racism Programming 2020

At the Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI), we are continuing to reflect and act upon how white-led non-profit organizations such as ours can do better and be better for Black, Indigenous, and artists of color. We understand and are committed to anti-racism as an enduring process and you can read more about our commitment here.

Over our 35 year history, SFAI has supported the socially transformative work of several exceptional Black artists including, William Pope L., Ric Lowe, Dread Scott, Jina Valentine and Heather Hart (Black Lunch Table), Eliza Myrie (Black Artists Retreat co-founded with Theaster Gates), Shaun Leonardo, jackie sumell (Solitary Gardens), Syrus Marcus Ware, and New Mexico’s own Hakim Bellamy, among others.

In acknowledgement of the escalated violence currently perpetrated on Black people in the United States, the ongoing anti-racist work that our country requires, and the life-saving, liberatory, and healing systems changes that many white and other non-Black people are now demanding and enacting alongside Black people, SFAI also commits to the following actions.

From July 1st through 15th we are centering our programs on, and leveraging our institutional privilege and resources to amplify Black voices. The programs include weekly social media takeovers by and features of Black artists; the launch of SFAI140 Chronicles, a thematic video series, the first of which highlights selected Black SFAI alumni and their creative work around anti-racism; and an interactive online rendition of our Conversations program, curated by Elizabeth Burden in partnership with Christopher Kojzar and Veronica Jackson.

During this time, we will also launch the new SFAI Tilt Podcast series. The inaugural episode features Residency Director Toni Gentilli in conversation with three white SFAI alumni and long-time activists and accomplices in anti-racist work, Ann Lewis, Lori Waselchuk, and Sara Konrath. The podcast is a calling-in to white and non-Black people to dig deeper into recognizing and dismantling implicit biases, build empathy, self-educate, and join the fight to abolish white Supremacy and forge real pathways to Black Liberation. Additionally, at SFAI’s request, the three white alumni who participated in the podcast have graciously agreed that  their stipends would instead go to three Black-led organizations doing incredible work on these issues.

SFAI is also compiling and sharing a growing list of resources and tips for how to be anti-racist and support the Black Lives Matter Movement, as well as continuing our internal work to being an anti-racist institution. We urge you to join us on this path.

Please read on for details on all of the above programming.

In solidarity,
Jamie, Kourtney, Nuttaphol, Raquel, Renee, and Toni
The SFAI Team

At SFAI, we believe that Black Lives Matter. We stand in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, and people of color, with all oppressed peoples, and with liberation movements here in the U.S. and across the world. We acknowledge the many ways in which institutions perpetuate structural racism and oppressive systems. We humbly acknowledge our mistakes, and we commit to continually learn from them in order to grow as an institution on this journey toward liberation. We understand that statements of solidarity must be accompanied with action.