ACA + Mellon Foundation Research Project on Artist Residencies and the Criminal Legal System
Invitation to participate in a short survey
Dear Artist,
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing with a request. I am the President and CEO of Artist Communities Alliance (ACA), the global service organization for artist residencies. I work directly with residency providers and artists to improve the conditions in which artists work.
Throughout my tenure at Artist Communities Alliance (ACA), I have focused on advancing equity in artist residencies. This often means addressing barriers to participation for vulnerable populations, specifically, BIPOC, disabled, and/or trans people. It is not lost on me that artists who have been impacted by the criminal legal system have been historically excluded and, for one reason or another, have not had access to opportunities in the artist residency field.
Artist Communities Alliance (ACA) is reaching out as part of a research project we are conducting in partnership with the Mellon Foundation's Imagining Freedom initiative. We are reaching out to artists who have faced negative consequences from their interaction with the criminal legal system (including through arrest, prosecution, conviction, incarceration, surveillance, false accusations, detainment due to immigration status, persecution based on religious or political beliefs and other non-custodial forms of punishment), as well as their loved ones, siblings, and immediate families. If any of these situations above are true for you, I am curious about whether you have attended an artist residency program and, if not, whether that decision was by choice or due to not being selected for an artist residency program. I have linked a brief confidential survey to capture your reflections. Or you can reply directly to me with whatever information you want to share. Feel free to recommend or to forward this to another artist in your network who has been impacted by the criminal legal system. This is an area of work that I am personally invested in, and want to assure you that I will hold your participation in the strictest confidence – while your general participation as a collaborator in this project will be recognized and shared with my research team and our partners at the Mellon Foundation, your individual feedback in the survey will be completely anonymous. Any information you choose to share will help us advocate for more resources to be available to artists impacted by the criminal legal system and the residencies that support them.
The survey linked above is a high-level scan to identify programs; your name will not be connected to the information you provide. We will check in regularly to keep you updated on our work, how your feedback is being used, and to confirm your consent at each stage of participation.
Please note that participation in this information-gathering activity and research does not hold any promise for funding from the Mellon Foundation.
In community,
President + CEO
Artist Communities Alliance
*Definition of an artist residency: Artist residencies provide artists, scholars, educators and other creative professionals with time, space and resources to work, individually or collectively, on areas of their practice that reward heightened reflection or focus. They can often be referred to as fellowships, apprenticeships, research projects or training programs. Residencies can be found in urban or rural areas, serving one artist at a time or fifty. They vary in nature from their residency structure and program type to their offerings and facilities.