How Arts and Cultural Districts can Support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in their Organizations and Neighborhoods

Arts and cultural districts are geographically demarcated areas that concentrate arts and cultural production and consumption. They emerged as a creative economy economic development strategy in the 1990s as a reaction to declining central city manufacturing and corporate employment and tax bases. Planners, arts advocates, and boosters of such districts hoped that arts and culture could become a basic industry, attracting tourists and their dollars to economically precarious downtowns. These districts showcase arts, culture, and artists, offering branding, programming, and in some cases live/work spaces.However, the relationship between arts and cultural districts and the city neighborhoods they occupy can be complicated. Critics argue that in some cases arts and cultural districts may emphasize aesthetics and promote gentrification rather than building around the people who already live there. Arts and cultural districts often reflect and center certain narratives about place, while leaving others out, creating feelings of “dis-belonging” for those who don’t fit the dominant narrative.Through a survey of over 600 leaders of arts and cultural districts, we investigate if, why, and how arts and cultural districts support diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organizations and geographic areas. In these comments, we discuss the results of the survey, explain the range of practices reported by arts and cultural districts leaders around diversity, equity, and inclusion, and examine the challenges they face. Finally, based on the survey data, we discuss how we plan to share good ideas by providing technical assistance to practitioners. We welcome feedback from the panel and the audience on these plans.