Main, a photographer and ceramics artist, says that the group’s focus is bringing visibility to underrepresented artists, similar to artists of colour, LGBTQ artists, and feminine artists, a lot of whom are underrepresented in massive arts establishments.
Main first started studying concerning the lack of range, fairness, and inclusion in arts establishments whereas enrolled in Michigan State’s Arts and Cultural Administration and Museum Research program. As an alternative of working at a longtime establishment, she determined to construct one thing of her personal.
A 2019 study of the variety of artists in 18 main U.S. artwork museums discovered that total, about 85% of artists are white and 87% are males. Solely 2.8% are Hispanic and just one.2% are Black. 
Nicholas Anzivino
Main says that one of many first steps to leveling the taking part in subject within the arts neighborhood is for management to pay attention to the problems. The following step is to interact in conversations with these personally affected, which is a big a part of GRCA’s programming.
GRCA hosts month-to-month roundtables, open discussions permitting neighborhood members to offer enter on future programming and necessary points within the arts neighborhood.
“We’re making an attempt to concentrate on underrepresented artists, which though I’m a girl, you already know, I am white. And so my voice is not the one one which must be heard proper now,” says Main. “And so with these neighborhood roundtables, we’re hoping that plenty of totally different neighborhood members who wish to share their ideas and opinions will come to those month-to-month conferences, and simply share their ideas.”
Every month, GRCA additionally encompasses a Grand Rapids artist and showcases their work. This month, Nicholas Anzivino, a painter and tattoo artist at Intentional Ink, was featured.
The aim of GRCA isn’t solely to concentrate on range and inclusion within the arts, however to embody the variety of artwork types and mediums, from visible arts to music, theater, poetry, and dance.
Wanting forward, Main says she hopes to associate with Element 7, an artist-run collective empowering the BIPOC (Black-Indigenous-Individuals of Colour) artwork neighborhood, and to additional interact in dialog with artwork establishments within the metropolis.
Study extra concerning the subsequent GRCA roundtable here.
Photographs courtesy of Nicholas Anzivino.
