Dear Colleague:

As you may already know, Dance/NYC is working closely with DataArts (formerly the Cultural Data Project) to pilot a short survey to collect demographic information about the leadership and workforce of cultural organizations. Today, I am writing to ask that you support this work by completing the short survey and inviting your staff and board do so as well.

This request follows the release of the Diversity in New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Community study, and we are working closely with the City of New York to coordinate data collection and deepen our learning about the dance community. This survey will yield new insight because it captures data at an individual rather than an organizational level and also addresses LGBTQ and disability identity categories, continuing our work to advocate for a cultural ecosystem that expressly and equitably includes disabled New Yorkers.

According to the Diversity in New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Community, the dance field has a higher percentage of women (63%) and people of color (45%) in its workforce than the broader community of grantees studied. We urge you to complete this DataArts’ survey to help us better understand these dynamics and begin to address disability and LGBT and disability matters unexamined in the report. With your help, we can take a step forward to a more inclusive and equitable New York and ensure that the arts really are for all.

“We applaud Dance/NYC for furthering the conversation on the critical need to build an inclusive and equitable cultural community. The one they envision actively engages disabled and nondisabled people in the arts, and we will all gain by creating space for everyone’s contributions,” said Edwin Torres, NYC Acting Cultural Affairs Commissioner.

Click here to complete the survey now.

Collecting and sharing this information is strongly encouraged as a best practice that can make your work and the work of the larger arts field more effective; however, this survey is entirely voluntary. While DataArts will have access to all individual survey responses, as there is no identifying information in the survey itself, all responses will remain anonymous.

Again, please complete this survey and share it with your staff and board, at a minimum. In the interest of capturing the full breadth of your workforce, we also encourage you to share it with your volunteers and independent contractors. We are planning to close the survey by March 17. Based on early responses, the survey takes approximately six minutes to complete. Your input will determine how we move forward.

Thank you in advance for participating in this process.

Lane Harwell
Executive Director
Dance/NYC

P.S. Register today for Dance/NYC’s 2016 Symposium to learn more about the Diversity in New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Community study and meet the DataArts’ team.