2021-22 BOARD MEMBERS

        When I was a sophomore in college I started to feel  marginalized by my experiences as a Latina woman in the arts. I felt my daily experiences were not understood or experienced by a majority of my peers. I  discovered  the intersectionalities of my identity shaped the way I viewed and reacted to the world around me. I am proud of my identity as a Guatemalan, immigrant, Mayan, Jewish woman. Yet the things I was learning in class and the ways  I was asked to conduct myself in society did not fit any of those identities. I started having open dialogues with other students who had minority identities that made them feel marginalized and even silenced in their own art form and education. With the empowerment of the student voices I created a group of students that met once a month to discuss issues within the arts about diversity, equity and inclusion. This became a safe space where students and faculty could talk openly and candidly about their own experiences as well as how to work together to deconstruct systems of oppression targeting marginalized people and communities within the arts on campus.  What started as a ten person meeting in the basement of the Dance Building has now become a student organization that engages with other groups across campus, and professional dance companies nationally. I could not have founded this organization without the guidance of my mentors, other inspirational DEI initiatives on campus, and the empowering voices of the students. 

 

- Johanna Kepler, Founder of Arts in Color