Collectively, arts and culture enable understanding of the past and envisioning of a shared, more equitable future. In disinvested communities, arts and culture act as tools for equitable development—shaping infrastructure, transportation, access to healthy food, and connecting community identity to the development of a vibrant local economy. In communities of color and low-income communities, arts and culture contribute to strengthening cultural identity, healing trauma, and fostering shared vision for the community.

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The equitable development movement—which brings a racial and economic equity lens to the community development field—depends on the engagement of communities of color and low-income communities in prioritizing, designing, and implementing aspirations for the futures of their neighborhoods, cities, and towns. The community-centered arts and culture movement—made up of social justice artists, arts, and culture agencies with a focus on racial equity, and cultural centers that serve communities of color and low-income communities—leads in securing cultural assets, building greater social cohesion, and feeding economic vibrancy.

Federal, state, and local policies to support the interconnected growth of arts, culture, and equitable development can be advanced in six principal ways:
1. Map the artistic and cultural assets of cities, towns, states, tribal communities, and the nation, with a focus on the cultural resources in communities of color and low-income communities.
2. Evaluate economic conditions, including current investments in public works and arts and culture, using data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, income, and neighborhood.
3. Identify barriers to resources for communities of color and low-income communities, and restructure processes to engender access.
4. Work with artists, designers, young people, and culture bearers to engage the community and inform equity-driven processes for community development.
5. Expand equity-focused arts and culture investments across public agencies, through community-driven arts and culture plans, budget appropriations, and targeted allocations to disadvantaged communities, artists of color, and cultural institutions serving communities of color and low-income communities.
6. Ensure that governance and staffing are representative of the populations served by the agency.

The nation’s prosperity depends on how it addresses equity and honors the wisdom, voice, and experience of its diverse communities. Arts and culture are vivid expressions of that wisdom and experience and provide the means to unify an increasingly diverse society. The intersection of the community-centered arts and culture and the equitable development movements—and the policies to secure and support that intersection—can help deliver just and fair inclusion for all.

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