At the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts Conference in Los Angeles in November 2007, Keynote Speaker Chike Nwoffiah, Executive Director of Oriki Theater in Mountain View, CA, and National Guild Leadership Award Recipient Liz Lerman, Founding Executive Director of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Washington, DC, called for a paradigm shift in the way community arts education providers perceive art, education and their relationship to community. Their speeches focused on issues of diversity, multiculturalism and accessibility, and also our need to continue to examine new approaches to these issues. In a follow-up interview, National Guild’s Heather Stickeler reconnected with Nwoffiah and Lerman to discuss their perspectives in more detail. [This interview first appeared in GUILDNotes (Winter 2008), published by the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. It is reposted with permission.]
Chike Nwoffiah is a member of ACTA’s Board of Directors.