Urbanowski: Cultural freedom demands collective courage

Last week, the National Coalition Against Censorship released a nationwide statement, signed by more than 500 individuals working across the arts and culture sector and over 200 cultural institutions. It reasserts the arts sector’s commitment to retain programmatic independence and resist pressures of self-censorship under a cloud of growing pressures from new federal policies, executive orders and external threats.

I am proud to have signed on to this statement, with more arts leaders and institutions joining every day — including dozens from our local community.

In the face of increasing threats to artistic and intellectual freedom in the United States, the statement articulates foundational principles and shared values that unite America’s diverse arts and cultural field. We, the signatories, believe standing up to these threats is the only way to ensure future generations inherit robust cultural institutions that stimulate the imagination, engender free thinking and incubate new futures. The independence of art and culture is critical to democratic society.

In our own local community, it is the artists who raise the voices of our marginalized populations; the arts organizations which tell the stories of our silenced neighbors; the culture-bearers who save our histories and traditions; and the cultural events that bring us together and help us understand one another.

Nationally, and even in our own state and some local communities, social and governmental pressures are creating a chill of censorship that threatens the independence of arts and cultural institutions. Cuts in federal funding are handicapping local arts groups, fear of ICE raids are keeping local residents away from festivals and the weaponization of the IRS is causing nonprofit cultural organizations to second guess missions, programs and strategies.

A robust arts and culture ecosystem requires all of us to uphold unifying values: free expression, active debate, responsibility and care. I encourage you to participate and celebrate with Santa Clara County’s artists and arts groups in the community this fall, and sign on to the statement.

Alexandra Urbanowski is CEO of SV Creates, the state and county designated arts service organization and local arts agency for Santa Clara County. She serves on the leadership committee for the California Coalition of County Art Agencies and as a board member at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. Her columns appear every first Wednesday of the month. Contact Alexandra at [email protected].