ARS Now Offering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant

The ARS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and the ARS Board of Directors are excited to announce the existence of a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant, open to any member chapters, recorder orchestras, workshops, or consorts.

Tasked with seeking ways to expand the recorder playing community, and finding proactive ways to include, welcome and honor recorder players at all levels, particularly those from historically marginalized and disadvantaged backgrounds, the DEI committee has developed this grant as one way of achieving these lofty objectives.

Programs or projects for which applicants may apply for funding are limited only by one’s imagination, and we encourage applicants to dream big! As is true with most creative tasks, the biggest hurdle is often where to start. Potential grantees should take into account the community-specific nuances of history and context that have kept a particular group of people from feeling welcome in a given recorder group, or even interested in the art form.

That said, here are a few examples of the kind of thing that might be favorably considered:

• Any program that exhibits a strong potential for increasing diversity, equity, or inclusion among the recorder playing community
• Educational programs involving recorder instruction for students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in the recorder field
• Hiring persons of color to teach for in-school programs or workshops
• Expenses related to consort performances at venues that would likely have diverse audience members
• Outreach programs to schools in neighborhoods with ethnically diverse populations.

There are so many engaged and passionate people in the ARS community, we can’t wait to see what ideas are generated by this opportunity.

The deadline to apply for this year’s grant (don’t worry, it will be offered annually) is January 1, 2023. Applications can be found here: https://americanrecorder.org/diversitygrant

For questions about the grant, please contact ARS Administrative Director Susan Burns at director@americanrecorder.org.

If you have a great idea for other DEI initiatives for the ARS to consider, please contact DEI committee co-chairs Jamie Allen (jamieamericanrecorder@gmail.com) and Jan Elliott (ellifordjan@aol.com).