The Ohio Arts Council's African Immigrant Research Project
by Kaitlin Armocida
The Ohio Arts Council has released a report written by Dr. Sandra Grady that surveys and assesses the state of African immigrant arts in the state of Ohio. The report was part of a 2011 study commissioned by the Ohio Arts Council, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, to survey the African immigrant artistic community across the state.
Ohio is home to a wealth of cultures and traditions, including a growing population of African immigrants. Using resources from arts organizations and refugee services programs, Dr. Grady discovered a large and diverse group of individuals preserving their unique heritage through the arts. While many of these artists work full-time as members of performance dance troupes, such as the Thiossane West African Dance Institute, most support their craft by working full-time in other fields.
"In some respects, these groups are demonstrating emergent and genre-busting practices of expressive culture as the rupture of war, flight, and resettlement have similarly disrupted traditional forms," writes Dr. Grady. "These artists have had the least opportunity to pursue training in any kind of traditional craft, so they continue to invent using the tools available in order to tell the stories of their communities."
Dr. Grady's report highlights that, whether they arrived in Ohio as refugees or came to the U.S. in the hopes of receiving a post-secondary education, these individuals often receive little to no support from their communities. Nor do they typically have access to the necessary resources for finding venues in which to show their art. In refugee communities specifically, this type of isolation has brought about an innovative fusion of creative cultures and a moving documentation of Ohio's role in an international conflict.
Dr. Grady is a scholar of African culture and folklore. She received her PhD in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a member of the American Folklore Society and the African Studies Foundation.
To download a PDF version of the report, or to read the artist profiles, visit the Ohio Traditions website at www.ohiofolkarts.org. For additional information, contact Kathy Signorino at the Ohio Arts Council at kathy.signorino@oac.state.oh.us or 614/728-6140.
About the Ohio Arts Council:
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.
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