Priya Frank co-facilitates workshop: Storytelling Strategies for Dismantling Racism

In September, alum Priya Frank (’11, Cultural Studies) co-facilitated the workshop “Storytelling Strategies for Dismantling Racism,” a training hosted by NonWhiteWorks for individuals and organizations working to interrupt structural racism. The workshop examines the power of narratives and concrete strategies for dismantling racist structures through storytelling.

Frank is the Associate Director for Community Programs at Seattle Art Museum (SAM), where she focuses on partnerships, programming, and equity-related initiatives. She is also the founding chair of SAM’s Equity Team, who’s vision is “an inclusive museum where everyone can connect art to their lives in a welcoming and accessible way.” Frank recently reflected on the Equity Team’s beginning and unfolding journey for NAEA Museum Education’s Viewfinder.

A group of SAM Equity Team founding members, 2016. Photo by Natali Wiseman.

Whatever the context, Frank seeks to create space and experiences that reflect the voices and perspectives of people of color in authentic ways. At the workshop, she shared her personal story as a woman of color in arts leadership and the burden that accompanies this commitment.

“I am privileged and honored get to do my life’s work within the context of this job and this community. It’s my greatest joy,” says Frank. “I also want to be real about the ways in which dismantling structural and institutional racism is taxing emotionally, physically, and personally. My hope is that by acknowledging that equity fatigue is a real thing and calling it out, I can be accountable to myself and celebrate the space I am dedicating to recuperate and take care of myself.”

Photo of Priya Frank by Kelly Oh.