Cuyler Consulting

06/30/2022

In order to stay true to our mission and ethics, Cuyler Consulting will be stepping away from Instagram and Facebook - focusing more on our work and our commitment to the clients we serve. However, we'll still be around if you need our services or want to connect.

To reach us, or to learn more about Cuyler Consulting and our work, visit our website at cuylerconsulting.com!

06/19/2022

Amid this year’s Juneteenth celebration, Cuyler Consulting would like to ask a question: What if the founding fathers had instead been the founding people?

As a small Black-owned business committed to ensuring that discrimination, marginalization, oppression, and subjugation no longer limit the performance and relevance of cultural organizations, the acknowledgement of holidays such as Juneteenth – and questions such as the one posed above – is incredibly important as we face extraordinary attacks on our democracy.

Please share your answers with us in the comments.

01/11/2022

Cuyler Consulting goes beyond access, diversity, equity, & inclusion. We are committed to manifesting creative justice so that the historically discriminated against, marginalized, oppressed, and subjugated can live creative and expressive lives on their own terms.

To learn more, visit our website at cuylerconsulting.com and follow us so that you don't miss a post!

01/07/2022

Our series on marginalization and oppression has come to an end, but we want to take this opportunity to delve deeper into the tribalism we saw during the Trump administration and how it affected the relationship between arts and politics in the United States. In a resonating 2017 piece for Medium, Max Harris does just that.

To read Harris’ short essay “Five Ways of Seeing the Relationship Between Art and Politics — In a Time of Trump”, click the link below.

There has been a flurry of activity amongst publishers, curators, artists, and others in the weeks since the election of Donald Trump. This…

01/05/2022

During the Trump administration, tribalism in the form of Trump’s commitment to his own beliefs threatened the future of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and federal funding for the arts – until support from both sides of the aisle saved the day.

Today, would you say that type of political tribalism still poses a threat to the arts?

To read Graham Bowley’s 2021 piece “Trump Tried to End Federal Arts Funding. Instead, It Grew.”, click the link below.

Each year, President Trump’s proposed federal budget eliminated funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. But the agency survived, largely by relying on bipartisan support in Congress.

01/03/2022

It's a new year, a new week, and time for us to take a look at the final form of marginalization and oppression in our series: tribalism. Tribalism is defined as strong loyalty to one's own tribe, party, or group (Oxford Languages, 2021).

In what ways does tribalism show up in the cultural sector?

12/31/2021

As 2021 comes to an end, so does our look at s*xism. But, before we wrap things up, a question: Why aren’t works by female artists valued as much as those created by male artists? In a 2019 piece for Artsy, Taylor Whitten Brown shares some important figures and unpacks why we’re still not seeing real gender parity in arts spaces.

To read “Why Is Work by Female Artists Still Valued Less Than Work by Male Artists?”, click the link below.

The historic and enduring valuing of works by male artists over works by their female peers may be rooted in fundamentally biased cultural value systems.

12/30/2021

When it comes to s*xism, male privilege is a primary factor. For reference, Arizona State University’s Project Humanities has a checklist that can help all of us identify and combat male privilege in the spaces and communities we occupy.

To access the full checklist, click the link below.

This list is based on Julian Real's blog post titled, "Unpacking The Male Privilege Jockstrap". He listed 100 privileges that men have in The 100 Male Privileges Checklist, stating:

12/27/2021

Our series continues with a look at s*xism. Sexism is any act, gesture, visual representation, spoken or written words, practice, or behaviour based upon the idea that a person or a group of persons is inferior because of their s*x, which occurs in the public or private sphere, whether online or offline (Global Citizen, 2021).

In what ways does s*xism show up in the cultural sector?

12/24/2021

As we conclude our look at religious oppression, we have a question to ask. At what point does religious belief inspire oppression and censorship? In an enduring 2013 piece, Brian Pellot presents 12 artists - and their works - that were directly effected by religious oppression in arts and cultural spaces.

To read "12 “blasphemous” artworks censored or vandalized by angry believers", click the link below.

A New Yorker who recently penned an erotic version of the Bible woke up last week to find “BLASPHMY” spray painted across his front step. From P**s Christ to elephant dung Mary, here’s a look at 12 artworks that have been silenced or destroyed for exploring “blasphemous” themes.

12/22/2021

In discussions about religious oppression, "Christian privilege" might not usually be referred to in that way, but it still exists. Once again, Arizona State University’s Project Humanities has a checklist that can help each of us identify where and how privilege related to faith and beliefs can show up and adversely affect others.

Have you witnessed "Christian privilege" in action?

To view the full checklist, click the link below.

"30+ Examples of Christian Privilege" is one of Sam Killerman's privilege lists that he created for people of privilege to empathize with other, non-privileged individiuals. Social justice advocate, Killermann writes:

12/20/2021

Today, we shift the focus of our series to religious oppression. Religious oppression is defined as the systematic and systemic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof (Definitions and Translations, 2021).

In what ways does religious oppression show up in the cultural sector?