Exploring DEI
On August 20, 2022, the staff of the Potters’ Studio and members of the Board of Directors met for an all day Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awareness Training facilitated by Peer Advocates Training and Consulting (peeradvocates.com). Before we were able to join the group in the Berkeley Adult School classroom, everyone took and passed a Covid-19 test so that we could freely participate in the day’s activities. Our trainers for the day, Carlo Gomez Arteaga and Hilary Roberts carefully and firmly guided us on an exploration of implicit and unconscious biases, stereotyping, micro-aggressions and privilege to help us all identify the barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion. Hilary and Carlo also facilitated discussions about how these concepts affect our work at the studio and the ways we can work towards eliminating bias and stereotyping in our daily lives and especially in our interactions with others at the Studio.
Everyone came prepared to share, learn and grow and the various exercises that we did opened up many wounds and sensitive topics that lead to a wonderful opportunity for team building and developing relationships between the Staff and Board.
Right about now you are scratching your head and asking what does all of this have to do with pottery? Well, the Board, in collaboration with the Staff is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive community. We want the space we create in to be free of the “isms” and focused on the art. We strongly believe “we all will do better when we each do better” and we cannot do better if anyone among us is marginalized, mistreated, or targeted. Knowledge is power and as a community we can only eradicate the evils of discrimination if we have the skills to identify it and eliminate it.
We started the day with fun and probing ice breakers and developed a shared understanding of the key concepts for the day, i.e. what is diversity, equity and inclusion. We learned strategies for responding to micro-aggressions and discriminatory conduct and the steps we can take to avoid “othering,” a phenomenon in which some individuals or groups are defined and labeled as not fitting in within the norms of a social group. Our trainers explained that “othering” is a way of negating another person’s individual humanity and that people are othered because of their marginalized, non-normative, social identities making them the targets of micro-aggressions regrading those social identities. For example, othering occurs when you think of people only in terms of their relationship with specific social groups without giving any thought to them as individuals.
The exercises and activities we participated in during the day, helped illustrate these concepts and opened a window for many of us that had never been fully opened before. In this safe space, we challenged each others’ belief systems and exchanged stories of our own painful experiences. We shared a lot of laughter and support for our common goals and objectives. Our one-day training provided us with skills we can now use in our Studio community and gave us the opportunity to make friends, deepen relationships and commit to creating and maintaining an inclusive and equitable Studio.
We urge all of you to do the work and free yourself from negative mindsets that might interfere with your creativity and/or our DEI objectives for our pottery community. Examine your implicit biases and the ways you might “other.” Develop the tools to point out micro-aggressions and how your friends may use their privilege. Perhaps the image below will help explain what we hope to accomplish based on our training and goals for the Studio.
This workshop was the first part of the long-term investment to build a more diverse and inclusive studio. Executive Director, Bobbi Fabian, says, “We’re excited to have taken the steps to recognize and dismantle bias. Our long-term goals include communicating our commitment to our community, and prioritizing training and growth opportunities for our staff and board. In the short-term we’ve created a Code of Conduct for everyone that helps us to maintain a safe, secure, and respectful environment in the studio”. Please sign an acknowledgement of the Code of Conduct when you’re in the studio next or download it here and drop off a signed copy to the studio.