The Kettering Foundation Is Focusing on Democracy and the Arts

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Artist Bing Davis opens the Democracy and the Arts launch at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation with a libation. Davis is curating an exhibition of artists’ responses to the 1964 civil rights address given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Dayton, Ohio, this fall.

The Charles F. Kettering Foundation advances inclusive democracies by fostering citizen engagement, promoting government accountability, and countering authoritarianism. With its new focus area, “Democracy and the Arts,” the foundation recognizes the arts offer pathways for understanding and expressing core democratic values, including individual freedom, mutual responsibility, fairness, belonging, and trust.

We have a generous view of what art is and who creates it — all art makers have the potential to be democracy-makers. Art is an intrinsic part of our lives and can disrupt habitual ways of thinking, support critical inquiry, generate rich conversations, and invite people to be cocreators of democratic communities everywhere.

In its hometown of Dayton, Ohio, Kettering has welcomed its first artist-in-residence, Sierra Leone, a spoken word poet and educator with strong ties to local arts and activist communities. Currently, Leone is working with the Human Race Theatre Company on “The Belonging Project,” an exploration of how the aspirations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 have been realized (or not) in Dayton. Stories shared during listening sessions will result in an original play with a cast of community members and professional actors.

Nationally, Kettering is supporting Art in Action, a segment developed in collaboration with the PBS NewsHour’s Canvas team. Five episodes have been aired, and another five are currently in development. Each is accompanied by digital online articles and lesson plans, which are intended to advance public understanding of the role of the arts in a democracy.

A still from “An Enemy of the People” episode, part of the *Art in Action* Series on PBS NewsHour’s Canvas.

Art in Action broadcasts that have aired to date include:

You Are Here, US Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s yearlong project about the natural world and climate change
A look at James Baldwin’s enduring influence on art and activism
LaToya Ruby Frazier’s exhibition Monuments of Solidarity, which highlights an activist approach to art
Adapting An Enemy of the People, Ibsen’s 19th-century play about a public health catastrophe, as a response to the trauma and challenges of the COVID pandemic
How students can explore history through art in a national competition

Claire Bishop once wrote, “Art questions how the world is organized and opens up possibilities for change.” Kettering’s approach aims to integrate art and democracy by partnering with artists and arts organizations to creatively explore how the ideal of inclusive democracy can be realized.

For more information on the Charles F. Kettering Foundation and “Democracy and the Arts,” visit kettering.org.