Women of Color in the Arts - WOCA

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Women of Color in the Arts - WOCA

Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) was started as an informal network in the performing arts field in 2008.
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WOCA is a national, grassroots network dedicated to creating racial equity in the arts and culture sector, by promoting professional opportunities for arts leaders and providing a platform to help amplify the voice and visibility of women of color. After seeing the lack of diversity and experiencing an overwhelming stubbornness of the field to not consider the structural inequities that gave oppor

tunities to some and not to others, WOCA co-founder Kaisha S. Johnson began on-the-ground organizing, recruiting colleagues to engage with how women of color could come together and help radically shift the field. Ultimately, with the support of Alison Mcneil, who helped co-found the organization, WOCA was able to launch its first formal meeting at the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference in 2010. Since then, the work of WOCA has expanded to include widely-lauded programs like our Women’s Leadership Forum and Leadership through Mentorship Initiative to our widely-anticipated annual convening in New York City and has come to epitomize the embodiment of solidarity for women of color working in the arts. Over the course of our 12 years, WOCA has been able to produce impactful events like “’Til The Street Lights Come On: Celebrating Double Dutch in NYC,” “The Art of White Supremacy,” “Speak On It: The Wisdom of Black Women Arts Leaders” and “We Got Us: Women of Color on the Solidarity Economy” which fit into our wider spectrum of programming and our overarching goal of spotlighting the contributions of women of color leaders and igniting conversations that lead to direct field-wide action. WOCA is now a network with over 500 members that serves communities both in the U.S. and abroad, affirming the need for an inclusive, far-reaching, and sustainable vehicle to support women of color in both their personal and professional endeavors and move the dialogue of racial equity towards real transformational change.

06/19/2026

Today is June 19th, now more commonly known as Juneteenth in the U.S. What started as a celebration in Galveston, Texas, to commemorate the announcement of freedom for enslaved people has now become a national holiday. While increasing awareness of our histories and cultures is always a beautiful thing, we can’t help but feel the "ick" when capitalism encroaches on a moment meant to reflect on the experiences of Black Americans.

We encourage you to stay true to the essence of this occasion: finding joy in spite of the circumstances and prevailing no matter how arduous the journey.

Happy Juneteenth, y'all! Celebrate responsibly.

Credits
Juneteeth Flag created by Ben Haith
Photo of elders at 1900 Juneteenth Celebration by Grace Murray Stephenson
Photos of “Pick a Bale ‘O Cotton” by WOCA member Asiyah Kurtz, featuring cotton hand picked from .us
Photo of “Absolute Equality” mural in Galveston, Texas by Reginald C. Adams

06/18/2026

It’s and we’re celebrating WOCA member Yayoi Kambara, ! Though she started her career as a dancer, Yayoi has always had a passion to create and collaborate with others. She fulfills this passion as the Artistic Director of Kambaraplus , a performance company that produces works with dancers, performers, and creatives to cultivate a sense of belonging through research and play.

Like any great leader, Yayoi is a lifelong learner and is currently pursuing their PhD in Critical Dance Studies at the University of California Riverside to further analyze the power we wield within our bodies through movement and choreography.

We are so incredibly proud to have visionaries like Yayoi in our WOCA community, reminding us all of the power of continuous growth and collaboration.

06/15/2026

Members, for the past 16 years, WOCA has championed leaders like you who propel the arts forward and strengthen our collective voice within this industry. As your support and dedication have made our efforts possible, we’d like your insight on the state of the WOCA community.

Please take our brief survey to help us better better understand how to be in radical community with you. Should you have any questions, please email Membership Manager Charley Harris Hill at [email protected].

Take the 2026 Membership Survey here: https://forms.gle/ub3NgiggCeTUaKzU7

We are grateful for your feedback and look forward to continuing this work with you and for you.

06/04/2026

The WOCA Sabbatical Fund was created for WOCA members to divest from capitalism and lean into rest.

We’ve witnessed women of color leaders being pushed out of the field and workforce at alarmingly high rates from exhaustion, burnout and sometimes, death. We knew our commitment was to one another and so we’ve developed a vehicle of mutual aid for our community care.

With your help, we can offer six-month sabbaticals for women of color arts administrators in need of full, comprehensive rest—including financial support and practical resources like therapy.

Looking for ways to join this effort?

Amplify and share WOCA’s mission with your professional AND personal communities.

Invest as little as $5/month to sustain the WOCA Sabbatical Fund.

Become a WOCA member and join a community making rest a right, not a luxury.

Learn more here: https://www.womenofcolorinthearts.org/the-sabbatical-fund

06/03/2026

We celebrate Iyvon E. () for this week's . As the host and Producing Artistic Director of The Parsnip Ship ()—a play development and podcast platform—Iyvon exudes "a belief that new work has the power to spark real conversation and that the right support at the right moment can change a story or storyteller's life."

Now more than ever, we need champions of new voices and perspectives and we're so proud to have Iyvon leading this initiative. Her newest venture, Sparked By Iyvon, offers bespoke dramaturgy, script development, and producing support to storytellers seeking a true creative partner.

Follow Iyvon to keep up with new stories, plays, and music shaping our world.

06/01/2026

Understanding oneself is a lifelong journey full of questions, answers, and experimentation. It is not guaranteed to be smooth; the opposite is actually more certain. But as the Bajan-Grenadian American writer Audre Lorde once said, “If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.” It is exactly why the journey is 100% worth it.

June marks the start of Pride Month and Caribbean-American Heritage Month. As we celebrate, WOCA is proud to be made up of members and allies from many diverse backgrounds. Despite our differences, WOCA’s essence will always be to create spaces where we can show up fully as who we have chosen to be—community in its purest form.

Identity is your strength. Claim it boldly and proudly!

05/22/2026

We all have the right to rest. By working together, we can make it a reality.

Support healing justice and help women of color arts leaders reclaim their time.

$5 a month. $60 a year. Your contribution fuels and sustains an ecosystem that is transforming lives.

Click the link below, learn more about the WOCA Sabbatical Fund and invest in a leader’s rest today.

WOCA Sabbatical Fund: https://www.womenofcolorinthearts.org/the-sabbatical-fund

05/20/2026

We celebrate WOCA member Asiyah Kurtz for this week's ! Though a relatively new member in the WOCA community, Asiyah is a seasoned leader who uses her influence to amplify the work of others.

For the past five years Asiyah has served as Executive Director of the only multi-disciplinary art gallery in Camden, NJ where she transformed the organization into a regional arts hub and created a public art program, Art in the Commons. As the descendant of enslaved Africans, Asiyah considers it her craft-right to use her art and research practices to uplift Black Americans and their stories.

Stay tuned, and stay in community with Asiyah as she takes on her latest endeavor as an Alice Dunbar-Nelson Senior Fellow at Black Girl Times. We are extremely proud to have her as part of Women of Color in the Arts.

05/13/2026

For 16 years, Women of Color in the Arts has been championing and amplifying the work and impact of womxn of color arts administrators across the U.S. and globally. Cultivating a space for leaders at every level has been no small feat, but has been worth it every step of the way.

Become a member of the WOCA community today, where access to our new membership directory, weekly career opportunity newsletter, The Pipeline and eligibility to the WOCA Sabbatical Fund are a few of the benefits each member can enjoy.

To submit your membership application or for more information, please visit www.womenofcolorinthearts.org.

WOCA is more than a network, it’s a movement!

05/07/2026

"If care is infrastructure, then a sabbatical for a woman of color is a structural repair of a historically exhausted system.” - Ai-jen Poo

Infrastructures can be built incrementally. They can also be built collectively, but most importantly they need to be created with intention. Join Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) as we build the care our community needs.

Invest as little as $5/month to ensure our mission to share true care, rest and resources.

Rest cannot remain a luxury for some – it is a right for us all.

DONATE HERE: https://wocainc.wildapricot.org/woca-donate

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http://www.womenofcolorinthearts.org/

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