Arts Research with Communities of Color
Fellowship Report
The Arts Research with Communities of Color Fellowship
Fellowship Report Objective
From June 2023 to May 2024, Dr. Jaleesa Wells explored the interconnections between the three arts organizations—Artist as First Responder, Black Cultural Zone, and Eastside Arts Alliance—as they coalesced within their distinct socio-cultural context and environment: East Oakland, California. Taking a social science approach, Dr. Wells led a multi-project research study to investigate community stakeholder perspectives, explore the landscape of scholarship on cultural spaces and Black women’s arts leadership, and map a directory of Black cultural archives and collections across the United States of America.
The objective of this fellowship report is to share, widely, the discoveries from the multi-project study, and provide open access to case studies, literature database, and Black cultural archives map.
Jaleesa Renee Wells, PhD
Fellow and Principal Investigator
Dr. Wells is a creative social entrepreneur, art and social scientist, and transdisciplinary scholar investigating the intersections between culture, society, and enterprise. Her current research projects focus on creative social entrepreneurship and innovation; Black women’s creative economic consciousness; and work, art, and gender in the academy.
Dr. Wells was one of 18 fellows and principal investigators for the Social Science Research Council and Wallace Foundation research program: Arts Research with Communities of Color (ARCC) Fellowship (2023-2024).
Dr. Wells is the inaugural Director of Certificates in Creative Social Entrepreneurship, and Assistant Professor of Arts Administration at the University of Kentucky.
Graduate Research Assistants
Morgan Gilbert
Student, PhD in Arts Administration
University of Kentucky
Nathaniel Thompson
Student, MA in Arts Administration
University of Kentucky
