Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiffiney Davis.
Hi Tiffiney, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
As Red Hook Art Project (RHAP) Executive Director and Co-founder I am dedicated to providing art and music opportunities to every child in Red Hook, Brooklyn. My commitment to community-based arts education was born out of my own personal experience. My son, Tashawn Davis, was the first RHAP student and when I saw what that exposure to arts programming did for Tashawn, who is now a sought-after art director and photographer, I was determined to make arts programming accessible to every child in Red Hook.
I know what it is to grow up without a lot of opportunities. I grew up in public housing and homeless shelters from the Bronx to Brooklyn and didn’t have access to a lot of arts programming. Then I had my first child at fourteen and was raising my two kids in the shelter system and NYCHA and it made me understand how important it is for families to provide opportunities for their kids.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like many nonprofits, we always face the challenge of not having enough resources and finding creative ways to get what we need. It can be a struggle to keep our doors open and meet the needs of every child we want to engage. And personally, I face some challenges related to leading while Black in a community that is gentrifying fast. People perceive my leadership or how I am as an executive in certain ways because of the color of my skin. But as a leader I overcome that by focusing on the fact that I’m doing impactful work and making decisions based on how we can grow RHAP to impact even more young people.
During Covid, we faced challenges as we pivoted to online learning and had to figure out how to keep our programming alive and impactful when we could not come together. Then, we lost our long-term space. For a while, we shared a space with another organization. In many ways that was a blessing to be given a place to have our RHAP community come together again. But it is a challenge to have multiple organizations in one space. We were working around their schedule while trying to be consistent for the sake of our young artists. Young people need to know where they will be, what kind of projects they can do. It was difficult for a student to be working on their passion and their things were in multiple places, some materials here, others there. We now have an amazing, larger, beautiful space and seeing our young artists react to that has taught me why having a space of their own is so important. They are flourishing there, they take ownership, keep the space clean, and give back to RHAP. They are even coming up with new programming like asking to curate pop-ups and wanting to do more arts-based entrepreneurship.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
All of these things in my life have made me understand how important it is to create vibrant spaces for young artists to be seen and heard, to create and curate their own art and be in community with other artists. I also know how important it is to be exposed to different disciplines in the arts because art is a platform to share work with others and see other artists that look like them and to find opportunities. So we focus on exposing the young artists to all kinds of amazing places and experiences, such as our partnership with BKLYN Clay where students can go to learn ceramics and meet a whole variety of different artists there.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I have to take so many risks in order to lead. Risk taking is a huge part of leading while Black. I can’t lead if I’m living in fear of what the world says I can’t do because of my skin tone or lack of resources. I can’t let outside opinions stop me from being the change I want to be in the world. There is too much at stake if I am not willing to go out on a limb for RHAP or our families. That is probably the biggest risk I take – being on the ground and supporting our families and communities.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.redhookartproject.org
- Instagram: @redhookartproject
Image Credits
Tiffiney Davis /Red Hook Art Project
