Responding & rebuilding amidst dual pandemics: an interview with state fine arts coordinators Alysia Lee & Dale Schmid

Abstract

This paper examines the response and rebuilding efforts of two state fine arts coordinators amidst dual pandemics: COVID-19 and systemic racial injustice. In March 2021, Ms. Alysia Lee, Education Program Supervisor for Fine Arts Education for the Maryland State Department of Education and Dr. Dale Schmid, recently retired Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for the New Jersey State Department of Education, outlined the scope of their work at the onset, and throughout, both pandemics. Ms. Lee and Mr. Schmid provided reflections regarding their state organization’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting an expressed need for resources, professional learning, and community support. While the interview was originally conceived to gain Ms. Lee’s and Mr. Schmid’s reflections on their state arts organization’s initial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conversation ultimately centered their dedication to issues of racial and social justice in arts education. Portions of the interview wherein issues of equity, access, and anti-racist and justice-based practice are discussed are included in full. The paper concludes by centering Ms. Lee’s and Mr. Schmid’s voices in offering possibilities for future policy and practice.