REAL Committee
In 2015, Curb and Metro Nashville Arts Commission (Metro Arts) created the Racial Equity in Arts Leadership (REAL) program to explore leading racial and cultural equity practices in the arts sector.
The REAL Leadership Team is using 2020 to assess the past four years of REAL and design programming which addresses Nashville’s rapidly changing landscape, communities, and the art sector going forward. Leadership members include:
WILNA JULMISTE TAYLOR
Assistant Director, Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy
wilna.j.taylor@Vanderbilt.edu
Wilna Julmiste Taylor is an experienced arts administrator who oversees all aspects of the Curb Scholars Program in Creative Enterprise and Public Leadership, which provides selected undergraduate students with year-long programming designed to foster broad creative competencies through the integration of entrepreneurship and public engagement on campus and beyond.
She also leads the Creative Campus Initiative, which seeks to support faculty, students, staff and members of the Nashville community through opportunities to engage in creative practice. This includes bringing artists, entrepreneurs, and emerging creatives on campus, working with Metro Arts on the Racial Equity and Arts Leadership (REAL) program, and supporting innovative projects and collaborations through the center’s Creative Catalyst awards.
JANINE CHRISTIANO
Strategic Funding & Initiatives Manager, Metro Arts
janine.christiano@nashville.gov
Janine Christiano serves as the Strategic Funding & Initiatives Manager for Nashville Metro Arts. She guides Metro Arts grant funding for Nashville nonprofits, Opportunity Now and equity programs, including Racial Equity in Arts Leadership (REAL). She is keenly interested in the intersection of art, education, and the economy and is committed to using art as a catalyst for social and economic change.
Before joining Metro Arts, Janine served as Pasadena’s Armory Center for the Arts Special Projects Manager, specializing in community exhibitions/events, volunteer coordination and teen pathways development. She co-founded and served as board chairman for the Arroyo Sustainable Economies Community Organization which houses the Arroyo SECO Network of Time Banks and the Arroyo SECO Community Revolving Loan Fund. Time Banking is a pay-it-forward system that encourages volunteerism and civic engagement and empowers the under-served population of the financially distressed.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW
GILLIAN GUALTIERI
Research Fellow, Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy
gillian.gualtieri@vanderbilt.edu
PROGRAM COORDINATORS
CHRISTINE FARWELL
Program Coordinator, Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy
christine.claffey@vanderbilt.edu
NATALIE ALFARO FRAZIER
Program Coordinator, Metro Arts
Natalie.AlfaroFrazier@nashville.gov