Advancing Equity in the Arts

House of Futures is a group of community-based working artists collaborating to provide creative youth from underserved communities with the examples, education, access, and transformative, caring support that we wish we had as our younger selves.

Our goal is to teach young creatives how to think and build as leaders through creative practices, so that they can give back to their families & communities as thinkers, makers, and game changers.

In New York City specifically, more than half of Black and Latino youth are low-income or living in poverty. Unfortunately, race and income are closely tied, and according to the US census, working artists are more than twice as likely than other workers to come from homes with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more.

Whether pursuing the possibilities of a creative career, or exploring one’s artistic personal interests, we believe that low income youth deserve to have the same equitable access to creative careers and expression as those from more privileged backgrounds.

We aim to remove some of the barriers to entry, giving young people the opportunity to heal, develop life skills, educate themselves on artistic careers, gain exposure to the possibilities, build social capital and establish relationships with working artists in New York City. This is an invitation to challenge, reimagine, and integrate the existing ecosystems and institutions within our creative culture together.

We hope that you will join us.

Remi O. Odunsi, MSIO, HMUA
Founder & Working Artist, House of Futures