Each Sunday at YPA we huddle and pick out our favorite online reads of the week along with upcoming events and opportunities centered towards professional development, networking, social activism, and community engagement. Our goal is to share relevant content, promote crucial arts organizations, and provide a curated comprehensive guide to what’s happening in the arts around the city. Here’s what we are into this week:

Reads and Feeds: Words that Lingered

“New Yorkers and our elected officials clearly see the value of investment in culture. On an individual level, people point to the transformative experiences that can bring joy and enlightenment while building empathy."

— Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

Study Find There's (Still) a Gender Gap in North American Museum Directorships, Alyssa Buffenstein, artnet news - sadly, we're not surprised by the findings of the most recent Gender Gap Report 2017 from the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD). While it is showing a slight shift in the right direction, less than half of museum director positions are held by women with a consistent gap in terms of pay.
Let’s Fight for Arts Funding: Tom Finkelpearl on the Impact of the NEA, NEH, and Other Supporters of Culture on New York City, Tom Finkelpearl, ARTnews - in case you haven't yet read the DCLA Commissioner's call to fight for the existence and restoration of vital arts agencies, do it now. It's worth having insight into the state of funding in our city!

“Among neighborhoods facing significant economic challenges, the presence of cultural resources is associated with positive outcomes on other aspect of social wellbeing.”

— University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice

New Research Shows How Arts and Culture Improve Health, Safety and Well-being, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice - now here's an academic study we were so excited to read (and we sure don't say that often!). The research shows how the arts improve the lives of ordinary urban residents, especially those who live in moderate- and low-income neighborhoods in NYC. We finally have data to back up what we already believe.
Here are 250 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free, Quartz - because we don't really need to rack up more student debt, but we do love keeping our brain cells busy. We already got our eyes on the "Effective Altruism" course from Princeton University and "Hamlet's Ghost" from Harvard University.
Become a Paid Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, YPA - There are very few paid opportunities for arts professionals to hone their skills straight out of college or in the first years of their career. So you can imagine our excitement when we came across the 2050 Administrative Fellowship. Apply this week, the deadline is Saturday, April 1, 2017.

This Week Around Town

MONDAY MARCH 27
YPA Monthly Event at the Ivy Brown Gallery
YPA Members will be welcomed by Ivy Brown herself, who founded the Gallery in 2001, representing and exhibiting contemporary art of all mediums. Dedicated to supporting emerging and established artists, she curates throughout New York City and her commitment to art and the critical part it plays in our humanity is the grounding force behind the gallery and the artists she works with.
6:30pm; Ivy Brown Gallery, Meatpacking District; Free; RSVP

TUESDAY MARCH 28
Curator C. Finley gives a tour of Whitney Houston Biennial
The 2017 Whitney Houston Biennial: Greatest Love of All comes as a response to the awakening representation of women artists in major museums and galleries. To highlight female artists in New York this season, curator and artist Christine Finley will host female artists from a varied range of geographic and cultural backgrounds, disciplines, methodologies, and generations.
6:00pm - 8:00pm; chashama at XOCO 325; Free

WEDNESDAY MARCH 29
Resisters and Collaborators in Trump’s America: Presented by Harper’s Magazine
Looking for more inspiration on how to resist and revolt Trump's presidency? Listen to a discussion on the role of letters and ideas in this political era, including panellists Masha Gessen, Kate Crawford, Corey Robin, Sarah Schulman, and Lawrence Jackson.
7pm; McNally Jackson Bookstore; Free

Nationalism, Networks, Borders: Refugees in Visual Culture and Social Media
Joanna Lehan, curator of “The Flood: Refugees and Representation” section of Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change, leads a conversation with Carne Ross, founder and executive director of the Independent Diplomat, and Tomas van Houtryve, an artist, photographer, and author whose piece Traces of Exile is included in Perpetual Revolution.
6:30pm - 8:00pm; International Center of Photography; Free; RSVP

THURSDAY MARCH 30
From Sufi Poetry to Hip Hop: A Cultural History of the Islamic World
This class will explore the many ways in which people in the Islamic world (both Muslims and non-Muslims) have expressed themselves culturally over the past 1400 years. By looking at poetry, literature, music, dance, theater, art and film, discover the many cultures and experiences that form the Islamic world.
6:30pm - 8:00pm; Prospect Heights Brainery; $10

FRIDAY MARCH 26
Partial, Passionate, Political: Writing Criticism in Troubled Times
Spend your Friday night at the Whitney taking in the gripping Biennial and with the voices and editors of 4columns.com, a new art criticism website. They will be leading a discussion exploring what forms engaged criticism might take in our newly politicized cultural landscape.
6:00pm - 8:00pm; Whitney Museum of American Art; $8 Members/$10 Adults

SATURDAY APRIL 1
Brooklyn Museum Target First Saturdays
In 2017, Brooklyn Museum's Target First Saturdays highlight female-identified and gender-nonconforming artists. From 6:00pm - 8:00pm you can also stop by our friend's ELNYA's table to get tips for contacting your representatives (and write postcards on the spot!), participate in a public art project about the impact of the arts, and join their #SaveTheNEA selfie campaign.
5:00pm - 11:00pm; Brooklyn Museum; Free

The Job Hunt

Grant Writer, The Studio Museum in Harlem
Coordinator, 20th Century Design, Sotheby's
Assistant Arts Director - Events (P/T Temp), Elements Music & Art Festival + BangOn! NYC
Teaching Artists, Lincoln Center Education
Principal Music Education Specialist, Discover Melody
Development Associate, Americans for the Arts (Washington DC)