Promoting Social Change Through the Arts
Just three years ago, while presenting her senior e-portfolio as a graduating Community Engagement Scholar, Briana Henry shared her plan to work with underrepresented communities to change the arts scene in Delaware.
Little did she know how prescient that statement was.
Today, Henry works as a community engagement program officer with the Delaware Division of the Arts. In that role, she reviews grant applications, travels the state cultivating arts projects at community-based organizations and advocates for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the arts throughout Delaware.
Henry credits her grandparents with fostering her creativity. As a high school student, she worked at their production studio, taking photos and videos of weddings and “anything you could think of.”
It wasn’t a stretch when she arrived at UD as a Fine Arts major and landed on photography as a medium.
“But in the back of my mind, I’m thinking something is missing from the work I’m doing,” she said. “My personal style–or message I sent–was always around social awareness and DEI.”
Jon Cox, associate professor of Art and Design, recognized that Henry would be a good fit for the University’s newly established Community Engagement Scholars program.
“Her work ethic was always incredibly solid–far and above what most students at that level have,” said Cox.
As a sophomore, Henry was uncertain of her ability to fulfill the requirements for the program, but with the support of Cox and Community Engagement Initiative staff, Henry persevered.
During her time as a scholar, her coursework and co-curricular projects ranged from imagining community space for the Lenape tribe in Dover, to exploring the lack of ethnic diversity in museums throughout the U.S., to assisting the Delaware Arts Alliance with advocacy work.
As a Community Engagement Summer Scholar in 2019, she traveled to southern Idaho with ID Arrivals, Cox’s project that records the stories of refugees and immigrants and Native Americans displaced from their ancestral lands.
“That’s when it really clicked for me,” Henry said, “like, ‘Oh, this is the work I really want to be doing.’”
Henry was funded as a Community Engagement Summer Fellow in 2020 to pursue her Bring Us to Light project, a collection of photos and narrative essays from the LGBTQ community. When the pandemic interrupted Henry’s plans, she altered course. She captured images of the subjects through a video conferencing platform, then curated and edited the images.
“It came out phenomenally well, maybe even better than if she had been there in person, because it was this collaborative effort where they were really working together on creating this image,” said Cox.
Henry worked with Cox on a PhotoVoice study that was part of a larger grant-funded project headed by Valerie Earnshaw, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development. The project explored stigma experienced by Malaysian people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, transgender women, female sex workers, and people who use drugs in healthcare settings.
“By inviting patients to express themselves through images and text, rather than verbally, it created a space for vulnerability and authenticity,” said Henry. “The project is rooted in the belief that photography is a powerful tool that transcends language, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, health conditions and socio-economic barriers. It has the potential to create social change.”
Henry’s experience with the project was practical and profound, informing her understanding of inequities in medical care.
“It prompted [me to reflect] on the systemic issues that contribute to disparities in care, particularly for underserved communities, where experiences of mistreatment and lack of access are all too common – which often leads to mistrust,” she said.
After graduating from UD in 2021, Henry joined the Delaware Art Museum, where she quickly rose to become the museum’s learning and engagement coordinator.
Henry still felt the itch to be more involved in community engagement. When the position with the Delaware Division of the Arts opened, she jumped at the opportunity.
She sees a clear line from her studies at UD to the work she does today.
“Because we had to come up with extensive plan proposals, planning it all out – documenting – that helps me today because I now build programs,” said Henry. “I think that really set me up for success.”