Home Madison “Ripple Project” to pay diverse creatives for humanities programming

“Ripple Project” to pay diverse creatives for humanities programming

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Beyond the Page and Dane County libraries are teaming up to create more equitable humanities programs in the libraries through their new initiative, The Ripple Project. This project will create space for more diverse research and presentations in the libraries. 

“The Ripple Project is an initiative of Beyond the Page, and Beyond the Page supports humanities programming in Dane County Libraries,” said Ali Treviño-Murphy, Beyond the Page Coordinator. “And the humanities are really all about humans, and people connecting to one another through stories, history, culture, all those types of things.”  

This project is a response to the lack of diversity and inclusion in the libraries in Dane County and Madison. The Ripple Project was created because that work was not being reflected in Beyond the Page initially. 

 “We have 28 libraries in Dane County and most of them are in small, majority-white communities,” Treviño-Murphy said. “A lot of our programs were really featuring a lot of white presenters and serving a lot of white audiences.” 

Increased awareness about this issue stemmed from the publishing of the Race to Equity Report in 2013. The Ripple Project will allow opportunities for new people who are looking to work in the presentations and research. Treviño-Murphy and the Beyond the Page staff want to hire people and emphasize voices of those from diverse backgrounds.

“We’re really looking to create an opportunity for people who might be presenting a program for the first time,” said Treviño-Murphy. “And who maybe haven’t made a name for themselves but who really have something important to say. And who could really enrich our library communities with their voice and their wisdom and their skills.”

Treviño-Murphy and the Beyond the Page team are ready to assist applicants with whatever they need. They are also willing to engage with applicants and support them in presenting their best work to library audiences. 

“One of the things that we want people to know about the application process is that we will be reaching out to all of our applicants and working with them to help them be as successful as possible in the application process,” Treviño-Murphy said. “So if somebody even has just a seed of an idea, but they’re not really sure how to make it into a humanities program, we will work with them to help them take that idea and run with it.”

This programming is going to connect people with similar interests and disciplines across Dane County. This will also allow for new content to be displayed in the libraries and amplify voices that are often silenced. 

“And I think we’re really excited about drawing out those similarities between the ideas that people are bringing to us and helping people make connections to each other,” said Treviño-Murphy. “Both to strengthen the programming but also to enrich those people’s lives through making those connections.”

Working with the Project will allow for different types of presentations to Dane County and Madison community members through the libraries. 

“We’re looking for a range of content … we want to include a lot of different voices,” Treviño-Murphy said. “And we also want to have different types of programs. Some programs might be more lecture-based, some programs may be more workshop, some might be more focused on a performance. We’re looking for variety, and if we don’t see that variety reflected by the deadline to apply, which is June 1st, and we’ll extend the deadline until we can really make sure we have a robust menu of programs.”

Applicants have freedom in how they want to present their programs, either one time, or at several different libraries in Dane County through a series of presentations. Working with The Ripple Project is a paid opportunity and applicants can ask for what the wage they want. 

Click here for the link to apply to The Ripple Project: https://www.beyondthepage.info/apply. The application is due June 1st or until the needs of the programming are met.