As they prepared for the start of the 2024-25 school year, Ravenscroft faculty and staff enjoyed a two-day workshop, “The Art of Belonging,” with artist, curator and author Endia Beal. Beal had previously visited campus in January to kick off the Upper School’s Dialogue Series and again in March as Ravenscroft hosted the Triangle Diversity Alliance Conference.

Beal’s work merges fine arts with social justice, using photography and video to reveal the often overlooked and unappreciated experiences unique to people of color. In a keynote in Jones Theatre on Monday, Aug. 12, she shared her artistic journey, showed examples of her work and discussed how she uses her photography to explore the impacts of bias on individuals, communities and workplaces. In breakout sessions held on the 12th and 13th, employees worked with Beal and several small-group facilitators to dig more deeply into these themes and connect them to their own experiences.

This work is part of the school’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, exemplified in our board-adopted statement. Dean of Community, Culture and Belonging Shelley Brown planned Beal’s visit in partnership with interim Director of Community, Culture and Belonging Sarah Wright.

Facilitators included Ravenscroft faculty Lorre Gifford, Angela Finn, Melanie Spransy, Lana DuBose, Amelia Karpowitz, Ali Olney, Sam Borkovic and Wright as well as Beal’s team comprising Monique Ingram, Tiffany Nickelberry and Kayla Smith. 

“In addition to continuing to help our colleagues build connections, I wanted our time with Ms. Beal to begin to dismantle barriers that hinder us from seeing ourselves as part of diversity because of our differences,” Brown said. “When I initially connected with Ms. Beal, she shared that her workshops were built from the work of Columbia Business School professor Katherine W. Phillips, who spoke earnestly about the value of difference in her work ‘How Diversity Makes Us Smarter’: ‘Diversity enhances creativity. It encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision making and problem solving.’

“With that foundation, I recognized that Ms. Beal’s workshops had the power to jumpstart our ability to cultivate our allyship with students and each other because of the value of our differences, even when it’s hard, and not the comfort of our similarities,” she added.

Upper School English teacher Tomeiko Carter said she found the sessions “enlightening, enriching and inspiring.”

“Professor Endia Beal’s art presentation and workshop provided tools for us to think deeply and broadly about how we engage with one another and our greater society,” she explained. “Her opening talk in Jones Theatre challenged our perspectives about humanity by asking us to examine visual representations of difference, and the small-group workshops helped us to engage with one another around individual experiences, situational analyses and group advice.”

“What a wonderful and impactful day of reflection for our school. Beginning with a celebration of our shared humanity and not our differences, Endia and her team of facilitators allowed space for each of us to both peel back the layers of our personal life perspectives and appreciate the varying and varied experiences of those around us,” Ben Rein, Assistant Head of School for Institutional Advancement, said. “Driving DEIB conversations from a place of common human interests and shared beliefs creates a sense of safety and belonging that is often missing in conversations that attempt to move the needle on questions of inclusion and belonging. It was refreshing and time well spent. I can see why the students were so enthralled with her visits to campus last year.”

Middle School social studies teacher Alan Carter was among a group of faculty who met with Beal beforehand to help her develop a program that would deliver “what Ravenscroft needed most out of this time,” he said.

“She did an amazing job implementing key points from that discussion. Her presentation to the faculty was a rich tapestry that wove together her incredible personal journey, the power of art to illuminate lived experiences and build connections between people of different backgrounds, and a clarion call to the importance of Ravenscroft’s continued commitment to building a community where diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are a fundamental component of who we are,” he said. “The group discussion afterwards helped me connect with colleagues in a deep, authentic way and provided a valuable roadmap on the importance and implementation of empathy and allyship.”

Beal is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and the Program in African American Studies at Wake Forest University. She holds a dual BFA-AH in art history and studio art from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and an MFA from Yale University; she has also completed the certification from the Executive Education in Fostering Inclusion and Diversity Program at Yale School of Management.

Her work has been exhibited at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit and Aperture Foundation in New York. Beal’s photographs are in private and public collections, such as The Studio Museum in Harlem in New York, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago in Chicago and Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Wright, who is also Assistant Head of Lower School, said Beal and her work are “the embodiment of Leading Self, Leading With Others and Changing Your World” — making her the perfect fit for this important work with faculty and staff.

“Her ability to cultivate a brave space in which each of us was able to do deep introspection into our experiences provided our community the opportunity to connect with our colleagues on a deeper level. It was magical, and in some ways whimsical, how she transformed what could have been the typical professional development format,” she said. “When she finished, it felt like I had gained a new best friend. We engaged in thoughtful reflections on belonging and advocacy and embraced discomfort. It was a powerful reminder that people flourish in environments where they feel listened to, recognized and appreciated.

“We all have a role to play in fostering such an environment for our students, families and colleagues,” she added. “In true Lead From Here fashion, it begins ‘here’ within us, in the narratives we live and the ones we choose to share.”

Learn more and see examples of Beal’s groundbreaking work on her website.