Season One, Episode 4 of Arts and Democracy welcomes nationally renowned audience development and community engagement leader Donna Walker-Kuhne, author of Champions for the Arts: Lessons and Successful Strategies for Engaging Diverse Audiences. In a wide-ranging conversation with host Olga Levina, Donna traces her journey from professional dancer to arts administrator and shares the “small steps” that build lasting audience loyalty—grounded in sincerity, welcome, and relationship. Together, they explore what it truly means to be a “champion for the arts,” how organizations can confront blind spots around race and belonging, and why arts leaders must courageously shape programming, measure impact beyond numbers, and use their platforms to strengthen democracy in a polarized time.

At the Intersection of Art, Culture, and Faith

Season One continues with a powerful conversation between host Olga Levina and arts leader, actor, and strategist Deonté Griffin-Quick—a bridge-builder dedicated to equity, community, and systems change. From his early arts education in New Jersey public schools to his work building statewide networks and serving on major grant panels, Deonté reflects on why the arts are essential to a healthy democracy—especially when communities feel fractured and exhausted. Together, Olga and Deonté explore power-sharing in cultural institutions, the realities of the nonprofit funding model, and how relationship-building and infrastructure can move communities from competition to collective impact. The episode closes with a hopeful (and urgent) look at Deonté’s faith-rooted approach to cultural strategy and what it will take to help artists and communities truly thrive.

In this episode of Arts & Democracy: A Global Conversation, host Olga Levina speaks with Shawn Emamjomeh — a self-described “child of revolution” whose life spans Iran, Silicon Valley, Broadway, and the ancient Citadel of Erbil. Shawn reflects on how collaborative art on stage, city-building in Iraqi Kurdistan, and his Color & Light Festival have all been ways to build community in fragile times. From blockchain and PolyOne to projection mapping on a 6,000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, he explores why art is the conscience of society, how stories travel across borders, and why creativity remains essential to sustaining democracy.

In this moving episode of Arts & Democracy: A Global Conversation, host Olga Levina speaks with activist and former Executive Director of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, Mark McDonald, about the power of music, activism, and community in times of crisis and change.

From his early days in small-town Missouri to leading one of the nation’s most visible LGBTQ+ ensembles, Mark shares how the choral movement became both an artistic and political force — from the activism of ACT UP during the AIDS crisis to the collective healing after 9/11.

Together, Olga and Mark revisit the historic controversy in the late 1990s, when the Chorus was told it could only perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference if it dropped the word “Gay” from its name — and how, decades later, ACDA has invited the Chorus back in a gesture of reconciliation.

Their conversation expands to the present day, exploring censorship, democracy, and the courage it takes to use art as a tool for truth. “Silence,” Mark says, “is the greatest crime against democracy.”

A reflection on resilience, visibility, and the enduring belief that art can transform lives and strengthen our shared humanity.

In our debut episode of Arts & Democracy: A Global Conversation, Olga Levina sits down with museum education professional Thomas Goehner — formerly of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and The Textile Museum — to explore the future of museums in a time of unprecedented political pressure. From his decades shaping educational programs across major cultural institutions to his perspective on the current debates over “whitewashing” history at the Smithsonian, Thomas offers candid insights on why museums matter, what stories must be preserved, and how cultural spaces can remain vital, inclusive, and resilient for generations to come.