Mk Sadiq is a poet and sociologist serving as the research and evaluation manager at the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. His current research is an exploration of the art worlds of St. Louis, which includes a history of the arts in the region from 1816 to the present day. This work will provide a complete picture on the arts and culture sector of St. Louis and RAC’s role in it.
Prior to joining RAC full time, he was the arts and economic prosperity lead, compiling a substantial list of nonprofits active in arts and culture, in partnership with Americans for the Arts, to find economic impact of the arts on the Greater St. Louis area. Since then, he supported research that led to Creatives Count, RAC’s rebranded second study of local artists. He also led symposia highlighting the cross-sector impacts of the arts on the economy and health.
Mk holds a master’s degree in sociology and graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the University of Missouri of St. Louis. As a sociologist, his research is informed by the works of W.E.B Du Bois, Howard Becker, Cedric Robinson, Patricia Hill Collins, and Pierre Bourdieu among others. He is the founder of Urbstetiks, a multidisciplinary arts and culture organization rooted in the Black Arts Movement tradition. Mk is currently supporting the NEA awarded research of Jong Bum Kwon of Webster University on Black Creatives in the region.