GIA Conference Provides Encouragement

Janet Langsman, CEO of ArtsWestchester, writes this editorial for the Daily Voice of Bedford, New York:

Conferences are great tools for encouragement, inspiration and in some cases confirmation. The Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) conference this week in Philadelphia did not disappoint.

Foremost in the encouragement category was the wave of support for individual artists and the creative ways in which funds are being directed to them both as masters of their craft and agents of change. The importance of early and generous funding for emerging artists was punctuated by a riveting presentation by Pulitzer prize playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes, who credits her success to the financial support she received which allowed her to conjure and create without distraction. Hudes, of course, is the author of In the Heights and her latest Water By the Spoonful.

Read the full op/ed.