GIA Blog

On Thursday, March 11, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion package in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Of the more than $122 billion allocated for K-12 schools, at least 90 percent of funds are required to be used by State Education Agencies (SEAs) to make subgrants to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). Under the bill, SEAs and LEAs are required to allocate a significant percentage of funding towards evidence-based interventions – such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive after school programs, or extended school year programs – that address the social, emotional, and academic needs of students, particularly those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

The Mapping COVID-19 Recovery Project, a collaborative effort of 25 Chicago foundations, nonprofit organizations, and public and private groups, links historic disinvestments in some Chicago neighborhoods with COVID-19’s impact on those communities, reports WBEZ.

"With 2021 designated the United Nations International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, there can be no better time for museum leaders to follow the example set by their university and foundation peers by aligning capital with values and mission. Inaction risks reputation, as well as financial return," wrote recently Laura Callanan, founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab.

For the month of May, GIA’s photo banner features work supported by the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC).

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced more than $52 million in funding for state and jurisdictional arts agencies and regional arts organizations, the first recommended awards of the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The announcement states these funds are designed to support the arts sector as it recovers from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Posse Foundation has launched a new arts initiative, to connect students who are focused on arts and culture from cities across the country to top arts-oriented colleges and universities, in partnership with Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Miranda Family Fund, with CalArts as institutional partner.

The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Board of Trustees recently approved more than $2.8 million in grants toward an equitable and just New Jersey. The grants include more than $350,000 in new Imagine a New Way grants, "representing Dodge’s latest step towards our commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization and centering racial equity and justice in our work," according to the announcement.

In "Buffering Against Uncertainty: Working capital and the resiliency of BIPOC-serving organizations," Rebecca Thomas principal at Rebecca Thomas & Associates, and Zannie Voss, director of SMU DataArts, delve in working capital levels of arts and cultural organizations, emphasizing on BIPOC-serving organizations.

"A bailout for live music and other event venues passed in the last relief bill. But one month after applications were scheduled to launch, they have not, and many venues are barely hanging on," reported recently NPR on the desperation of venue workers.

"In order to resolve generational wealth extraction from BIPOC and working-class communities, there needs to be more accountability for investors and funders, and more agency for these communities," write Shante Little and Curt Lyon in Alliance Magazine.