GIA Blog

"The Kenneth Rainin Foundation co-hosted the pilot for a new series, 'Let’s Talk,' in partnership with Bay Area artist Beatrice Thomas of Authentic Arts & Media in December. Over fifty artists, arts workers and funders joined us for our first event to examine the central question: what do artists need to thrive? Below I recap the talk and what we learned, and share upcoming session dates for 2023."

"The goal of the “Let’s Talk: What Artists Need To Thrive” series is for the Foundation’s Arts Team to engage in meaningful dialogue and be more accessible and transparent, especially with artists who have historically been unacknowledged by or excluded from philanthropy. We will apply what we learn to improve how we advance equity and support diverse, visionary Bay Area artists."

From New York Foundation for the Arts: In conjunction with the opening of Cycle 17 of our Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants, NYFA has scheduled two live online information sessions. We hope to reach even more artists from across the country who may be eligible, and in need of critical financial support for medical, dental or mental health emergencies. Interested artists can ask questions directly during the sessions; a recording will also be posted online by March 4.

"Last month, 'Avatar: Way of the Water' captured the world’s imagination. But you don’t have to travel to Pandora to witness the magic of the water or the power of community action to make a change," said Henry Olaisen for Next City. "For eight years, as leader of the Betty Wright Center in Palo Alto, a warm-water therapy facility open to the public, I saw this kind of magic every day. It taught me a lesson that holds true for anyone seeking greater equity in any healthcare system: If we are to design systems and facilities that are truly for the people and with the people (known as patient-centered care), we must carefully listen and learn from people with disabilities when designing facilities and programs."

From the Mellon Foundation: "The Mellon Foundation today announced Imagining Freedom—a $125 million, multiyear grantmaking initiative supporting arts and humanities organizations that engage the knowledge, critical thinking, and creativity of millions of people and communities with lived experience of the US criminal legal system and its pervasive forces of dehumanization, stereotyping, and silencing. As one of the Foundation’s core Presidential Initiatives, Imagining Freedom exemplifies Mellon’s vision to create just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking."

Claire Riley recapped Flannel and Blade's webinar "Meta, Musk and MAGA," which gathered nearly 200 people involved with nonprofit communications. "...Our session was a response to the massive shake-ups happening in social media," said Claire. "Capitalism is cracking all over the world: people are rising up here and quiet-quitting there. AI and other technology is exploding into a cultural Renaissance, with an ever expanding division of audiences and growth of niche sub-subcultures."

"That leads us to ask: what are the biggest risks of social media, for organizations in the world today, who are trying to do good? We hope that you'll see by the end of our report-out, that sometimes even these kinds of big shake-ups can lead to silver linings."

"Ahead of the 2022–2023 school year, the College Board rolled out a pilot version of its new Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies course. The class had been in the works for over a decade, and this pilot version is currently offered to students at only 60 high schools across the country," said Elaine Velie for Hyperallergic. "Last week, the College Board announced an updated official curriculum framework in advance of the course’s expansion into hundreds more schools that some critics say is missing a host of important artists, writers, and concepts."

"Just a few days into the 118th Congress, it feels like our nation is trapped in a cycle of vitriol and discord. Thousands of (reported) hate crimes, increases in antisemitism, racist election campaigns and our enduring partisan political divide make the goal of unity under a set of universally supportive values seem farther away than ever," said La June Montgomery Tabron for MSNBC. "Meanwhile, our collective, annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which occurred yesterday, is a time when many of us participate in service projects and reflect on what it would take to achieve racial equity in the current environment."

From Stitcher: On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new technologies threatening their livelihoods, so they refused to record until they got their fair share. This week, Evan Chung explores one of the most consequential labor actions of the 20th century, and how it coincided with an underground revolution in music led by artists like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

"I didn’t see it coming, but maybe I should have," said Salamisha Tillet for the New York Times. "That refrain has been popping into my head repeatedly since learning that neither Viola Davis (“The Woman King”) nor Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”) was nominated for the best actress Oscar and that Andrea Riseborough and Ana de Armas had emerged as this year’s spoilers."

From Springboard for the Arts: This innovative pilot and narrative change strategy was designed in partnership with the City of St. Paul's People's Prosperity Pilot guaranteed income program. The City of St. Paul is a leader in the national Mayors for Guaranteed Income network, which works to incorporate learning and research from local pilots into state and federal policy recommendations.

Springboard undertook this work to demonstrate that artists should be recipients of economic system change and that they are powerful allies in movements for economic justice.