Social Justice

Upstart’s people-focused approach to impact assessment recognizes the role that investments in the creative economy can play in advancing social justice, financial inclusion, economic opportunity, and community development. Upstart tracks the impact of creative economy investments across five dimensions:

From Ford Foundation: "Mellon, Ford, Getty, and Terra Foundations today announced Advancing Latinx Art in Museums (ALAM) – the new initiative represents the second phase of a multi-year funding collaboration seeking to nurture and prioritize US Latinx art. The funding partners have committed a combined $5 million to the initiative, which will provide ten grants of $500,000 to institutions in support of the creation and formalization of ten permanent early and mid-career curatorial positions with expertise in Latinx art."

"In this line of work, I have met lots of amazing funders. Shoutout to all the brilliant philanthropy professionals who are working hard and often without much fanfare to change the ridiculous systems that make fund seeking so painful and ineffective," said Vu Le for Nonprofit AF. "On the other hand, many foundations have a condescending belief that they know what’s best for nonprofits, and that they are like a mentor to these poor misguided organizations. A sort of 'benevolent paternalism.' It leads to some terrible funding practices that we need to do away with."

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."

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.

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.

"Jawole Willa Jo Zollar is the founder of the legendary ensemble Urban Bush Women. She is also a winner of the MacArthur Genius Award. I met Jawole at a Creative Change Retreat, an intersection of artists and activists that used to be held at the Sundance Resort, in Provo, Utah. One of my favorite gatherings to facilitate," said Gibrán Rivera "I was immediately moved by Jawole’s presence, and I could sense how she was tuning into a deeper energy in my facilitation.

"The Mellon Foundation—the nation’s largest funder of the arts, culture and humanities—today announced more than $12 million in funding to support twenty-six colleges and universities across the nation mounting social justice-related research or curricular projects."

Art.coop invites listeners to Remember the Future together by listening to the stories of artists and culture bearers who know that the practices of the Solidarity Economy are not some new technology, but actually are ways of being in relationship with people and planet that are as old as time. They are our ancestral practices. In this 7 episode narrative pilot, listeners learn: You don’t have to be a starving artist or a sell out. You can find work where you joyfully live your values and pay the bills.

Creative Study introduces a new solidarity economy source, No Starving Artists! No Sellouts!: Introduction To Creative Work In The Solidarity Economy, The What And The Why In Four Parts in partnership with Art.coop. The free course, " introduces you to a growing library of courses dedicated to creatives building their own worlds. It is a part of a living, breathing process created by people who know that values-aligned ways of working together can be joyful, impactful, and pay the bills. We have survived and thrived by being in community and we welcome you.