Grantmakers in the Arts

In a video series "Further Together: Helping artists thrive," the Kenneth Rainin Foundation moves forward equity conversations for a better philanthropic field as it asked its leaders to look to the future.

James “Yaya” Hough, an accomplished artist who was formerly incarcerated, will be the first artist-in-residence in a Philadelphia government agency, the District Attorney’s Office.

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s New & Experimental Works (NEW) Program, a grant program that provides project support to small and mid-size dance, theater, and multidisciplinary arts organizations that enable Bay Area artists to produce timely, visionary projects, has rethought its application process.

"In a crisis, short-term efficiency can be a shock amplifier. Long-term efficiency comes from building resilient institutions," states Andrés Spokoiny, president of the Jewish Funders Network, in a recent article in Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Reflecting on Darren Walker's new book, “From Generosity to Justice: a New Gospel of Wealth,” Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, answered some questions posed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy that shed light on the philanthropic field.

The Tipping Point Fund (TPF), a donor collaborative geared towards scaling impact investing, was recently announced by leaders from foundation and family office communities. With $12.5 million in initial funding, the TPF seeks "to make strategic grants to support the creation and development of critical market infrastructure that is necessary to maintain the continued growth and, the integrity, of the impact investing market."

Americans for the Arts announced Diving into Racial Equity: The MAP Fund’s Exploration, a case study that delves into the MAP Fund's racial equity in arts and culture grantmaking, its efforts to change practices toward this goal, and how it has activated the framework "Aesthetic Perspectives", to help mitigate bias in proposal review.

In his foreword for The Haas Institute’s "Notes on A Cultural Strategy" report, director john a. powell writes that "culture can move people in a way that policies cannot. People largely organize themselves and operate around stories and beliefs, not around facts."