Artist Trust has announced the first iteration of its Racial Equity plan, introduced in a press release as "the next step in showing dedication to equity in the arts." The intention of the plan is to address and change historical and ongoing disparities in access to institutional funding, recognition, business practices, and job opportunities. It highlights shifting paradigms in Artist Trust programs, operations, and communications, both showcasing work that is in progress, revealing future plans, and celebrating past successes.
Grantmakers in the Arts
by Steve
In an article in the latest issue of the GIA Reader, “Remembering Claudine”, Maurine Knighton of Doris Duke Charitable Foundation shares memories of Claudine Brown, a beloved leader in the arts and culture field who passed away earlier this year.
by Monica
In a recent blog post for Next Avenue, Heidi Raschke describes the growing movement for creative aging:
In the 1960s, boomers changed the world by transforming youth culture. Now they’re set to do it again by transforming the culture of aging. Philanthropists, scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs who are 50+ are redefining what it means to grow old in America, and many of them see the arts as a powerful tool to accomplish that goal.
by Monica
The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies has announced the release of the State Arts Agency Fiscal Year 2017 Legislative Appropriations Preview report. This document summarizes how state arts agencies fared during this year's budget deliberations and includes information on the appropriations each state arts agency expects to receive for FY2017.
by Monica in Capitalization
Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) has published a study with the Regional Plan Association (RPA), Leveraging the Power of Cultural Investments: A Report on Cultural Capacity Building. The study evaluates the impact of UMEZ’s cultural investment strategy by providing an in-depth analysis of 32 non-profit grantees over a 13-year period. The report reveals substantial gains for the organizations profiled, as well as their continuing challenges; it illustrates the concurrent growth of Upper Manhattan’s cultural and economic landscape; and it compares Upper Manhattan’s collective cultural assets to similar clusters in New York City’s other boroughs.
by Monica in Racial Equity
Alternate ROOTS, First Peoples Fund, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC), and PA'I Foundation have collaborated to create the Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI), a new year-long personal and leadership development program for artists, culture bearers, and other arts professionals. The four partner organizations have created ILI out of a shared commitment to pursue cultural equity and to support artists, culture bearers, and other arts professionals as change-makers in their communities.
by Monica
In a recent blog post, Arleta Little, program officer for the arts at The McKnight Foundation, discusses racial disparities in arts philanthropy and how McKnight and other organizations are working to address it:
Given historic inequities and shifting demographics, increasing arts funding alone does not address the structural issues affecting how these funds are distributed. We must change the minds (leadership and decision making) and the mechanisms (the institutional policies and practices) that prevent more equitable distributions of resources. This is racial equity work.
by Monica
In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, Dan Pallotta makes a case for fundraising as an important and often overlooked part of nonprofit capacity building:
Of all of the various sub-categories in capacity-building, one and only one has the potential to multiply the amount of money that a funder puts into it, and that category is fundraising – the least loved of them all. It doesn’t belong in the bunch as an equal among the others. It has super powers. It’s time [funders] recognized this and funded fundraising at their favorite grantees as a priority.