Grantmakers in the Arts

The California Arts Council awarded contracts to seven organizations for Arts-in-Corrections programs in fourteen state correctional facilities. Arts-in-Corrections services will be provided by The Actors' Gang, Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Dance Kaiso, Marin Shakespeare Company, Muckenthaler Cultural Center, San Jose Repertory Theatre, and the William James Association.

A report from the UK, and the initiative behind the report, is working to highlight the flow of money in the art world and especially how little the artists receive. Paying Artists: Securing a future for visual arts in the UK states that their mission “is about transforming opportunities for artists, galleries, funders and policy-makers alike.”

The NonProfit Quarterly has published Part I of an article this morning on the state of black museums in the United States:

From a brief review of self-identified African-American museums, it is clear that there are many more than most people realize. Most of them are relatively small, and several struggle—like many institutions of arts and culture—to find their way to sustainable financial futures. They also often appear to be remarkable community assets with important and widely recognized exhibitions and collections.

Arts Integration as Pathway to Unity in the Community: The (Ongoing) Journey of Pillsbury House + Theatre tells the story of how a nonprofit theater and a social service agency that happened to reside in the same building rediscovered their shared history as a 19th century Settlement House, and unified operations to become a 21st Century Center for Creativity and Community.

Nonprofit Finance Fund has a new publication, authored by Rebecca Thomas and Holly Sidford. Critical Steps Toward Capital Health in the Cultural Sector offers cultural organizations and their supporters a set of action-oriented tips that have been developed by NFF over more than three decades of partnership with both organizations and grantmakers.