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The GIA Library is an information hub that includes articles, research reports, and other materials covering a wide variety of topics relevant to the arts and arts funding. These resources are made available free to members and non-members of GIA. Users can search by keyword or browse by category for materials to use in research and self-directed learning. Current arts philanthropy news items are available separately in our news feed - News from the Field.
It’s been a week since the GIA Conference ended, and I’m already gearing up for arts conference number three of the season. Next week, I’ll be heading to Chicago for the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Annual Conference. My barometer for what makes a conference good is informed, in part, by the conference; it has a strong focus on power and privilege at the intersection of grantmaking. There are a lot of suits, but the dialog and introspection crack the veneer of professionalism, creating space for real talk, and accountability. “A Confluence of People, Cultures, and Ideas” is apt subtitling for this year’s conference.
An article in the latest issue of the GIA Reader, “Advancing Racial Equity: Racial Equity Funders Collaborative in Minnesota”, discusses the formation and work of the Racial Equity Funders Collaborative, a group of Minnesota funders working to advance racial equity in arts philanthropy.
The GIA Conference is the best convening you’ve likely never heard of, unless of course, you work in grantmaking – which is a lot of people. I became aware of GIA and the conference when I began working for the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture in 2013. We are an office that in addition to public art programming and arts education, provides public funding for individual artists, community organizations, and cultural institutions. Our cultural partnerships programs – grants and more, have been a catalyst for stewarding racial equity in the office, as both internal practice and community engagement.
This year, I began my GIA Conference as co-facilitator for the “Access to a Lifetime of Arts Education: Every Child, Every Adult” preconference. My pal and co-conspirator in the work of racial justice, consultant and theatre teaching artist Tina LaPadula, joined me to lead a session on Social Justice Essentials for Arts Funders. We kicked off this day of learning and dialogue centered on arts education, data, and creative aging with an engaged crew of thirty plus grantmakers from across the nation, representing family foundations, government, and corporate giving.
The Impetuses to Begin the Racial Equity Funders Collaborative
Glyn Northington, Special Initiatives director, Nonprofits Assistance Fund
I am inspired by the article in this 2016 fall issue of the Reader by Minnesota arts funders who for several years have been on a quest to further racial equity in arts philanthropy in their communities. Grantmakers in the Arts began our work in racial equity in 2012, and like this group, we slowly built our vocabulary, our understanding, and our vision for action. Minnesotans are doing the same.
Lara Davis has been active in youth development and community arts education for more than a decade. She has served as a Seattle arts commissioner and as program director for Arts Corps, a youth arts organization. At the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Lara manages Creative Advantage, a public/private partnership to ensure equitable access to high quality arts learning for all Seattle students. Lara serves on the National Advisory Committee for the Teaching Artists Guild and facilitates equity and racial justice trainings. As a person of color, Lara understands the value of cross-cultural, multi-sector efforts to dismantle racism and other oppressions, and to promote justice. As an artist and arts administrator, she knows firsthand the power of creativity necessary to build access, foster engagement, transform communities, and inspire systemic change.
SEATTLE — Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) has released an expansion of its landmark Racial Equity in Arts Philanthropy Statement of Purpose, providing resources, recommendations, and actionable steps to assist grantmakers in advancing racial equity in arts philanthropy. As a growing number of funding institutions begin to examine the history and impacts of systemic racism across the sector, GIA serves as a hub for arts funders participating in this work.
New Updates to GIA’s Racial Equity Statement of Purpose
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 20, 2016
SEATTLE – Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) has released an expansion of its landmark Racial Equity in Arts Philanthropy Statement of Purpose, providing resources, recommendations, and actionable steps to assist grantmakers in advancing racial equity in arts philanthropy. As a growing number of funding institutions begin to examine the history and impacts of systemic racism across the sector, GIA serves as a hub for arts funders participating in this work.