The 2015 GIA Webinar Series featured 10 sessions.
Search
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.
Reflecting on last week’s conference, I’m still moved by the depth of conversation and reflection from some of my peers in the philanthropic arts sector.
This year’s theme, Experience the Unexpected, situated the arts as a vehicle for transformation. From community development and cultural equity, to tools for public voice and advocacy, funders were called to center their work in supporting artists and organizations as key to these efforts.
The opportunity to change the way everyone views the world is at hand.
Felipe Buitrago Restrepo
Felipe Buitrago Restrepo
Arts managers connect audiences to the greatest artistic achievements of humankind. Yet, the cultural sector and public know little about their demographic makeup in the United States. A paucity of literature exists on arts managers (Americans for the Arts 2013; DiMaggio 1987; Herron et al. 1998; Mankin et al. 2006), and questions pertinent to assessing the current level of demographic diversity in the arts management workforce remain unexplored.
Grantmakers in the Arts is cited regarding racial equity in arts philanthropy in this article by Mike Boehm at the Los Angeles Times:
A new national study paints a bleak economic picture of African American and Latino nonprofit museums and performing arts companies and suggests that donors may have to let weaker organizations wither so that the strongest ones can grow. Funders may need to support “a limited number of organizations,” says the report by the University of Maryland’s DeVos Institute of Arts Management, “with larger grants to a smaller cohort that can manage themselves effectively, make the best art, and have the biggest impact on their communities.”
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.
The winter and spring of 2015 have brought an awareness that there are movements building across the country, supported and, often, created by arts funders. Three of these coalescing movements are addressed in this issue: building organizations for arts education advocacy and action; lifelong learning and the use of the arts in wellness and health; and the growing consciousness that meaningful racial equity work is needed to counteract decades of institutional and structural racism in America.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015, 2:00pm EDT / 11:00am PDT
- Kelly Brown, Director, D5 Coalition
- Maurine Knighton, Senior Vice President - Grantmaking, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Session 7 of the 2015 Web Conference Series
A recording of this presentation is available here.
With the much needed and welcomed national attention now being given to equity in arts and cultural funding, there is growing discussion — and debate — about the importance of collecting, analyzing, and reporting demographic data relating to grantmaking. The Grantmakers in the Arts Statement of Purpose on Racial Equity in Arts Philanthropy recommends advocating for research and data collection that accurately represents the demographics served by and serving in arts organizations and foundations.
Grantmakers in the Arts released its Statement of Purpose for Racial Equity in Arts Philanthropy in March 2015. It did not spring from thin air. Members concerned with social justice have been active within GIA for nearly a decade. Over the past six years, members have shown an overwhelming interest in equity issues facing their communities. Racial equity was deliberately selected four years ago for a thought leader forum in order to go deeper into one area of social justice.