Member Spotlight on Target

Submitted by SuJ'n on October 1, 2016

For the month of October, GIA's photo banner features artists and work supported by Target. Target's support of the arts and culture dates back to 1946 when the company first began giving 5 percent of its profit to local communities. Today, this giving equals more than $4 million each week. Target is a Leadership Sponsor of the 2016 GIA Conference taking place this month in Saint Paul, MN, neighbor to Target's headquarters in Minneapolis.

Corporate members make up a small percentage of the GIA membership and demonstrate the impact of for-profit giving in our sector. For Target, the arts are a powerful learning tool, particularly when it comes to sharing diverse traditions, cultures, and points of view.

One such example is the recent opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culturein Washington, DC. The museum spotlights the richness and diversity of the African American experience, from slavery and the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement, and tells centuries of untold stories — stories of setbacks and struggles but also of joy, hope, and progress.

Target supported the museum from the very beginning. Target CEO Brian Cornell serves on the museum’s advisory board and the company sponsored its recent grand opening and the Target Learning Center, where visitors are invited to take a deeper look at the museum’s many collections. Cornell's recent interview with the museum's director Lonnie Bunch spotlights some of the important educational opportunities the institution will provide visitors today and in the years to come.

Target believes an investment in the arts is an investment in the vibrancy of our community and the viability of our economy. When arts and culture thrives, so does the entire community. Today, our investment in the arts focuses on making the arts accessible through free and reduced-cost admission and arts education programming at museums and cultural institutions across the country, opening their doors to more children and families.

Grantmakers in the Arts looks forward to its annual conference this month in the Twin Cities and is grateful to Target and the many other conference sponsors for supporting this event.

Target has been a GIA member since 1993.

Learn more about Target's giving and corporate responsibility.

Photo in post: Children Enjoying School Tours at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Courtesy of MIA.

You can also visit the photo gallery on our Photo Credits page.