Carmen Graciela Díaz's Blog

Black August, born out of Black liberation, resistance, and justice movements, is a month dedicated to critical learning and analysis, reflection and study of our roles in oppressive or liberatory systems, and an opportunity to grow, connect, and prepare for the challenging work ahead.

From the Black Liberation Movement and the Black August Hip Hop Project to“Writing While Black” andhow to fix classical arts, we invite you to join us this month in collective reflection where arts and culture are at the root of justice and liberation. As we are reminded by ABFE, A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, “We must be in it for the long haul.”

A recent episode of When We Fight, We Win!: The Podcast, centers on "Sam Jacobs and a network of donors who use lessons and inspiration from social movements to reclaim a new narrative around philanthropy."

In a new report, "Art Is Work: Policies to Support Creative Workers," the Commission on the Arts addresses "how can we better recognize the value of artists in our national policy in order to enable the essential work they do?"

In a recent blog post, Vu Le argues that "unfortunately, like many other widely accepted philosophies in our sector, “strategic philanthropy” has done significant harm to the sector."

During the months of December 2021 and January 2022, GIA’s photo banner features work supported by The Opportunity Fund.

Autonomy, an independent think tank, published recently a report about ‘artist as-worker’ in the UK, emphasizing notions of "artistic labour, and highlighting the sector’s interaction with wider trends, such as the gig economy and marketization in education."

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations recently released a publication that, as the website explains, "builds on the principles outlined in Strengthening Nonprofit Capacity and will take a critical look at the ways in which capacity-building practices can be grounded in approaches that acknowledge and center racial equity."

"Despite tough lessons learned after Hurricane Harvey, most artists and arts and history organizations in the Houston area are still unprepared for the next disaster," states a new guide by the Houston Arts Alliance designed to help local artists and nonprofits on how to become resilient now.

The Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) announced recently the inaugural Zoo Labs Fund grant recipients. According to the announcement, 14 unrestricted grants ranging from $5,000 - $50,000 were awarded to Bay Area BIPOC-led artist teams with music-based projects or businesses that are contributing to the region’s arts and culture environment in positive ways.

Brookings recently published a piece by Paula Arce-Trigatti, director of the National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships, reflecting on various aspects of partnership work, lessons on defining research-practice partnerships, and how to know whether partnership work is making a positive impact.