Carmen Graciela Díaz's Blog

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) launched recently its latest publication SaludArte: Building Health Equity on the Bedrock of Traditional Arts and Culture.

Recent research from Echoing Green and Bridgespan discusses "the racial disparity in today’s funding environment and argues that population-level impact cannot happen without funding more leaders of color."

"What should arts advocates say and do now? How can they reconceive their own roles to point to the deeper reasons for arts funding? How can they speak to the moment, rather than repeat tired and failed arguments?" asks Arlene Goldbard in a recent blog post.

A group of philanthropic and nonprofit leaders is asking Congress to increase the mandatory payout rate for private foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs) to 10 percent, to help address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the city of Newark had created its first arts grant program, the Creative Catalyst Fund, and an art space initiative to fill up to five city-owned properties. Three months later, the art space initiative was put on hold as city officials and the nonprofit Newark Arts retooled the grant "to respond to needs of the local arts community in light of COVID-19," as Next City recently reported.

As the art-world faces the coronavirus pandemic, over a 1,500 artists, curators, writers, educators, and administrators signed an open letter denouncing the treatment of education workers and other essential staffers whose jobs are currently at risk, as reported recently by ArtForum.

No matter the community where we live, the coronavirus pandemic has quickly exposed the already-rampant inequity in America, as a recent article in Forbes stated.

The coronavirus pandemic has made all of us shift to online life for school and for work. Shifts to online learning impact arts education as well, turning this moment in "a unique opportunity for students and teachers to develop new strategies for teaching and learning and to reflect and grow as musicians and people.," as the School Band & Orchestra magazine writes.

Deborah Fisher, the founding executive director of A Blade of Grass, explores in an article in Artnet how the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown may present an opportunity to change how the art ecosystem functions.

The national board of directors and team of Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) extends our fellowship to all those impacted by our nation’s increasing emergencies and disasters.