Eddie's Blog

In a recent series of blog posts entitled The Future We Want, I laid out findings from a number of recent studies of how the grantmaking community has responded to the events of 2020, including the pandemic and the movement for Black lives. Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) has conducted a survey of recent and upcoming changes in arts grantmaking practices, receiving 142 responses, a response rate of over 50% of our members.

The world is in the midst of a historic moment with our changing our practices in order to function during the pandemic and embracing the movement for racial justice. This is a time of great opportunity, as long as we recognize and embrace it. At the start of April I shared a letter calling for us to build deep resilience in our field.

The world is in the midst of a historic moment with our changing our practices in order to function during the coronavirus pandemic and to embrace the movement for racial justice. Six months into this pandemic, we are beginning to see evidence of how the grantmaking field is responding. In my prior blog post, I reflected on the important of capitalization and financing.

Six months into the pandemic, we are beginning to see evidence of how the grantmaking field is responding to this historic moment. I’m writing to reflect on the importance of capitalization and financing to our field.

I’m writing to share some thoughts on United Philanthropy Forum’s excellent 2020 Forum Virtual Conference, which brings together Philanthropy Serving Organizations (PSOs) to share examples of how we’re working to support, strengthen, and lead the grantmaking community.

   Download this letter as a .pdf (90Kb)

Dear colleagues,

I’m sending this letter now to rally the arts funding community during this difficult moment to not only react to crisis but also to be sure we treat this as moment to create our desired future. I write this letter as a follow up to the Grantmakers in the Arts webinar, COVID19 and the arts ecosystem and a pre-amble to ongoing programming throughout the year that will highlight examples of inspiring work that is happening now and of the future we can all create together.

As we begin a year in which a federal election will take place, we at Grantmakers in the Arts would like to encourage all of us to advocate for our field, our artists, our communities, this year and every year.

Advocacy is the act of informing the public and government officials – including elected legislators, appointed executives, and hired government workers – about an issue. This can include educating public officials about the beneficial effects public support for the arts has had on the constituents and the communities they represent.

Cultural organizations are increasingly being called upon to refuse funding that their critics regard as ethically questionable, such as private prisons, tear gas, opioids, environmentally damaging sources of energy, etc.

Humans inherently process change as loss, and there is a foundation for this. Change is loss of the past. And, change imposed upon us from without is especially painful, as so many in the cultural world are learning. The only way out of this pain is to be the leaders of it.

Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) has just completed our second Racial Equity in Arts Funding workshop - this one for the greater Seattle grantmaking community with over 30 funders.

A version of this essay will be published in the June/July edition of the Grantmakers in Health (GIH) bulletin, aligning with this year’s GIH annual conference on June 12-14, at which GIA will present the work of the Center for Arts in Medicine at University of Florida, The Kresge Foundation, and artist collective Harriet’s Apothecary.