GIA Blog

Bree “Coco” Davies is a multimedia journalist, urban planning professional, arts community advocate and organizer born and raised in Denver. Rooted in the world of do-It-Yourself arts and music, Davies co-founded Titwrench experimental music festival, created and produced Fem Fest for MCA Denver, has consulted on Youth On Record’s feminist-centric programming and is host and producer of the music and comedy-focused weekly show, Sounds on 29th on CPT12 Colorado Public Television. At the center of this work is a passionate advocacy for all ages, accessible, inclusive, non-commercial and autonomous DIY art spaces and music venues in Denver.

Ray Mark Rinaldi is a critic-at-large based in Denver, Colorado, where, as both a writer and editor, he moderates a public discussion about American art in the West and how it influences — and is influenced by — development, politics, geography and rapid social and demographic change. He writes about art holistically, connecting the dots between the visual arts, performance, music, architecture and literature, to present an inclusive picture of 21st century culture.

For the last 12 years, he has contributed to the Denver Post, where he serves as the primary voice on the visual arts. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Hyperallergic, Dwell magazine, Inside Arts, Opera America, Chamber Music and other publications.

The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee began the process last week of reauthorizing the Older Americans Act (OAA). This law represents the primary dedicated Federal funding to support seniors through home- and community-based services. This legislative effort also included an expanded focus sought by Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) to ensuring seniors have access to and engage in cultural and arts experiences.

The 2019 GIA Conference: Cultural Intersections in Denver, Colorado has sold out!

We have reached our capacity for the conference. Subsequent registrations will be placed on a wait list.

"The way the charitable tax deduction is set up, lower-income Americans can’t really take advantage of it. Unless you earn a lot of money, it makes no financial sense to do your taxes in a way that lets you claim the charitable deduction," states an article in Vox.

The Arts and Activism (A&A) ColLABoration, a pilot project funded jointly by The CrossCurrents and Compton Foundations to support the work of artists in partnership with organizers and activist organizations, announced five projects that were awarded $30,000 to engage in arts-integrated organizing through themes of democracy, power, and freedom in the United States.

An article in Forbes offers ideas on approaches a resource-constrained endowment or foundation could take to develop a sustainable investing program.

Boots Riley, the Oakland filmmaker, musician, and activist who wrote and directed the satire Sorry to Bother You believes in making art "that makes people understand that they have the power to change things…that’s what you can do with narrative.”

Last year, 2018, was a milestone year for Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA). We relocated our operations from Seattle to The Bronx, and we had a new President & CEO in Eddie Torres, with a new team eager to build on the work of our predecessors. We had a unique opportunity to take stock of EVERYTHING that we were doing.

Marcus Walton, the new president and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), previous co-director of Racial Equity Initiatives (REI) at Borealis Philanthropy, reflected recently on some of the learnings from his work at Borealis that he hopes to bring with him to GEO.