GIA Blog

Carlton Turner of Alternate ROOTS, and our host for the day, welcomed us into the space and kept the day moving with the right amount of earnestness and seriousness. He let us know we’d be asked to think in terms of transforming self, institutions and systems and asked “Where are you in the process of developing equity?” Then we were off…

This year, I began my GIA Conference as co-facilitator for the “Access to a Lifetime of Arts Education: Every Child, Every Adult” preconference. My pal and co-conspirator in the work of racial justice, consultant and theatre teaching artist Tina LaPadula, joined me to lead a session on Social Justice Essentials for Arts Funders. We kicked off this day of learning and dialogue centered on arts education, data, and creative aging with an engaged crew of thirty plus grantmakers from across the nation, representing family foundations, government, and corporate giving.

The 2016 GIA Conference is taking place Sunday, October 16 to Wednesday, October 19. The GIA Conference provides the only opportunity for arts grantmakers from across the country to come together to share knowledge and ideas, develop collective strategies, and learn about the latest initiatives in arts grantmaking. GIA will post live updates throughout the conference on its Twitter and Facebook pages.

As part of a lecture series at Rothko Chapel, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker recently spoke with Sarah Lewis, author and Harvard professor, about the intersection of the arts and human rights. Audio and video recordings of the talk are available online.

Lisa Cremin, a director with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and former GIA board member, has been recognized with a 2016 Governor’s Award for the Arts & Humanities. Cremin began working with the Community Foundation in 1993 and under her guidance its arts fund has grown to its current size of $9.2 million and in its lifetime has given away more than $12 million. She has been a dedicated advocate and evangelist for small to mid-sized arts organizations — groups producing powerful work — that provide access to the arts to underserved communities.

The New York State Council on the Arts had announced Mara Manus as the agency’s new executive director. Manus has served as executive director of the Public Theater in New York City as well as a program officer at the Ford Foundation. Previous roles also include director of Playwrights of New York, executive director of The Film Society of Lincoln Center and founding director of the Arthur Miller Foundation and Southampton Arts Center.

Ebony McKinney is a program officer with the San Francisco Arts Commission. She previously held positions with The BRITDOC Foundation in London, Intersection for the Arts, and the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. She has participated in grant review panels for the California College for the Arts Center for Art & Public Life, the National Endowment for the Arts, the San Jose Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission. McKinney was a part of the Emerging Leader Council of Americans for the Arts, where she co-chaired the engagement committee and the Emerging Ideas committee. She currently serves on the citizens advisory committee of Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund. McKinney holds an MA in cultural entrepreneurship and an MA in visual anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Lara Davis has been active in youth development and community arts education for more than a decade. She has served as a Seattle arts commissioner and as program director for Arts Corps, a youth arts organization. At the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Lara manages Creative Advantage, a public/private partnership to ensure equitable access to high quality arts learning for all Seattle students. Lara serves on the National Advisory Committee for the Teaching Artists Guild and facilitates equity and racial justice trainings. As a person of color, Lara understands the value of cross-cultural, multi-sector efforts to dismantle racism and other oppressions, and to promote justice. As an artist and arts administrator, she knows firsthand the power of creativity necessary to build access, foster engagement, transform communities, and inspire systemic change.

Grantmakers in the Arts is pleased to have a fantastic pair of bloggers covering the 2016 Conference in Saint Paul. Ebony McKinney, program officer with the San Francisco Arts Commission, and Lara Davis, Arts Education Manager for the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture will be posting their comments and reactions beginning Sunday, October 16.

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.