GIA Blog

"In the same city where state lawmakers passed the strictest trans healthcare ban in the nation, members of a Black, trans and queer-led organization cracked jokes, blew bubbles, played cards, found compassion and community during a recent sunny Sunday afternoon at Shakespeare Park in Montgomery, Ala," said author Jonece Starr Dunigan for the Reckon.

The Wallace Foundation has released a new report that, "suggests that Black communities most value arts experiences that celebrate their creativity, support self-care, earn their trust and foster a sense of belonging."

From the Wallace Foundation: "As a part of The Wallace Foundation’s five-year initiative intended to support arts organizations rooted in communities of color as they explore strategies for achieving organizational resilience (ability to adapt and thrive) while retaining their relevance (mattering to their communities), the Foundation invites arts service organizations serving and prioritizing such arts organizations to propose research projects that answer important questions related to the arts communities they serve."

"Organized philanthropy, like most things, looks different on the inside than it does from the outside," said author Nicholas Lemann in a recent article for the New Yorker. “'Philanthropy' comes from the Greek for 'love of humanity,' and public perceptions of it have usually centered on donors and how humanity-loving they really are. The good guys are generous rich people who give to causes we all approve of, like combatting climate change; the bad guys give in order to launder their reputations (like the opioid-promoting Sackler family) or to advance unsavory goals (like the anti-environmentalist Kochs). Either way, the salient questions about philanthropy, for most people, have to do with the size and the quality of a donor’s heart and soul."

Authors Aja Couchois Duncan and Kad Smith explore how, "in our nonprofit sector, we are often confronted with making sense of the widespread translatability of cultural moments and forces. We don’t have to look far to see how cancel culture informs the way in which we experience everyday interactions on the Internet and in real life." How can we separate ourselves from toxicity, and bring healing instead?

"Please join Chair Maria Rosario Jackson and NEA partners for an overview of the NEA’s Equity Action Plan," on Wednesday, June 1 from 2-3pm ET via zoom. The session is free, but registration is required. Questions for the panel will be accepted until May 27.

Congratulations to GIA's Support for Individual Artists co-chair Celeste Smith, who was selected for the Bridging Fellows Program. "The Bridging Fellows program provides changemakers in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Dallas the opportunity to strengthen their individual and collective leadership capacity and grow networks to support building healthy and equitable communities."

"Events at the Whitney Museum of American Art this year have featured a consistent new guest: the museum’s union. Last night, at the museum’s annual gala and Studio Party, about 50 people turned out, standing on the curb with signs bearing such slogans as 'LIVING ARTISTS LIVING WAGES,' 'HONK FOR A FAIR CONTRACT,' and 'WHITNEY WORKERS WANT FAIR WAGES' and banging on drums as guests filed into the museum’s lobby for a luxe dinner," said artnet news. "Compared to the demonstration that followed the opening of the Whitney Biennial, it was a clear increase in participation, plausibly stemming from a wage offer on April 19 that fell far below the union’s proposal."

Join the virtual Funder Briefing Friday, May 20 at 9am PST/12pm EST hosted by Live Free USA, Joyce Foundation, Ford Foundation, Arnold Ventures, and VOICE Buffalo. Registration is required to join.

Candid interviewed Amanda Moniz, Ph.D., the David M. Rubenstein Curator of Philanthropy at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, who is responsible for, "[building] a collection of objects telling stories about Americans’ giving throughout our history." The museum's new exhibition, Giving in America, "includes one of the first copies of [the] Foundation Directory."