GIA Blog

Reflecting on: How can funders apply an equity framework in this moment that’s based on need, lack of access to resources, etc.? Is this moment inherently different from responses to previous crises?

Earth Day 2020. I am sheltering in place in Minneapolis, MN, working from home. I have a Zoom meeting coming up on my calendar, but there’s time to squeeze in at least half of the Facebook Live event for Toshi Reagon’s concert version of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower, produced by New York University Abu Dhabi. Toshi begins softly chanting “What you gonna do? What you gonna do? What you gonna do?” The chanting builds to the song “What You Gonna Do When This World’s On Fire.” A perfect exhortation for this time.

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.

Mary Dell’Erba and Erika Hawthorne

Reflecting on: What resources are available for arts education organizations seeking immediate relief?

There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and the many cancellations and shutdowns happening in response to it. Working through a crisis isn’t easy, and we applaud our colleagues for persevering to keep equitable access to arts education a priority as we adapt to a new normal.

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.

In GIA's March 19 webinar “Emergency Preparedness and Response: COVID19 and the Arts Ecosystem,” Caitlin Strokosch, president & CEO of the National Performance Network (NPN), reflected on the importance for the philanthropic field of not going back to "normal."

On April 27, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced a new grant competition which would allow select States to expand access to arts courses in K-12 schools. Applications for the Expanding Access to Well-Rounded Courses Demonstration Grants program must be submitted by June 26. ED has outlined that this competitive grant program will have $6.47 million in total funds and estimates it will award about $2 million per year to 2 to 4 States.

For the month of May, GIA’s photo banner features work supported by First Nations Development Institute.

From Dance/NYC by Alejandra Duque Cifuentes and Rosemary Reyes

Reflecting on: What are grantees asking for? How can funders listen and respond accordingly?

As a major service organization for dance in the metropolitan New York City area, Dance/NYC had to move quickly to address the needs of all of our constituents when COVID-19 arrived in March 2020.

The Flamboyan Arts Fund and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from Broadway Cares, launched a $1 million emergency relief fund to support individual artists and cultural organizations in Puerto Rico to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and culture sector in the island.

"Approaching your grantmaking with a racial justice lens is not just for times of crisis. By employing this lens at all times, funders can unlock long-term transformational impact and strengthen the community-wide infrastructure needed to foresee, respond to, and avert potential damages from crises like the COVID-19 pandemic."