Arts and Environment

"Creativity, Culture & Capital is a collaborative project between Arts & Culture Finance (UK), Upstart Co-Lab (US) and Fundación Compromiso (Argentina), three women-led non-profit organisations, all working at the intersection of impact investment and the creative economy."

From the New York Times: "Maricruz Rivera Clemente’s community was among those hit hard by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017."

"She and her neighbors in Piñones, a neighborhood in Loíza on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico, about 15 miles east of San Juan, were without power for months."

"And after seeing ecological damage she likened to an atomic bomb, Ms. Rivera Clemente, a social worker and sociologist, made a plan for her community organization to try to keep her neighbors safe in the future."

From Filantropía Puerto Rico: Este próximo Giving Tuesday, 29 de noviembre, no te pierdas el primer episodio de nuestro podcast EN VIVO: Somos Filantropía Podcast. En este episodio, Mary Ann Gabino, Vicepresidenta Senior de la Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico, conversará con Glenisse Pagán, Directora Ejecutiva de Filantropía Puerto Rico, para hablar sobre el rol y la importancia del ecosistema filantrópico de nuestra isla.

"Long before the pandemic hit, Americans living in rural areas have faced a daunting list of problems—a diminishing number of hospitals, limited transportation options, population decline, lack of broadband access, high levels of poverty, and more."

"According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Rural America at a Glance 2021” report, about 46 million people—or 14% of the total U.S. population—live in rural areas. The report found that people who live in these areas “often face greater difficulties accessing provisions and services or commuting to work, among other economic challenges.” These challenges have made it all the more difficult for rural Americans to cope with and recover from shocks and stresses, including but not limited to the pandemic."

From Mellon Foundation, "In the face of redlining and municipal disinvestment, the Sweet Water Foundation (SWF) has worked within its neighborhood—at the nexus of Englewood and Washington Park on Chicago’s South Side—to turn what was once considered by many a no-man’s land into a vibrant model for Regenerative Neighborhood Development. Among its bounties: a community farm spanning a full city block, a hand-raised timber frame pavilion for community events known as the Thought Barn, and the historic Civic Arts Church now returning to its origins as a space for spirituality, creativity, and safety, especially for the Black community."

"The Center for Disaster Philanthropy is hosting a webinar to help foundations, corporations and individual donors learn about the storm, the impact of the devastating flooding and how they can help affected communities." The webinar takes place on Thursday, September 22 at 2pm ET. Registration is required.

From Filantropic Puerto Rico: "Today, five years after Hurricane María, Hurricane Fiona has caused catastrophic rainfalls, major mudslides that have left whole communities inaccessible, rivers have overflowed causing tragedies and debris has blocked some of the main streets and highways across Puerto Rico. The hurricane also caused the fragile power grid to shut down, provoking an islandwide blackout that also left the majority of the population without access to clean water."

"The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is seeking proposals from artists to decorate its 46,000-pound waste collection vehicles. But artists whose designs are selected will not be paid, raising questions about whether the city’s open call devalues art," said Jasmine Liu for Hyperallergic. "DSNY is rebooting this public art project, Trucks of Art, for the second time, and will be accepting expressions of interest from artists until September 18. Its inaugural edition happened in 2019, when four artists and students in a visual arts class were selected to cover the 400-square-foot blank “canvases” with images of sanitation workers, recycling, and flowers. Almost 100 artists applied, and Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia at the time called the designs 'truly … works of art.'"

"How can we stop the world from burning? For many years, I responded to that question as an environmental advocate," said author Manisha Bapna for Orion

"In our fight against climate change, my colleagues and I employ hard-edged tools such as legislation, policy, and litigation—all informed by science and real-world impacts on people and nature. But as the Anthropocene accelerates and our time runs out to set the world on a more sustainable and equitable course, I have come to recognize that these tools alone cannot change the world fast enough to save it."

From the National Endowment for the Arts, "This Arts Data Profile gives national and state-level estimates of artists in the workforce. The figures derive from American Community Survey (ACS) data covering 2015-2019. The ACS is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. State-level estimates are available for the total number of artists and for each individual type of artist (workers in any of 13 specific artist occupations)."