James Canales

As with many of our foundation peers, the Barr Foundation has been grappling with what 2020 demands of us. This year has brought a global pandemic with devastating health and economic impacts as well as the fraying of civil discourse and public trust in government and democracy. Simultaneously, our country is facing a long overdue national reckoning with systemic racism and anti-Blackness. At Barr, this is all leading us to ask ourselves some fundamental questions: How do we best live out our values? How do we advance our philanthropic mission in this context?

As arts funders, we often perceive our capacity to direct financial resources to worthy arts organizations as the most valuable tool at our disposal. That's probably correct and, indeed, as it should be. After all, most of our institutions have been established by donors for the core purpose of grantmaking, and the law mandates that we award grants for public benefit.