Meet our Newest Team Member: Zoë Williams

Zoë Williams, GIA’s new Development Associate, is a first-generation Jamaican American who holds a B.F.A in Acting and Performance Arts from the University at Albany. Zoë fell into Development five years ago at The Drawing Center at an assistant level, where she received a crash course into the arts world in NYC. With the help of strong mentorship, Zoë has had the opportunity to serve at the Brooklyn Children’s Musuem and The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Supporting inclusion and equity in the Arts & Culture spectrum is her passion. Other passions include, being a mother, traveling, cooking, dancing, and attending live theater. Welcome Zoë!

The Solidarity Economy and Culture: The latest President’s Blog

In his most recent President’s Blog, Eddie Torres reflects on Solidarity Not Charity – a report by Natalia Linares and Caroline Woolard, commissioned by GIA with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation and the Barr Foundation. Don’t miss his reflections and the report’s interactive website.

Call for Sessions: 2021 GIA Conference

Grantmakers in the Arts is currently seeking session proposals for the 2021 GIA Conference, to be held November 7-10 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The GIA Conference is the largest annual convening of arts funders and the most comprehensive opportunity for our colleagues in the field to learn from each other. We greatly value the experience, ideas, and programs that members share with each other and the field at large. GIA members are invited to propose conference sessions on our website.

Proposals must be submitted by April 28 at 5pm EDT. To submit your proposals, or for more information, visit our Call for Sessions page.

“Advancing Art & Advocacy: Abolition opportunities in juvenile detention” webinar

The Art for Justice Fund, a five-year initiative established by Agnes Gund, is disrupting mass incarceration by funding artists, youth activists, and advocates working together to reform our criminal justice system. Joining us in our webinar on April 27 are Shaun Leonardo (artist and performer); Margaret Morton (Ford Foundation); Hernán Carvente Martinez (Youth First Initiative); Mark Strandquist (Performing Statistics); and Risë Wilson (Art for Justice Fund) to discuss the program structure, what they learned, and why it is so crucial for art funders and justice funders to collaborate to disrupt and illuminate the inequitable laws and practices that drive mass incarceration and juvenile detention, and disproportionately impact ALAANA communities. Details and registration here.

Data from 2019 analyzed by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows growth in the arts and cultural sector before the coronavirus pandemic…

“Amidst both a catastrophic pandemic and calls for reformed funding practices (especially in support of BIPOC communities), philanthropic giving to arts and culture provides a unique opportunity for funders to reevaluate their funding, evaluation, and decision-making processes,” writes Michael Sy Uy at the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s blog…

NOCD-NY and Arts & Democracy recently convened a peer learning exchange about how stories, narrative, and cultural power can help create a just and liberatory vision for the future at the “Narrative Power, Cultural Strategies and New Civic Vision” event…