Honoring Departing Board Members
On behalf of the GIA board and team, we want to thank outgoing board members Jaime Dempsey and Ken May for their incredible service!
2023 Support for Individual Artists Committee: Call for Interest
The Support for Individual Artists Committee of Grantmakers in the Arts seeks individuals to serve on the Committee. The Committee comprises up to twenty GIA members in good standing, representing a spectrum of grantmakers who personally believe in the importance of supporting individual artists. The Committee meets monthly on the last Thursday of every month. These switch between business and voluntary peer-to-peer “hive mind” meetings.
Committee members may serve up to two (2) three-year terms and a required year off the committee after six years of service. Co-chairs serve staggered, two-year terms.
To express interest in joining the committee or to suggest a colleague, please complete this form by Tuesday, December 20, 2022.
You may also contact GIA senior program manager Sherylynn Sealy or current committee co-chairs, Celeste Smith and Lauren Slone, with additional questions.
GIA Reader Guest Editor Series on Liberation: New Moon Reflections of Liberation
Meena Malik, vocalist, arts consultant, cultural organizer, and GIA Reader guest Editor offers an opening frame for a collective of articles, poetry, music, short films, and artistic practices that each, in their own ways, bring clarity to the questions: What does practicing liberation look like for you? What does liberation look like in process/in practice?
In New Moon Reflections of Liberation, interdisciplinary artist, community organizer, and arts administrator Shey 'Rí Acu' Rivera Ríos describes liberation as, “a network of fractals, pieces from everyone. This word comes with expectations, hopes, aspirations, histories, and legacies. It summons feelings, images, memories, and action. It names our oppressions while at the same time it reassures us that there are paths forward. Liberation means there is possibility, something different, something beyond our current circumstance. Liberation is Black. It is Indigenous. It is Trans and queer and disabled. Liberation is land back, it is reparations, it is loving your partner in public in the most joyous way without the fear of being killed. It is Black mothers raising their children knowing that they will be safe and supported in the world. Liberation is labor equity, it means our lives are worth more than capital.”
Read the full piece at the Reader and look out for all 10 pieces to be shared throughout the winter.
Thomas S. Kenan Institute is GIA’s Member Spotlight!
During the months of December and January, our Member Spotlight features Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts. The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts was established in 1993 to strengthen the arts by initiating and incubating new ideas within the various constituencies and settings of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). Regionally and nationally, the Kenan Institute collaborates with artists and partners with cultural organizations to advance the creative community. The Institute has been a GIA member for more than 25 years. Throughout its 30-year history, the Kenan Institute has developed programs and provided funding to support arts in education, career opportunities for creatives, research on cultural policy, and the role of arts in society. Learn about their work.
Photo Courtesy: Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts | Credit: Owens Daniels Photography
"Art in This Present Moment is an initiative of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation that provides support to artists who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who are changing and challenging dominant narratives through their craft..."
From Pop Culture Collaborative: "It was 2018, in the last few hours of ENTERTAIN CHANGE, a two-day learning and relationship-building gathering for pop culture narrative change field members. Hosted by the Pop Culture Collaborative, ENTERTAIN CHANGE took place at the gorgeous ARRAY campus in Los Angeles, the creative home of award-winning film director and producer Ava DuVernay..."
From Mellon Foundation: Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes was no stranger to the significance of Ashé Cultural Arts Center when she joined the non-profit as chief equity officer in January 2020...
From ARTnews: "For the first time in two decades, the American Alliance of Museums, an organization that oversees policies around museums in the U.S., will update standards that apply to museum workforces related to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI)..."
In the latest episode of Art Restart with the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, they are joined by Trey McIntyre, "a graduate of the UNCSA School of Dance, [who] went on to the Houston Ballet Academy whereupon finishing his training, he was given the position of Choreographic Apprentice at the Ballet..."
From Philadelphia's Cultural Treasures: "The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in collaboration with The Barra Foundation, Neubauer Family Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation announced today $1,170,000 in fellowships to 12 Philadelphia-area artists and cultural practitioners of color through the Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures (PCT) funding initiative. These fellowships are awarded as part of the regional component of America’s Cultural Treasures, an initiative created by the Ford Foundation. The PCT efforts specifically support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) cultural group..."
