Arts Funders Respond

"When it comes to racial bias, you either participate in it actively or through silence, or you use your power and privilege to dismantle it. Each day you make this choice – when you serve as a juror, when you call the police or see someone else call and when and for whom you vote. If oppression happens, then we are allowing it to happen and we are all in the position to stop it."

"This time, our sector must make a long-term commitment to fund grassroots organizations working to end anti-Black racism and state-sanctioned violence," details a recent statement from Borealis Philanthropy responding to the urgent conversations around anti-Black racism and police brutality.

Urgent times call for urgent responses. The Covid-19 pandemic along with what many have called out as a "racism pandemic" led the Ford Foundation to announce it will spend beyond the 5% minimum required from their endowment during this unparalleled moment.

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.

   Download this letter as a .pdf (90Kb)

Dear colleagues,

I’m sending this letter now to rally the arts funding community during this difficult moment to not only react to crisis but also to be sure we treat this as moment to create our desired future. I write this letter as a follow up to the Grantmakers in the Arts webinar, COVID19 and the arts ecosystem and a pre-amble to ongoing programming throughout the year that will highlight examples of inspiring work that is happening now and of the future we can all create together.

Lisa Pilar Cowan, vice president of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, shared recently how the foundation has started to take action in light of the ongoing impact of the coronavirus "to reflect where we are – off a cliff."

Grantmakers in the Arts is sharing resources and guidance on COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) and encouraging grantmakers to support their grantees by treating their funding flexibly in these difficult and rapidly shifting circumstances.

In a video series "Further Together: Helping artists thrive," the Kenneth Rainin Foundation moves forward equity conversations for a better philanthropic field as it asked its leaders to look to the future.

After funding loss, the Alaska State Council on the Arts closed its doors Monday July 15.  In a recent communication, Grantmakers in the Arts expressed its support of Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) and encouraged the state legislature and Governor’s office to restore the agency at prior funding levels in FY 2021. With … Continue reading Grantmakers in the Arts’ Response to Alaska Arts Council Funding Veto →

In The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s latest annual report, foundation President Elizabeth Alexander explains how the foundation works to support arts and humanities projects that advance a better world. Alexander writes that it is her aim to help Mellon adopt “a broader programmatic lens” and play “an even greater leadership role in higher education and the humanities” considering our rapidly changing … Continue reading Elizabeth Alexander, Mellon Foundation President, Reflects on Centering Community and Taking Diversity as a Value →