Observation #3: What I see isn’t what I get

There are more people of color here than people of the usual colors. It’s amazing and, to an outsider, unexpected. So many women, so many shades of skin. LGBT folks. Younger and older. It’s the dream, right? Real-time diversity. And the talk about race and funding is surprisingly and admirably direct.

But honestly, in my 20 years of reporting on funding and funding agencies, in my explorations of what they fund and in my pieces on fund recipients, it’s a much whiter world. The decision-makers and the boards are whiter. The legislatures that approve or deny funding are whiter. The money is still going to Euro-based expressions of creativity.

So, what’s the deal? Today, I’m not seeing a lot of the people who make the big decisions in this field taking part in this discussion. It’s a little disappointing.