Grantmakers in the Arts

For Richmond-based artist Austin “Auz” Miles, the impact of her work is right there in the communities where she paints,” reports Nia Norris in NextCity. Elaborating, “Miles is part of a collective called All City Art Club whose mission is to bring murals to the Southside.”

In an Upack the Past feature in Al Jazeera, Donna J. Nicol writes, “From New Deal liberalism in the 1930s to the academic culture wars of the 1980s and the rise of Donald Trump, how White fears of losing power led to philanthropy that openly discouraged discussions of race and diversity.”

“Hauser & Wirth Institute gives $700,000 in grants to preserving historical records,” reports Benjamin Sutton in the Art Newspaper. “One of the things we’re trying to do is set a new precedent for models of philanthropy in art,” says Lisa Darms, the executive director of Hauser & Wirth Institute.

The BNP Paribas Foundation, the philanthropic arm of BNP Paribas, Europe’s leading financial institution, announced the donation of $30 000 CAD/year to the DAREarts “All the Arts” program. “This support is part of the BNP Paribas Foundation’s international program, Dream Up, which offers to disadvantaged children and teenagers around the world the opportunity to practice a wide range of artistic disciplines,” announced Business Wire.

"We are thrilled and delighted to be launching two new Artists At Work (AAW) programs in the Mississippi Delta and Greater Chattanooga Thrive Region," AAW shared in an announcement earlier this month. "We are honored to be championing these artists and their communities as they work together on projects that highlight the positive impacts of artistic civic engagement."

“The very essence of philanthropy is to not accept the world as it is, but to demand and work toward the world as it should be. Too often, though, philanthropy fails to achieve this goal and ends up as a mirror of what is happening in society rather than as a prism previewing a better future,” state Anne Price and Jhumpa Bhattacharya in Non Profit Quarterly.

“Although major cultural institutions, businesses and organizations have made renewed commitments to supporting arts organizations led by BIPOC leaders since 2020, Black-owned art galleries and collections have long played a central role in diversifying the art market and acquiring artwork of artists from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds,” purports Sabrina Greig in NewCity Art.

“American philanthropies, museums and universities have accepted millions of dollars from tycoons aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including several who are the targets of Western sanctions, according to an analysis by anti-corruption researchers,” reported Peter Whoriskey in The Washington Post.