Grantmakers in the Arts

Frances Phillips reviews research about an arts education program the Walter & Elise Haas Foundation participated in over the past year responding to the idea of Emily Garvie from the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation "of organizing arts nonprofits to lead subsidized pods for students who lacked access to consistent arts learning and schoolwork support."

National Performance Network (NPN) recently announced inaugural awardees of the Take Notice Fund, a pilot program awarding $5,000 grants to artists and culture bearers of color living and working throughout Louisiana whose bodies of work represent excellence, dedication to their practices, and contributions to this country’s discourse about racial equity and cultural preservation.

Instead of fundraising for its own budget, this year's Laundromat Project’s annual “People-Powered Challenge” campaign "will 'pay it forward,' distributing $50,000 to support the work of other orgs led by people of color," states a recent article in Hyperallergic.

3Arts, the Chicago-based nonprofit grantmaking organization, recently expanded funding in response to increasingly stringent times for women artists, artists of color, and Deaf and disabled artists.

In late 2020, GIA shared findings from a survey of our members that revealed that arts grantmakers were increasing their giving, their flexibility, and support for BIPOC artists and organizations in response to the pandemic and movement for Black lives.

The Mosaic Network and Fund Funder Learning Intensive 2021-2022, a one-year online learning intensive aimed at supporting a cohort of up to 100 New York City-based arts funders in their efforts to normalize racial justice concepts and implement racial equity practices at their organizations, is seeking participants.

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) released three research studies exploring policies, programs, and funding practices to improve equity and accessibility in state arts agencies' work.

A recent piece at The Nation explores this question, "Can philanthropy decolonize?". Author Tim Schwab states in this piece that "only if wealthy donors grapple with the difference between giving away money and actually sharing power."