Are We Making a Difference? Evaluating the Impact of Arts and Social Justice Projects

Tuesday, October 16, 9:30am – 11:00am

Organized by Judi Jennings, executive director, Kentucky Foundation for Women; Maurine Knighton, senior vice president and program director, arts & culture, Nathan Cummings Foundation; Lynn Stern, senior program officer, Thriving Cultures, Surdna Foundation.

Presented by Ken Chen, executive director, The Asian American Writers' Workshop; Jenny Lee, co-director, Allied Media Projects; Sen Rinku, president & executive director, Applied Research Center.

How do the twin goals of strong artistic expression and measureable social impact find balance in artists’ creative work around social change? What does success look like in arts and social justice projects from the viewpoint of aesthetics? Social justice advocacy goals? Is there a holistic definition of success that bridges the fields of arts & culture and social justice advocacy? In the opening panel conversation of this salon session, grantmakers will learn how artists and social justice advocates think about impact and the way it is measured in arts and social justice projects. Reflecting on this information, grantmakers will then discuss and define their understanding of success as it relates to these projects.