Racial Equity in Grantmaking for Individual Artists

Sunday, October 29, 2:00pm – 3:15pm

Organized by Brian McGuigan, Program Director, Artist Trust.

Moderated by Angela Gaspar-Milanovic, Director of Grants and Professional Development, Los Angeles County Arts Commission. Presented by Tony Grant, Co-director, Sustainable Arts Foundation; Ruby Lopez Harper, Director of Local Arts Services, Americans for the Arts; and Brian McGuigan, Program Director, Artist Trust.

Many arts organizations are making commitments to racial equity, but structural racism, organizational history, and implicit bias, among many other factors, have made this work challenging for well-meaning grantmakers. This session will bring together three funders of individual artists: a national nonprofit, a state nonprofit, and a private foundation. Each will discuss their own strategies and initiatives for racial equity, how they have implemented them in their selection processes, and their efforts to engage with artists of color and communities. Panelists and participants will have an open conversation to discuss ideas and techniques for achieving racial equity in their grantmaking programs and identify next steps to turn commitment into action.