Carmen Graciela Díaz's Blog

The Guggenheim Museum has named Naomi Beckwith deputy director and chief curator, after Nancy Spector stepped down from that position amid charges of racism, The New York Times reported. Beckwith starts her new position in June, becoming the museum's first Black deputy director and chief curator.

Cooperative funding may be integral to sustaining a career in the arts, as an article in Next City explores.

Inside Philanthropy reminds readers that in July, a coalition of Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) theater-makers published an open letter titled “We See You, White American Theatre,” calling for change across the field in areas like hiring, work conditions and programming. This article asks: Five months later, are funders rising to the challenge?

A group of philanthropic organizations signed a joint letter condemning the violence that unfolded January 6 as a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol.

"The failure of trust sits at the intersection of two live debates in philanthropy. First, foundations are being called to give more to communities of color. Second, they are also being called to give capital that shows trust: long-term general operating support (GOS)," writes Jacob Harold, executive vice president of Candid.

Cave Canem, EcoTheo Review, and LOGOS Poetry Collective announced the launch of the Starshine and Clay Fellowship, a new initiative providing financial and development support to emerging Black poets, and fundraising opportunities for Cave Canem. Applications for this fellowship are accepted until January 31.

In a recent Artsy article, Kemi Ilesanmi, executive director of The Laundromat Project (The LP), discussed the mission and the work of this New York–based, POC-centered organization "that aims to meet the concerns of local communities of color and enact change through public engagements with the arts by actualizing spaces like community gardens, plazas, and, yes, laundromats."

In "The importance of BIPOC voices and the unique challenges BIPOC content creators face," Vu Le writes in his Nonprofit AF blog, about talented BIPOC folks that are "hesitant to contribute content and get their voices out there."

"We must build up people of color and Indigenous-led philanthropic and movement infrastructure organizations in order to challenge the power structures in this country and invest into the self-determination of the people on the frontlines," said Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective president & CEO, as he recaps the past month of mobilization in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report from the United States Department of Arts and Culture tackles how "as natural disasters and social emergencies multiply, the need has grown for ethical, creative, and effective artistic response—arts-based work responding to disaster or other community-wide emergency, much of it created in collaboration with community members directly affected."