GIA Blog

In a new report, "Art Is Work: Policies to Support Creative Workers," the Commission on the Arts addresses "how can we better recognize the value of artists in our national policy in order to enable the essential work they do?"

In late 2020, Grantmakers in the Arts shared findings from a survey of our members. The survey revealed that arts grantmakers were increasing their giving, flexibility, support for artists, and support for BIPOC organizations in response to the pandemic and movement for Black lives. This is the second part of the follow-up to that survey. Read the first part here.

Increased Support for Individual Artists

As was the case with increased support and flexibility, GIA’s survey respondents have increased their support for individual artists and cultural workers beyond their earlier projections.

As cities increasingly use data to help shape policy and identify service gaps, what does this mean for arts and culture? The topic often generates skepticism around identifying metrics that capture the impact of the arts. But as the creative sector continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, data will be increasingly critical to shape policy, establish more equitable and inclusive practices, and affirm the importance of arts and culture as a public service well into the future.

Grantmakers in the Arts is seeking a Communications Manager to join its team in New York, NY. Responsibilities include the development of communication plans for GIA programs and information dissemination, including coordination of information from members and national partners. Further responsibilities include oversight and promotion of GIA’s communication platforms, including website; news feed; social media; weekly member bulletin; and blogs. Full details and application are here.

Sharnita C. Johnson, chair-elect of Grantmakers in the Arts Board, has been chosen as a winner of the 2021 Knight Arts Challenge in Detroit!.

In a recent blog post, Vu Le argues that "unfortunately, like many other widely accepted philosophies in our sector, “strategic philanthropy” has done significant harm to the sector."

Freedom is - always has been - in jeopardy, as so patently signal the continuing cultural wars that are being so fiercely contested, so intensive and damning.

"Art is an attempt to bring order to chaos," Stephen Sondheim once said. But the Puerto Rican radical theater group AgitArte has been acting on that premise for quite some time, disrupting, agitating with theater as their base.

During the months of December 2021 and January 2022, GIA’s photo banner features work supported by The Opportunity Fund.

Autonomy, an independent think tank, published recently a report about ‘artist as-worker’ in the UK, emphasizing notions of "artistic labour, and highlighting the sector’s interaction with wider trends, such as the gig economy and marketization in education."