Arts and Social Justice

“Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust’s nearly $141 million in grantmaking during the last half of 2021 is a keen expression of both its legacy of long-term strategic investment in Maricopa County’s (AZ) resilience and its unique ability to respond powerfully to unfolding crises,” announced in the Business Wire.

“Grants management professionals are strategically positioned to influence a funder’s racial equity and racial justice funding. But in three decades of working in and with foundations, I have consistently seen a pattern where people serving in these roles are excluded from these conversations as a matter of institutional habit,” explains Lori Villarosa, Founder and Executive Director, Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Justice.

Forecast Public Art announced the Public Art for Racial Justice Fund to, “provide much needed guidance, coaching and technical assistance to artists and communities as they undertake the complex task of confronting racial inequities...”

For Richmond-based artist Austin “Auz” Miles, the impact of her work is right there in the communities where she paints,” reports Nia Norris in NextCity. Elaborating, “Miles is part of a collective called All City Art Club whose mission is to bring murals to the Southside.”

"We are thrilled and delighted to be launching two new Artists At Work (AAW) programs in the Mississippi Delta and Greater Chattanooga Thrive Region," AAW shared in an announcement earlier this month. "We are honored to be championing these artists and their communities as they work together on projects that highlight the positive impacts of artistic civic engagement."

Robin D. G. Kelley shares "Back to the Future: Complex Movements Make Revolution," an essay from memory on a conversation with 2022 Knight Arts + Tech Fellows Complex Movements in Shift Space 2.0, a publication exploring new media landscapes. Kelley recollects, "Radical philosopher Grace Lee Boggs (1915–2015) was the catalyst for Complex Movements, which took its name in 2010 after listening to her invoke quantum theory to explain new directions in organizing."

A new report from Salzburg Global Seminar, The Creative Power of the Arts: Reimagining Human and Planetary Flourishing looks at creative reforms in the target areas of climate, health, education, and justice. According to the announcement, "As the world confronts the compounded impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, and structural injustices, societies are bracing for a protracted and complex period of reassessment, reimagination, and restructuring. The culture and arts sector must be at the table and included in decision-making processes as societies seek to eschew a return to 'normal' and instead reimagine more creative pathways towards human and planetary flourishing."

Playwright Lynn Nottage, director Kate Whoriskey, and Ford Foundation president Darren Walker gather for a conversation about a new production, "Clyde's," at Second Stage Theater. Supported by the Art for Justice Fund, with the goal of ending mass incarceration and underlying racial bias through art and advocacy, "Clyde's" shines a needed light on the importance of 'fair chance' employment opportunities to empower people to rebuild their lives who are returning home from prison face many challenges and this play.

"The Open Society Foundations are proud to announce their Justice Rising Awards, a new investment in leaders working towards racial justice and equality in the Black community in the United States," according to the press release. "The 16 awardees from across the country are being recognized for their long-term contributions to advancing change in their communities, tireless commitment to civil rights, and capacity to inspire, innovate, and mobilize people despite considerable odds."