Last Call for Session Proposals – 2018 GIA Conference

Today is the last chance to submit proposals to Grantmakers in the Arts for the 2018 Conference in Oakland, California from Sunday, October 21 through Wednesday, October 24. The GIA Conference is the largest annual convening of arts funders and the most comprehensive opportunity for our colleagues in the field to learn from each other. We greatly value the experience, ideas, and programs that members share with each other and the field at large. GIA members are invited to propose conference sessions on our website no later than 5:00 pm EDT, today.

If you still need to renew your GIA membership, you can now renew your GIA 2018 Membership online.

“Arts Funding at Twenty-Five” Webinar

Released in the Winter 2018 GIA Reader, the report “Arts Funding at Twenty-Five: What data and analysis continue to tell funders about the field,” by Steven Lawrence, examines changing sources of support for arts and culture from the 1980s forward and the factors propelling those trends. A presentation of his findings offered by Lawrence will mark the beginning of the 2018 GIA Webinar Series. Lawrence will review key findings and highlight more recent funding data that suggest the arts are not keeping pace with other sectors. This webinar will be facilitated by GIA President and CEO Eddie Torres.

“Arts Funding at Twenty-Five” will be held next Tuesday, March 27, at 2pm EDT / 11am PDT. Details and registration available here.

“GIA’s Annual Research on Support for Arts and Culture” Webinar

Published in the Winter 2018 edition of GIA Reader, the latest edition of GIA’s annual Arts Funding Snapshot includes “Foundation Grants to Arts and Culture, 2015,” based on the most recent completed year of Foundation Center data, and “Public Funding for the Arts, 2017,” prepared by the National Assembly of State Art Agencies (NASAA).

Join Reina Mukai, research manager for the Foundation Center, and Ryan Stubbs, research director for NASAA, for a summary of key findings, as well as insight into what these findings reveal about the current arts grantmaking environment. Session 2 of the 2018 GIA Webinar Series will take place on Tuesday, April 10, at 2pm EDT / 11am PDT. Details and registration available here.

New from the GIA Reader

Published in the Winter 2018 edition of the GIA Reader, Ben Cameron, president of the Jerome Foundation, discusses the processes by which the board of directors explored the organization’s next chapter in “Organizational Planning: Beyond Mission.” Cameron details the strategic decision to forego scrutinizing the mission statement, and rather to focus on values – precise, realizable, and potential – that can permeate the organization and provide a strategic framework for future grantmaking.

Video: Sphinx Virtuosi at the 2017 GIA Conference

Afa Dworkin, president and artistic director of the Sphinx Organization, introduces a mesmerizing performance by Sphinx Virtuosi at the Closing Plenary at last year’s Conference in Detroit. Before showcasing their music, Dworkin speaks about the orchestra’s mission of “transforming lives for the power of diversity in the arts” through a pipeline, reaching young people from elementary schools to arts leadership. Enjoy the performance!

The arts community mourns the loss of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York, who died Friday in Washington, D.C. She was 88…

Before ceasing publication at the end of 2017, Createquity released a set of recommendations for arts philanthropists, including suggestions to create greater impact for the sector…

The Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF) will align 100 percent of their nearly half-billion dollar endowment with their mission, says their announcement. NCF is focused on finding solutions to climate crisis and growing inequality…

OpenNotes, an initiative that aims to make health care more transparent through open relationships between doctors and patients, serves as an imperfect, yet instructive model for how to strengthen relationships between funders and grantees…

Southern communities have long been working to dismantle racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic barriers despite few resources and little support from philanthropy, explains the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and Grantmakers for Southern Progress in a recently released report. The Bearing Fruit report, part of the As the South Grows series, focuses on Metro Atlanta…