See You in Denver!

We’re off to Denver to get everything ready for the 2019 GIA Conference: Cultural Intersections. The conference begins on Sunday, October 13 and runs through Wednesday, October 16.

You can follow the convening and join the conversation using the hashtags #culturalintersections and #GIArts on social media. GIA will also post updates on our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages. You can also read reports from the convening on the official conference blog written by critic Ray Mark Rinaldi and journalist Bree Davies. Looking forward to meeting all of you!

A Special Preview: The 30th Anniversary of the GIA Reader

As a preview of the 30.3 GIA Reader, here we share three poems by Bobby LeFebre, Colorado’s new poet laureate and the first of color, Toluwanimi Obiwole, and Adrian H Molina aka Molina Speaks. We’re excited to give you a sneak peek to the upcoming Fall 2019 issue which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Reader. Read here.

October Member Spotlight

This month, GIA’s Member Spotlight goes to Bohemian Foundation, a private family foundation based in Fort Collins, Colorado, that works through four separate program areas --global, community, civic and music-- to empower and impact communities. Read about Bohemian’s work here.

“After the Story, Comes the Critique: Funders leading narrative change efforts” webinar

Critics, like storytellers, have a powerful role in contextualizing narratives. They can uniquely intercede with a counter story, offer deeper historical exposition, or highlight an alternative shared experience while advocating for silenced voices. In this webinar we’re interested in exploring what’s possible when the critics voice is from the ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) community, their impact upon the field, and what role funders can play.

Join us as we close GIA’s narrative change series with this webinar on November 12 at 3pm EDT/11am PDT with Chi-hui Yang (Ford Foundation) and Elizabeth Méndez Berry (The Nathan Cummings Foundation). They will lead discussion on media critique, speak to their collaborative project Critical Minded, and share how funders can lead narrative change. Details and registration here.

Supporting Arts and Culture Organizations to Advance Equity at the Community Level

Philanthropy has a crucial role in supporting arts and culture organizations to address inequities at the community level, write Kerry McCarthy, vice president for philanthropic initiatives for The New York Community Trust, and Maurine Knighton, program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, in Stanford Social Innovation Review…

Arts Writers Reflect on the Founding of Creative Capital

Creative Capital has invited 12 arts writers to explore key moments in the history of the Creative Capital Award in celebration of the nonprofit’s 20th anniversary. The Los Angeles Review of Books in collaboration with Creative Capital has begun publishing 12 essays over 12 months on issues facing contemporary art in the United States, as the magazine states…

The Importance of Eliminating Colonialism in Philanthropy: A review of “Decolonizing Wealth”

In his review of Edgar Villanueva’s Decolonizing Wealth, Michael Seltzer, distinguished lecturer at the Marxe School of Public Affairs at Baruch College, discusses that the book places a spotlight on “how colonialism has been perpetuated and the importance of eliminating its persistence in today’s wealth and philanthropic circles in particular”…

Chicago Nonprofit Will Award $900,000 to ALAANA Artists

A cultural nonprofit that supports visual artists in Chicago, Threewalls, announced that it will award $900,000 to artists who identify as African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA), according to Artforum. The initiative was launched after Threewalls received $1.2 million from the Surdna Foundation…