Grantmakers in the Arts

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 (NCRP) and Grantmakers for Southern Progress (GSP) in a recently released report. The Bearing Fruit report, part of the As the South Grows series, focuses on Metro Atlanta, revealing among other data that only 2% of grantmaking goes to power-building strategies and only 20% goes to underserved communities.

A conversation with staff about inclusion is fundamental in order for them to feel both welcome and able to contribute to a foundation’s work when sharing their experiences, affirms Kevin Bolduc, vice president of assessment and advisory services at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP).

Arts are a key part of our emotional and intellectual life, and they also play a significant role in our economy. A recent report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), with support from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), found that arts and cultural economic activity in the United States contributed $763.6 billion, in one year.

In times when it feels necessary to reiterate the impact of the arts and arts education across peoples’ lives, arts advocates from across the United States will gather in Washington, D.C. on March 12 and 13, for Arts Advocacy Day.

The event is expected to bring together a broad representation of the nation’s cultural and civic organizations, along with grassroots advocates, to stress the “importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts,” according to Americans for the Arts, the organization that hosts the annual convening.

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). Reina Mukai, research manager for the Foundation Center, and Ryan Stubbs, research director for NASAA, share their insight into what these findings reveal about the current arts grantmaking environment.

Pam Breaux, president & CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), addresses in a recent interview with Barry’s Blog some of the challenges state arts agency leaders face in the current arts funding climate and highlights that advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion is among the core issues facing these agencies.

In a recent Artsy article, “What’s Driving Nonprofits into the Art World’s Arms,” a piece that points to potentials for cross-sector philanthropy, Anna Louie Sussman tackles how the historic link between arts communities and the nonprofit sector have been solidifying as more people, including artists, seek political engagement following the 2016 presidential election.