Grantmakers in the Arts

August 8, 2017 by Monica in Emergency Readiness, Response, and Recovery

The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture has released a guide to arts-based work responding to disasters or other community-wide emergencies. The guide is intended for artists, emergency management agencies, funders, policy-makers, and communities responding to natural and civil emergencies with the intent to help communities organize and respond with care, compassion, and impact. Read Art Became the Oxygen: A Guide to Artistic Response.

August 8, 2017 by Monica

Former GIA board member Judith Jennings has been awarded the 2017 Sallie Bingham Award from the Kentucky Foundation for Women (KFW). The University of Kentucky (UK), Jennings’ alma mater, reports:

Jennings . . . served as executive director of KFW for 16 years until her retirement in 2014. During her tenure, she established KFW’s Special Project, which provides art-making opportunities for families of incarcerated people. During this period, Jennings also served for six years on the board of Grantmakers in the Arts and became a founding member of the Art x Culture x Social Justice Network.

Jennings was selected for the Bingham Award for her work advancing art for social change both nationally and statewide and for her integral role in putting Kentucky at the forefront of national conversations about the arts and social justice.

August 8, 2017 by Monica

Following up his interview with Laura Zucker last week, Barry Hessenius continues with another “Exit Interview” featuring former GIA board chair Robert Booker. Bob is retiring after 40 years of service in the nonprofit arts field, having most recently served as executive director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts. He also served on the GIA board from 2010 to 2016.

Read the interview on Barry’s Blog.

August 3, 2017 by Steve

In the latest issue of the GIA Reader, Caroline and Tony Grant of Sustainable Arts Foundation write about their efforts to examine and change its grantmaking practices with a racial equity lens. In 2016, the foundation announced its commitment to award at least half of its grants to artists of color. Read “I Once Was Blind: Acknowledging Race in Granting to Individuals.”

August 3, 2017 by Monica in Support for Individual Artists

An article on Artsy highlights a recent initiative and report by Upstart Co-Lab advocating the value of artists’ innovation and problem-solving skills in business settings:

August 2, 2017 by Monica

The National Endowment for the Arts has released a State of the Field: A Report from the Documentary Sustainability Summit. Released in partnership with the International Documentary Association (IDA), this report explores issues facing the documentary film community, with a goal of articulating tangible, actionable strategies and initiatives to positively impact the field and contribute to a sustainable and healthy ecosystem for documentary professionals.

August 1, 2017 by Monica

From Howlround:

Several forces have contributed to the erosion of sustainable models of journalism, and arts writers and reviewers have been hit particularly hard. This has affected theatres that depend on third-party coverage for promotion and professional reviews.

To explore ways in which arts service organizations (ASOs) can help alleviate the compound problems affecting arts journalism, the Association of Performing Arts Service Organizations (APASO) held a working session entitled: “Arts Service Organizations and Arts Journalists: Working Together.” Journalists and media experts worked with over twenty-five arts service organizations to crowdsource viable ideas to help fill the void in arts journalism.

August 1, 2017 by Monica

This week on his blog, Barry Hessenius published an “Exit Interview” with GIA board member Laura Zucker, who ended her 25-year tenure as executive director of Los Angeles County Arts Commission on July 31. In the interview, Zucker reflects on the state of the field and the strategies that supported successful initiatives and programs under her tenure – research, arts education, arts advocacy, and more.

Read the interview on Barry’s Blog.