Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) has published a study with the Regional Plan Association (RPA), Leveraging the Power of Cultural Investments: A Report on Cultural Capacity Building. The study evaluates the impact of UMEZ’s cultural investment strategy by providing an in-depth analysis of 32 non-profit grantees over a 13-year period. The report reveals substantial gains for the organizations profiled, as well as their continuing challenges; it illustrates the concurrent growth of Upper Manhattan’s cultural and economic landscape; and it compares Upper Manhattan’s collective cultural assets to similar clusters in New York City’s other boroughs.
Grantmakers in the Arts
July 13, 2016 by Monica in Racial Equity
Alternate ROOTS, First Peoples Fund, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC), and PA'I Foundation have collaborated to create the Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI), a new year-long personal and leadership development program for artists, culture bearers, and other arts professionals. The four partner organizations have created ILI out of a shared commitment to pursue cultural equity and to support artists, culture bearers, and other arts professionals as change-makers in their communities.
July 12, 2016 by Monica
In a recent blog post, Arleta Little, program officer for the arts at The McKnight Foundation, discusses racial disparities in arts philanthropy and how McKnight and other organizations are working to address it:
Given historic inequities and shifting demographics, increasing arts funding alone does not address the structural issues affecting how these funds are distributed. We must change the minds (leadership and decision making) and the mechanisms (the institutional policies and practices) that prevent more equitable distributions of resources. This is racial equity work.
July 7, 2016 by Monica
In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, Dan Pallotta makes a case for fundraising as an important and often overlooked part of nonprofit capacity building:
Of all of the various sub-categories in capacity-building, one and only one has the potential to multiply the amount of money that a funder puts into it, and that category is fundraising – the least loved of them all. It doesn’t belong in the bunch as an equal among the others. It has super powers. It’s time [funders] recognized this and funded fundraising at their favorite grantees as a priority.
July 6, 2016 by Steve
New on the GIA Podcast, we speak with author and educator Eric Booth about the field of teaching artistry and what the US can learn from abroad to increase arts education access for all children.
July 6, 2016 by Monica
A new report published by the National Council of Nonprofits outlines the challenges nonprofits with government grants and contracts could face in implementing the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulations. A national survey of over one thousand nonprofits revealed widespread concern over increased costs which are not supported by existing contracts. The report concludes that government funders should help nonprofits fill in the gaps by offering short-term transitional resources and providing grantees the opportunity to renegotiate their contracts to account for the financial, operational, or programmatic changes needed for nonprofits to comply with the law.
July 6, 2016 by Monica
By Shia Kapos, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times:
Michelle Boone, commissioner of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, is stepping down and will be replaced by Mark Kelly, the vice president for student success at Columbia College Chicago. . . .
“For five years Michelle has worked tirelessly to expand and innovate arts across the city. She has successfully reimagined our most revered cultural traditions — including the Taste of Chicago and Blues Fest — and brought new experiences like the Architectural Biennial to our city . . .” [Chicago Mayor] Emanuel said in a statement issued by his staff.
July 1, 2016 by SuJ'n
For the months of July and August, GIA’s photo banner features artists and work supported by Barr Foundation. Based in Boston, Barr is among the largest private foundations in New England. The foundation focuses regionally, and in select cases nationally, on partnerships that elevate vibrant, vital, and engaged communities; advance solutions for climate change; and expand educational opportunity.
For the months of July and August, GIA’s photo banner features artists and work supported by Barr Foundation. Based in Boston, Barr is among the largest private foundations in New England. The foundation focuses regionally, and in select cases nationally, on partnerships that elevate vibrant, vital, and engaged communities; advance solutions for climate change; and expand educational opportunity.