Grantmakers in the Arts

Detroit’s Sound Infuses Music, Community

March 26, 2015 by Steve

From Kaitlyn Buss, The Detroit News:

Over a cup of coffee downtown, it was quickly obvious Tod Machover’s passion for “Symphony in D,” the first sonic portrait of Detroit, is largely due to the material at his disposal: The city’s rich, yet often overlooked, relationship with music and a community eager to continue it. “In many ways, I think Detroit’s the place I always wanted to do this project,” he says. His research into Detroit’s neighborhoods and people, along with sounds submitted by Detroiters over the coming months, will be the basis for the symphony, set to debut in November.

March 24, 2015 by Steve in Racial Equity

Grantmakers in the Arts releases a statement of purpose for racial equity in arts philanthropy, which will direct the work of the organization moving forward.

March 20, 2015 by Steve

From Michael Hodges, fine arts writer for The Detroit News:

March 19, 2015 by Steve in Capitalization

Rebecca Thomas finishes her six myths piece for Associated Grant Makers:

In my last piece for In Philanthrophy, I offered three recommendations for how grantmakers can overcome commonly held misconceptions about the role of money in strengthening nonprofit effectiveness. I encouraged funders to: support comprehensive capitalization planning, reward financial management practices that promote surpluses and savings, and consider seeding cash reserves as a source of funds for handling and taking risk. Here, I share three additional myths that get in the way of healthy nonprofit finances and suggest funder practices that, in my experience, create an environment more supportive of organizational success.

March 19, 2015 by Steve

Vickie Benson, posting to The McKnight Foundation blog:

Simply stated, creative placemaking builds strong, cross-sector partnerships grounded in arts and culture, by people and for people, to celebrate the lifeblood of a place. And while the cross-sector aspect is undeniably important, a crucial factor for success, in my opinion, is that arts organizations and artists are treated as leading or equal partners in the broad mix. It was important for the arts field to have researchers as experienced, thoughtful, and knowledgeable as Markusen and Gadwa — each with their own long histories working with artists — to tackle the phenomena of creative placemaking.

March 17, 2015 by Steve

Insights and Lessons: Community Arts and College Arts is a new report commissioned by The Kresge Foundation at the completion of a pair of multiyear initiatives that were intended as a way to challenge communities to use art and culture as a tool to address broader community issues in underinvested urban neighborhoods.

The foundation saw the two pilots Community Arts and College Arts as learning initiatives that would enable staff to experiment with a different kind of grantmaking. They would also test the assumption that the arts can address society’s pressing issues, transform communities and lift spirits during an economic downturn. While many local funders have deep experience in community arts, it was new territory for Kresge’s Arts and Culture Program.

March 16, 2015 by Steve

On April 28th and 29th, Aroha Philanthropies will convene an intimate gathering of philanthropists, grantmakers and thought leaders to explore the emerging field of artful aging and the transformative potential that learning, making and sharing art can have for people 55 and over. The convening will be held at the offices of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, California.

Learn more and request an invitation to attend.

March 11, 2015 by Steve

Julia M. Stasch, who has served as interim president for the past eight months, has been chosen as the next President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Before becoming interim president, she had served as Vice President for MacArthur’s U.S. Programs for 13 years and led work in juvenile justice, affordable rental housing, community development finance, and policy research, as well as community and economic development in Chicago.

Explore Solidarity Economy resources here

Future of the Field: Cross-Sector Creative Placemaking Series

Video from the GIA 2021 Conference are now available for streaming.

The Racial Equity Coding Project: Unpacking The “Why”

In this first of a three-part discussion, we are joined by Susan Feder, Adam Fong, and Maurine Knighton, as they discuss the Racial Equity Coding Project, why it was started, their experience with the earliest iterations of the coding measures, and how their reflections will inform steps forward.

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