Grantmakers in the Arts

The Pittsburgh Foundation and New Voices for Reproductive Justice launched recently the Social Justice Rapid Response Fund, a new grantmaking program aimed at providing support for activists and civic organizations in underserved communities across Allegheny County, in the southwest of Pennsylvania, reported NEXTpittsburgh.

The Art in Resistance Fellowship, established by artists and changemakers "to simultaneously support artists and movements for social change at a time when there is a profound need to lift up beauty, solidarity, and resistance" announced the awarding of its first fellowship to Dignidad Rebelde, graphic arts collaboration between Oakland-based artists Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes.

The backlash against R&B singer R. Kelly following the six-part documentary Surviving R. Kelly, 20 years of accusations against him for sexually assaulting minors, and his arrest on charges of sexually abusing girls as young as 13, have sparked an uproar that seems to signal "that #MeToo has finally returned to black girls," point out Salamishah Tillet and Scheherazade Tillet, co-founders of A Long Walk Home, a nonprofit that uses art to empower young people to end violence against girls and women, in a recent opinion piece in The New York Times.

A piece on the Stanford Social Innovation Review addresses how organizations are examining their work to commit to racial equity within their institutions and impact investing practices.

A post in Medium points out "artists and governments have a future together," reflecting on how a group of residents had gathered together to brainstorm for a community garden and sculpture project following the call of artist Carolyn Lewenberg.

Understanding where our values and beliefs come from is a key drive for people committed to social change, according to a recent blog post by Julienne Kaleta and Joanna Carrasco, Living Cities coordinators.

Supporting creative aging in rural areas is the driving force behind Iowa Arts Learning in Libraries, an effort of the State Library of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council (IAC) to offer free arts classes for adults 55 and older in rural public libraries.

"We take up space/ By being in community/ Together/ And saying that we/ Won’t tolerate this/ Anymore," writes community activist Jasmin Rogers, honoring the community of women who support her every day. Her words, published in a piece by The Miami Herald, resonate in commemoration of Women’s History Month in March.