Grantmakers in the Arts

Cameron Shaw, new executive director at the California African American Museum (CAAM) shares her perspective and strategy as the museum's new leader, "she is committed to creating 'a workplace that is safe and supportive where I show up with integrity, empathy, generosity, and clarity. And I’m a person in progress working toward those things.'”

A new program spearheaded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will provide guaranteed income and jobs for up to 2,700 artists living throughout New York State reports Hyperallergic. "The $125 million initiative, Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY), will issue monthly, no-strings-attached payments to up to 2,400 artists with financial need over the next three years."

"As the nation recognizes Black History Month, it is an opportunity to lift up the power of the arts while celebrating the contributions of Black artists to the collective tapestry of our nation," writes National Endowment for the Arts Chair Dr. María Rosario Jackson in a statement this month following her confirmation. Jackson is the first African American and Mexican American woman to serve as chair of the NEA.

"Using learnings from the Giving Circles," LUNAR Co-Founders/Directors Yichen Feng and Sabrina Wu write in their recent announcement, "we are building a $20M+ integrated capital fund. Rooted in solidarity, racial justice, and trust, we will deploy patient, flexible, integrated capital to Black and Indigenous-led organizations, businesses, and community developments."

"Racism is structural; it is upheld and perpetuated by institutions, like foundations, in the ways that they operate," writes Celia Bottger, program assistant & grants manager, NorthLight Foundation in a blog for Philanthropy New York. "In addition to taking concrete steps to institutionalize racial equity in our policies and practices, we at NorthLight came to recognize that we must engage in a process of decolonization."

"Federal arts funding in the United States is something of a sore subject: in comparison to other places around the world, creatives in this country function in near-perpetual states of uncertainty, striving endlessly to be afforded the security of a grant or gallery representation," writes Helen Holmes in the Observer.

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA) in New York has announced that Kay Takeda is appointed to be their Executive Director, effective March 28.

Takeda has worked in the field for more than 25 years, most recently as the Deputy Director of Artist Programs at the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and has demonstrated her commitment to strengthening support structures that make it possible for artists to continue creating, innovating, and sharing their work.

This report, published by Upstart Co-Lab, details six creative econonmy investments by the Upstart member community in 2020 and 2021. Their member community possesses Upstart Co-Lab's proprietary knowledge of funds, direct company investment opportunities, and real estate projects while maintaining discretion over their investment decisions.