For weeks or months now, depending on the kind of community you live in, we have been living a different kind of collective reality, one that is adapting to deep social, emotional, cultural, physical, and economic impacts of social (read: physical) distancing. While we still do not know the full scale of impact the coronavirus pandemic will have upon our communities, our grantees, our artists and educators, we do know that the arts ecosystem as a whole will need to come together to reimagine a different kind of future.
We have seen immense energy from funders around flexibility and trust. Funders have been acting fast with limited to no requirements for applications, repurposing current grant program awards in favor of GOS, increasing payouts above the 5% minimum, and centering experiences of their grantees. These elements of rapid response can inform structural changes for how we can operate in the future, if we are committed to long-term change. We will hear from funders and PSO leaders who are calling for and working toward a more liberated future of grantmaking. Together, we will explore what is necessary to re-imagine systems, power, and practice in response to this pandemic and the ongoing crisis of racial inequality.
Join GIA on Tuesday, June 16, at 2pm for a special 90-minute webinar that will address the following questions:
- How are funders working together to re-create new systems of power and practice?
- How can we change our relationship with recovery to ensure we do not a return to the inequitable and unprepared system with huge gaps in power?
- What is the long-term strategy for equity-centered resiliency in the arts?
- Randy Engstrom, director, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture
- Sharnita C. Johnson, program director, Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
- Dana Kawaoka-Chen, executive director, Justice Funders
- Justin Laing, principal consultant, Hillombo, LLC