GIA Podcast

In this podcast episode, GIA President & CEO Eddie Torres sat down with Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, to reflect on her transformative tenure. Recognized as one of the most impactful leaders in NEA history, Dr. Jackson discusses her visionary efforts to embed arts and culture into broader civic and governmental initiatives, from supporting Indian Country and Puerto Rico to advancing interagency collaborations on arts, health, and civic infrastructure. Join us as Dr. Jackson shares profound insights from her extensive career, celebrates the power of creativity to drive social change, and envisions a future where the arts continue to inspire, connect, and empower communities nationwide.

In this last and final episode, we're bringing this series full circle by confronting what's at stake as we choose either to sustain the systems that uphold inequity or to dismantle and reimagine them. Together, we'll reflect on how narratives shape our beliefs, influence civic discourse, and define our paths to collective action. This is the call, the challenge, and the opportunity. Episode transcription, speaker information, and resources can be found at https://www.loveradicalgiving.org/ep06

In this episode, we'll see how radical, collective giving can do what traditional philanthropy has not—restore, empower, and finally give back to the communities long asked and forced to sacrifice. This is Appalachian Futurism, a tribute to the past and a blueprint for a new way forward. Featuring the song “Marching to the Freedom Land” by Will Boyd feat. Kelle Jolly Episode transcription, speaker information, and resources can be found at https://www.loveradicalgiving.org/ep05

Grantmakers in the Arts is participating in the Racial Equity Coding Project, which was kicked off with a culmination of research led by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) with Callahan Consulting for the Arts (CCA). The project has given funders an opportunity to examine and refine their own coding practices and to consider new data collection measures for the future. In this third episode, we are glad to be joined by Eddie Torres, president and CEO, Grantmakers in the Arts. He closes our series with his reflections as the leader of a philanthropy-serving organization, and his hopes for the next steps of the project. He also offers a unique opportunity for you to get involved! Email Eddie at eddie@giarts.org for more information.

Grantmakers in the Arts is participating in the Racial Equity Coding Project, which was kicked off with a culmination of research led by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) with Callahan Consulting for the Arts (CCA). The project has given funders an opportunity to examine and refine their own coding practices and to consider new data collection measures for the future. In the second episode of this three-part series, we are glad to be joined by Eleanor Savage, program director, Jerome Foundation and Tiffany Wilhelm, program officer/operations, Opportunity Fund. They discuss their experience with the Racial Equity Coding Project's “By, For, and About” Framework, and the importance of including nuance in the process. Stay tuned for an opportunity to get involved!

In this podcast, the GIA Support for Individual Artist Committee co-chairs Ce Scott-Fitts, artist development director, South Carolina Arts Commission and Celeste Smith, senior program officer, Arts and Culture, The Pittsburgh Foundation will give you a snapshot of what the committee has been working on, and what you can look forward to for this year. You will also receive a sneak peak into the committee's theme for 2022, mental health and health care for artists. We will also hear from special guest, Dr. David Fakunle, CEO, DiscoverMe/RecoverME; adjunct assistant professor, University of Florida. He will share his insights on the topic of health care for artists, and he will reinforce a much-needed perspective around how we value and support artists.

Grantmakers continue to reckon with the difficulty of gathering accurate data around racial equity funding. To address this, Grantmakers in the Arts is participating in the Racial Equity Coding Project. In the first episode of this three-part podcast series, learn about the project from Susan Feder, program officer, Arts and Culture, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Adam Fong, program officer, Performing Arts, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; and Maurine Knighton, program director, Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. They discuss why the project started, their experience with the earliest iterations of the coding measures, and how their reflections will inform steps forward. Stay tuned for an opportunity to get involved!

We're circling back on the American Rescue Plan, and we are talking about progressive creative worker policies. Learn how these inspirational leaders are supporting arts organizations and individual artists. We are joined by Gonzalo Casals, commissioner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Deborah Cullinan, CEO, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA); Randy Engstrom, collaborative arts leader and board member of Grantmakers in the Arts; and Emil Kang, program director for Arts and Culture, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

As GIA reflects over the past year, we cannot help but look back at the work and recommendations that so many funders offered when we launched our coronavirus response programming in 2020. The conversation and insight that was shared with the GIA community ignited and energized funders to begin and continue their support for individual artists and arts organizations. But what has happened since then? We are glad to welcome back Laura Aden Packer, executive director, Howard Gillman Foundation, and James Hafferman, deputy director, CERF+, to the GIA podcast. They will share how things have been going since began our coronavirus response programming in Spring 2020.

In our recently released report, Solidary not Charity: Arts & Culture Grantmaking in the Solidarity Economy(https://www.giarts.org/solidarity-not-charity), we point out the importance of commitment to long-term work with multiyear grants, loans, and equity investments for solidarity economy institutions and networks. But how is this done with a racial equity and justice lens? Learn more from Anna Raginskaya, investment advisor, Morgan Stanley, and Quita Sullivan, senior program director for Theater, New England Foundation for the Arts and GIA board member.

The Biden administration signed the American Rescue Plan Act or ARP, which is a $1.9 trillion package in response to the COVID-19 crisis. How can funders and grantees use this opportunity to reimagine arts education? In this podcast we are joined by Jamie Kasper, director, Arts Education Partnership; Alex Nock, principal, Penn Hill Group; Aileen Ma, director, Penn Hill Group; and Nadia Elokdah, Grantmakers in the Arts vice president and director of Programs, to discuss the opportunity provided by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021. Click here to listen! Referenced resource: tinyurl.com/ESSERtables

In this podcast, Developing a Liberatory Consciousness in Funding, we’re glad to have Dr. Barbara J. Love, consultant, author, lecturer, and the founder of the framework, Liberatory Conscious, joining us. She will discuss how to develop a Liberatory Consciousness mindset that can lead us to more drastic change both within our institutions and outside of them. Intro music: "Barge" by Ketsa.

In this podcast, Activating Our Power After the Election, Eddie Torres, president & CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts, and Kristen Cambell, executive director of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), discuss the responsibility of funders to support advocacy, lobbing, and overall civic engagement after the election.

In this podcast episode, we are glad to have two guests from the John D. and Catherine T. MacAurthur Foundation. Listen to hear form Aisha Edwards, program officer, Criminal Justice Team and Lauren Pabst, senior program officer, Journalism and Media Team. Through this discussion we will dive into the ways MacArthur has prioritized criminal justice and incarceration justice efforts via media and narrative support and partnerships.

In this podcast episode, we are glad to have Deborah Fisher, executive director, A Blade of Grass, and Shaun Leonardo, American artist and performer best known for his work exploring the relationships between masculinity, sports, race, and culture. They will discuss how funders can center racial equity and they will provide a frame for addressing issues of policing, mass incarceration, and criminal justice with an arts and culture lens.

In this podcast episode, we are glad to have Denise Brown, executive director of Leeway Foundation, and A. Sparks, chief executive officer of the Masto Foundation! We are glad to hear from two foundation leaders on what it looks like to live a commitment to challenge power structures that are deeply rooted in the philanthropic sector and keeping community needs at the center.

In this podcast episode, we are glad to have the Walidah Imarisha, a writer, educator, poet, and the artist who coined the term “visionary fiction.” We are also glad to have Lisa Yancey, an entrepreneurial strategist, president of Yancey Consulting, and author of the Thrivability Report which discusses sustainability versus thrivability for historically disinvested arts and culture organizations! We are glad to have them joining us. In this episode we will discuss ways to radically build towards a new normal, how to think differently about the future, and ways to put it these ideas into action.

In this podcast series Coronavirus Response: Into the weeds, Ruby Lopez Harper, senior director, Local Arts Advancement, Americans for the Arts; Brian McGuigan, program director, Artist Trust; and Trella Walker, director, Advisory Services, head of Social Innovation and Equity Council, Nonprofit Finance Fund, join GIA to discuss funding practices that center equity and reframe recovery toward new relationships.

In this podcast series Coronavirus Response: Setting the frame, Deana Haggag, president & CEO, United States Artists; Lauren Hainley, program manager, Disaster Services, Houston Arts Alliance; Tempestt Hazel, Art program officer, Field Foundation; and Vu Le, Nonprofit AF, join GIA to discuss how they are designing their rapid response efforts, what kind of equity lens can be utilized for greatest impact, and how to shift from short-term response to long-term recovery.

In this podcast episode, we are glad to have the Black Art Futures Fund joining us! We’ll be hearing from DéLana R.A. Dameron, founder, Black Art Futures Fund (BAFF). We will discuss new ways of funding Black arts groups, refine the definition of who can be a funder, and learn about the additional, and crucial, support that BAFF offer grantees throughout the process of applying for funding.

In this podcast episode, we are glad to have ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities joining us! We’ll be hearing from Edward Jones ABFE’s vice president of Programs, and Anthony Simmons, ABFE’s manager of Racial Equity in Grantmaking Program. We will discuss how their strategic framework and tools can offer a deeper impact in communities that are often ignored. Don’t let the learning stop at this podcast. Join the nation’s largest gathering of Black professionals in philanthropy at ABFE’s virtual 2020 “HARAMBEE - LET’S ALL PULL TOGETHER” on April 16 – 18th.

This podcast is a part of the 2020 Grantmakers in the Arts Racial Equity Podcast Series. In this podcast, we hear from Adriana Rios, director of programs, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC), and Luisa Martinez, socially-engaged artist, Artivistas in Residencia, Otros Dreams en Acción (ODA). They will discuss how funders can be more supportive to immigrant and migrant artists, and what to keep in mind when supporting artists of border communities in the US.

As a part of the continued efforts of Grantmakers in the Arts to center racial equity, we are glad to introduce the first Grantmakers in the Arts Racial Equity Podcast Series! To kick us off, Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) president & CEO Eddie Torres discusses why GIA values and centers racial equity via a stroll through the history of arts funding, a review of ways that GIA is collaborating with others to continue centering racial equity in concrete ways both within the GIA and externally, and how GIA will continue this creative collaboration in order to continue the work across sectors.

Welcome to Denver! Grantmakers in the Arts welcomes you to Denver, where collaboration is a way of life and culture is found everywhere from small local breweries to the largest museums. The vibrancy of Denver’s cultural community is visible throughout its street art, the independent music scene, community theater, musical classrooms, a deep spoken word tradition, and eclectic arts districts. In this podcast, Nadia Elokdah, deputy director and director of programs at Grantmakers in the Arts, speaks with conference co-chairs Gary Steuer, president & CEO of Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, and Ginger White, executive director of Denver Arts and Venues of the City and County of Denver, about what you can expect at the conference. Click here to listen!

In this podcast, Grantmakers in the Arts discusses The Mosaic Network and Fund – a creative and collaborative solution for uplifting ALAANA communities by pooling funding and convening like-minded funders and arts organizations. Learn about development of the Fund and lessons learned along the way from Dr. Indira Etwaroo, executive director of RestorationART, and The Billie Holiday Theatre, vice president of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, and Mosaic Network and Fund advisory committee member, alongside Kerry McCarthy, vice president for Philanthropic Initiatives at The New York Community Trust and Mosaic Fund advisory committee co-chair.

In this podcast, Zeyba Rahman, senior program officer for the Building Bridges Program, an extension of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art; Josh Seftel, filmmaker and also creator of “The Secret Life of Muslims” series; Hussein Rashid, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Religion at Barnard College who focuses his research on Muslim and American pop culture; and Negin Farsad, Iranian-American writer and comedian who you can find on Netflix, HBO, and other media platforms, are interviewed by Nadia Elokdah, deputy director and director of programs of Grantmakers in the Arts. They discuss their recent film, The History of Muslims in the US (https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000006252817/muslim-united-states-history-islam.html), and share how they have used creative methods for shifting narratives and culture as a strategy towards equity.

In this podcast, Jeff Chang, vice president of Narrative, Arts, and Culture at Race Forward is interviewed by Eddie Torres, president and CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts. He speaks about narrative change a strategy, cultural shifts and how these evolve to impact human behaviors, and his own critiques of pop culture. Chang wraps up with what funders can consider.

In this podcast, Grantmakers in the Arts gives you a front row seat into the Support for Individual Artist (SfIA) Committee. Never heard of the committee? Now is your chance to learn about it from the GIA Support for Individual Artist co-chairs, Adrianna Gallego, chief operating officer, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, and Eleanor Savage, program director, Jerome Foundation. They will discuss the committee’s latest data project, upcoming programming, and share what you can expect in the coming year. Continue reading for a few sentiments from exiting committee members. “In 2007 I was drafting a new mission and designing the inaugural programs for 3Arts, and I remember hunting and pecking on the Internet to try to find organizations that directly funded artists and from which I could draw inspiration. It wasn’t an easy task, to say the least. After locating a few of these rare birds, I was subsequently invited to join the SfIA committee and there, lo and behold, I discovered a determined group of iconoclasts who were advocating for the expansion of artist support. The committee was (and still is) an infusion of fuel for me and, of course, for 3Arts. By 2012, hooked on sharing ideas, practices, and dreams, I became a committee co-chair. As I exit stage left, I am enduringly inspired by the committee and our growing field and grateful that I won’t have to conduct random Internet searches to know where to find a hub of leaders who truly and deeply understand the value of supporting individual artists.” Esther Grimm, 3Arts “I first learned about the important work of the Support for Individual Artists committee when I attended my first GIA conference in Chicago in 2010 (the committee had a different name then). At that conference, GIA (through the leadership of the then SFIA committee members) shared a draft position paper on the value and importance of supporting individual artists. I was fortunate that my employer at Rasmuson Foundation was already established as a committed funder for individual artists, but this draft paper and stated commitment by the broader arts funding field was deeply influential on me. It provided a defining moment and clarity to reinforce the values I already held in my role in arts philanthropy, and as a strong case to engage others who expressed interest in the direct support of artists, but who may have been unsure how to pursue those interests further. Through subsequent years SFIA served as an anchor to consistently and unabashedly stake a claim in directing support to artists and to build a broader and even more just community to share in that claim and commitment. I consider myself extremely fortunate for the privilege of serving the arts funding field through my participation with the committee, and proud of what has been accomplished since my first encounter with this incredible group of colleagues, and the many connections made with artists throughout. I hope GIA will be able to carry on this ongoing commitment in perpetuity.” Jayson Smart, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies “This group was a vital part of me being effective and thoughtful about the work I was doing locally. In my time since moving to a more national role, this group has maintained an on the ground practitioner connection that is so valuable. I appreciated the candid and honest conversations that were had for the way they made me feel not so alone and, on some days, finding that much needed validation that I wasn’t crazy for thinking of doing the work in the way I was doing it.” Ruby Harper, Americans for the Arts

In this podcast, Grantmakers in the Arts welcomes you to Oakland, home to vibrant creatives, diverse communities, a heritage of activism, and the home of the GIA’s 2018 annual conference Race, Space, Place. We speak with Nadia Elokdah, Grantmakers in the Arts deputy director and director of programs; Roberto Bedoya, Cultural Affairs manager for the City of Oakland, California; and Shelley Trott, director, Arts Strategy & Ventures, Kenneth Rainin Foundation. They give us some background on the city of Oakland, tell us why this is the best city or “town” for the 2018 GIA Conference: Race, Space, and Place (http://conference.giarts.org), and what we can expect at the conference.

We speak with Eddie Torres, Grantmakers in the Arts president and CEO, Jessica Mele, program officer in Performing Arts at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Sam Massol, director of Advocacy and Engagement at the Center for Arts Education. They explore advocacy through an arts education lens in discussion about how funders can support their grantees in advocating for the arts given the current national landscape.

We kicked off our Arts Advocacy series last month and we are excited to provide more insight on how you can become an arts advocate. This podcast features Eddie Torres, Grantmakers in the Arts president & CEO, Kerry McCarthy, GIA board vice chair and New York Community Trust program director of Thriving Communities: Arts and Historic Preservation and, E. San San Wong, GIA board member and Barr Foundation director of Arts and Creativity. They take a deeper dive into a discussion about what foundations and funders can do to support advocacy and lobbying efforts, and strategies for funders in the current national landscape.

We speak with Grantmakers in the Arts President & CEO, Eddie Torres, Americans for the Arts Vice President of Government Affairs and Arts Education, Narric W. Rome, and Penn Hill Group Principal, Alex Nock. They explore the question, "What now?" in discussion about the tax bill, arts advocacy efforts, and strategies for funders in the current national landscape.

We speak with 2017 GIA Conference committee chair Regina Smith of The Kresge Foundation and committee member and Detroit native Sharnita Johnson of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. They share about you may not already know about the Motor City, what to expect when visiting the city, and what they are excited about for the upcoming conference.

We speak with Captain Sara Kass, MD, a military and medical advisor for Creative Forces: NEA’s Military Healing Arts Network. Dr. Kass shares her thoughts on the role of the arts in helping current military members, veterans, and their loved ones heal from emotional and physical injuries resulting from their service.

We speak with Wendy Hsu, PhD, Senior Project Coordinator and Digital Strategist at the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). They share some of the innovative research projects that DCA has been embarking on to collect more meaningful data that is driven and used by staff in different city departments and Los Angeles community members. This includes the digital literacy incubator project, Lab at DCA (http://dcaredesign.org/lab/).

Janet Brown, president & CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts, speaks with Arlynn (Arni) Fishbaugh on funding in rural communities and what she has in store in retirement after 24 years at Montana Arts Council.

We speak with 2016 GIA Conference co-chairs, Vickie Benson of The McKnight Foundation and Glyn Northington of Nonprofits Assistance Fund, on the special characteristics of the Twin Cities and its artistic community. They also share what they are looking forward to at the upcoming 2016 GIA Conference in October.

We speak with Eric Booth with author and educator Eric Booth on the field of teaching artistry and what the US can learn from abroad to increase arts education access for all children. Read his article, The Time Has Come for a National Field of Teaching Artistry (http://www.giarts.org/article/time-has-come-national-field-teaching-artistry) published in the Fall 2015 edition of GIA Reader. Recorded June 23, 2016.

We speak with Gay Hanna from the National Center for Creative Aging as she readies for retirement after serving over 30 years managing in the arts, education, and health sectors. Recorded May 3, 2016.

We speak with Audrey Haberman and Sindhu Knotz from Philanthropy Northwest about creating the Momentum Fellowship, a regional program designed to prepare professionals from underrepresented communities for successful careers in the philanthropic sector. (Referenced blog post: “Why Philanthropy Should Care about Black Male Achievement.”) Recorded April 6, 2016.

We speak with Dameun Strange from Bush Foundation about being a Ron McKinley Philanthropy Fellow and what the fellowship means for cultivating leadership from underrepresented communities. Recorded March 22, 2016.

We speak with former GIA board member Justin Laing from The Heinz Endowments about his service on the GIA board, racial equity, and his hopes for the future of our field. Recorded January 5, 2015.