International Deadline: June 30, 2021 – SlowArt Productions presents the thematic exhibition: Strange Figurations. Open to all interpretations of the concept. Included are all forms of surreal, visionary and…
Submitted by Carmen Graciela Díaz on May 3, 2021
“With 2021 designated the United Nations International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, there can be no better time for museum leaders to follow the example set by their university and foundation peers by aligning capital with values and mission. Inaction risks reputation, as well as financial return,” wrote recently Laura Callanan, founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab.
Submitted by Carmen Graciela Díaz on May 4, 2021
The Mapping COVID-19 Recovery Project, a collaborative effort of 25 Chicago foundations, nonprofit organizations, and public and private groups, links historic disinvestments in some Chicago neighborhoods with COVID-19’s impact on those communities, reports WBEZ.
The project, according to WBEZ, consists of “a series of maps that show past and present housing discrimination, school closures, heavy public investments in incarceration, lack of healthcare access and other factors that the groups say led to the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on the city’s Black and Latino communities.”
U.S. National Deadline: June 30, 2021 – The Magic Wand Pleasure as Art Competition is open to artists nationwide to design a one-of-a-kind art piece using inactive Magic Wands. Traveling exhibit. $10,000 plus…
International Deadline: June 16, 2021 – Submissions now open for the Emerging Scene Art Prize 2021! An art prize based in Dubai with an exceptional prize package for artists looking at expanding their career…
U.S. National Deadline: May 19, 2021 – The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art. Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000…
Every passing year, artistic institutions are taking steps to be more inclusive organizations with more representative teams. Theatre companies have slowly begun to answer the call from communities to move beyond the norm of overwhelmingly white and male-dominated leadership roles. And while it is certainly an ongoing process, there are always groups springing up to empower and foster opportunities for those who wish to see these positive changes put forth. The latest such group that seeks to change the system of American theatre is The Theatre Leadership Project, which plans to give black theatre workers the leadership opportunities they deserve.
Based out of New York, The Theatre Leadership Project is a new initiative that “seeks to create lasting change in the American Theatre by installing BIPOC leadership in the industry.” The pilot program of TTLP is focused on establishing black theatre creatives in production and management roles with companies throughout the city, partnering with black-led businesses to support the fund. Despite Broadway and New York at large serving as a sort of theatre mecca, there still is notable lack of BIPOC voices- which is what the TTLP aims to change for the long-term.
“The Project is a new alliance between industry leaders in entertainment and Broadway commercial producers in support of a three-year pilot program for new, emerging, and transitioning professionals,” their mission statement reads.”Whilst the fund is committed to the support of BIPOC leadership, the initial pilot program will focus on Black applicants due to the extremity to which they are excluded.”
TTLP is currently preparing for two programs: one for creative producers and one for general/company management. Both programs have a three-year plan, detailing the move from mentorship and learning to job placement. Connecting practitioners to prominent resources within the New York theatre world, the programs appear to contain both practical and personalized drive to have successful applicants find their paths. And with no strictures on educational background or commercial experience, TTLP is also pushing back against the classist barriers that professional theatre has long been filled with.
The founders of The Theatre Leadership Project include Travis Lemont Ballenger and Barbara Broccoli, among others, as well as an advisory council that includes legendary performer Whoopi Goldberg. The primary partners of the project are Black Theatre Coalition- a group aiming to “to remove the ‘ILLUSION OF INCLUSION’ in the American Theatre”- and The Prince Fellowship- a fund that supports “gifted emerging creative theatrical producers”. With such a wealth of experience and drive at the back of TTLP, it seems well on track to start creating the changes that the community needs.
The Theatre Leadership Project is one of many groups that desire to see progress in theatre communities the world over. And the more we learn, the more we understand how deep these institutional problems run- racism, sexism, ableism, and various forms of abuse have been allowed to guide the path of many major theatres since their inception. But the leaders behind TTLP have already put a strong foot forward with the announcement of their project, and the steps they take next are surely going to move New York forward, closer to that lasting change.
Submitted by Carmen Graciela Díaz on May 1, 2021
For the month of May, GIA’s photo banner features work supported by the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC).
This is the text NALAC submitted for this Spotlight:
The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is the nation’s premier nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the Latino arts field. NALAC programs provide critical advocacy, funding, networking opportunities, leadership development and professional training for Latino artists and arts organizations in every region of the country.
On May 1, 2021, NALAC celebrates 32 years of building a Latinx arts movement through organizing, advocacy for cultural equity, intercultural network building, and resources for artists and cultural workers. Based in San Antonio, Texas, the organization facilitates intergenerational dialogues among disciplines, languages, and traditional and contemporary expressions through its various programs. Over 500 Latinx artists and arts administrators have participated in its intensive leadership training programs. NALAC has awarded over 893 grants to the field totaling an investment of $5.1 million.
In the past year, NALAC pivoted in response to the pandemic, shifting its longstanding leadership programs and in-person advocacy efforts into virtual formats. Under the umbrella of the NALAC Fund for the Arts, has also developed several new grantmaking initiatives focused on relief, racial justice, and artists and organizations at the US-Mexico border.
NALAC collaborated once again with its peer organizations in the Intercultural Leadership Institute (Alternate ROOTS, First Peoples Fund, PA’I Foundation, and Sipp Culture) to partner with the Mellon Foundation to build a $5 million fund for artists and smaller arts organizations in communities of color that are overlooked and particularly vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic. In collaboration with the Ford Foundation and others, NALAC is supporting 27 artists and organizations committed to authentic storytelling in collaboration with their respective communities to shift narratives of the US-Mexico border region. Additionally, the multiyear Catalyst for Change Award in partnership with the Surdna Foundation is supporting a cohort of 11 Latinx artists employing radical imagination for racial justice.
NALAC joined Grantmakers in the Arts in 2008.
You can also visit NALAC’s photo gallery on GIA’s Photo Credits page.
NALAC Catalyst for Change Grantee Milteri Tucker Concepcion of Bombazo Dance Co. in a performance moment in Crowns uniting and sharing the Afro Latina voices, their experiences wearing the “turbante” head-wrap.
Image: R. Muniz