“Here we go again. It’s a year later and we’re back where we started,” said author and Founding Director of Women of Color in the Arts Kaisha Johnson. “It’s so disheartening, although not surprising, to see historically and predominantly white arts organizations and cultural institutions pulling out all the stops (and red flags) to acknowledge Juneteenth this year. After all the hollow statements of solidarity — which I expressed as extremely problematic in a Medium article last year, I find myself in the same space — giving a metaphorical and literal side eye to our sector.”

“In the course of a year, we’ve seemed to have normalized silence. We’ve seemed to have normalized empty promises, empty rhetoric, and the lack of accountability. So it’s not freedom when Black cultural workers have to walk into white spaces and deal with the ongoing shenanigans that stem from these institutions dedicating valuable time and resources — without full investment in the work — knowing that their institutions will ultimately make no real commitments, once again pushing Black and brown folks to shoulder the burden. This is also a form of racial violence.”

Read the full article here.

“The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the U.S. Department of Justice released new funds to develop, enhance or expand art programs for justice-involved youth. The purpose of Arts Programs for Justice-Involved Youth is to support collaborations between arts-based organizations and juvenile justice systems that focus on current and previous justice-involved youth, including Tribal and Indigenous youth, to reduce juvenile delinquency, recidivism, and/or other problem and high-risk behaviors.”

“Applications may include working with youth at any point in the juvenile justice system, alternatives to incarceration and diversion, secure detention and confinement, and strategies to support youth’s successful reentry into communities.”

Applications are due July 18, 2022.
All arts fields are eligible.
Open to Native American tribal governments, Native Tribal organizations, city and county governments and nonprofit organizations.
Awards are up to $66,500 with an 18-month program period.
There is no match requirement.

Read the full opportunity here.

From Culture Track: “Untapped Opportunity: Older Americans & the Arts aims to shed light on older generations’ distinct preferences and behaviors to provide relevant insights for cultural engagement. Our findings are focused on the U.S. population aged 55 and over, who were surveyed as part of our Culture + Community in a Time of Transformation national survey, fielded from April 5 to April 30, 2021.”

“In an effort to celebrate Black experiences that have long been undervalued by our society, LaPlaca Cohen and Slover Linett embarked on a qualitative investigation of the role of creativity, joy, belonging, and connection in the lives of Black and African American adults around the nation. By placing Black experiences at the center of this examination, we aim to learn from Black communities, highlight their lived experiences, and illuminate the way forward with their perspectives.”

“The study drove the creation of two reports, the first of which was Slover Linett’s A Place to be Heard, A Space to Feel Held: Black Perspectives on Creativity, Trustworthiness, Welcome, and Well-Being, which provided an in-depth exploration of the research findings. In this second report, LaPlaca Cohen draws on and interprets key points from the first publication to outline ways that cultural practitioners can activate the findings in their work.”

Read the full report here.