“The Creativity Pioneers Fund catalyzes transformational social change by investing in, connecting, and championing cultural and creative organizations that advance bold and unconventional practices for building a more just, inclusive and equitable world. Working with and alongside organizations, donors and other stakeholders across the creative ecosystem, the Fund aims to mobilize a collective effort to advance Creativity for Social Change.”

What is the Creativity Pioneers Fund?

The Creativity Pioneers Fund supports organizations that reinforce the critical role of creativity for driving social impact.
The Fund aims to provide on-going infrastructure to build a platform that will drive greater resources and partnerships to the field of Creativity for Social Change.
Unrestricted funding is available to organizations across that demonstrate how they center creativity in their mission and programs. Organizations whose target audience is youth will be prioritized.
The Creativity Pioneers Fund welcomes applications from organizations working across the globe. We seek to have a range of fields and sectors represented to showcase the breadth and variety of organizations demonstrating the Creativity for Social Change mindset.

The deadline for submitting the Expression of Interest is August 12. Organization’s that, “reinforce the powerful role that creativity can play in transforming communities,” are encouraged to apply. Learn more about the fund here.

From the Kenneth Rainin Foundation: “When artist Ana Teresa Fernández first stepped inside the main studio and gallery of Creativity Explored she discovered magic…What emerged from Ana’s initial visit was a collaborative project “Of Here From There | De Aquí Desde Allá,” which is featured in the above video. The project took place in 2019 and 2020 and engaged nearly 50 developmentally disabled artists to explore ideas of movement and migration. An immersive exhibition at the San Francisco Art Institute in March 2020 brought a kaleidoscope of their expressive works to a wider public.”

“At Creativity Explored, it’s like you’re walking into a magical land of art. There are so many drawings and paintings and sculptures everywhere, and it seems like all the pieces are talking and speaking to you. The artists are all intensely creating work—drawing and painting and weaving and sculpting. Everyone’s just focused and making,” said artist Ana Teresa Fernández. “A lot of the artists don’t communicate with verbal language. But so much about what they are saying, and how it is that they communicate, is through their work—their marks, their colors, their patterns. So the idea of exploring the notion of home and their journey to where they are now was all about using those marks in their work as their voice.”

Watch the video here.

Black August, born out of Black liberation, resistance, and justice movements, is a month dedicated to critical learning and analysis, reflection and study of our roles in oppressive or liberatory systems, and an opportunity to grow, connect, and prepare for the challenging work ahead.

From the Black Liberation Movement and the Black August Hip Hop Project to“Writing While Black” andhow to fix classical arts, we invite you to join us this month in collective reflection where arts and culture are at the root of justice and liberation. As we are reminded by ABFE, A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, “We must be in it for the long haul.”

We ask this August that cultural grantmakers look inward and listen outward, to invest in Black artists and communities, commit to listen, learn, and implement anti-racist practices, more widely amplify voices for change, and connect our work with the movement racial equity and justice. This month, GIA will share questions and proposals from our members on how cultural grantmaking can interrupt institutional and structural racism while building a more just funding ecosystem that prioritizes Black communities, organizations, and artists.

What We’re Reading

Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation, The New York Times Opinion by the late John Lewis

The Case for Funding Black-Led Social Change, The Black Social Change Funders Network A Project of ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities & The Hill-Snowdon Foundation

Dismantling White Supremacy & Anti-Blackness in Philanthropy andWhat is a Just Transition for Philanthropy?, Justice Funders

National Performance Networks’s LANE Honors Black August, by a cohort members of Leveraging a Network for Equity (LANE)

Schomburg Center Black Liberation Reading List, Schomburg Center Staff, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture