The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has partnered with the White House in its “We Can Do This” campaign to encourage people to get their COVID-19 vaccine so that all arts venues can open and welcome audiences.
According to the NEA, this includes using venues as vaccination centers, providing arts experiences at those centers, contributing creatively to public messages, or simply sharing the information.
Sometimes art can surprise us in the strangest of places. Whether it be through a museum rediscovering a piece tucked away for decades unseen in their collection, or when a collector passes away and leaves a trove of unsorted pieces, it can make for an exciting find for the person happening upon it as well as the world at large as it’s revealed. And who would’ve thought that at a donation centre just north of Toronto, a woman would happen upon a David Bowie painting for just $5?
Discovered by a woman at a Goodwill in South River, Ontario, the painting itself was what drew the anonymous purchaser in at first. Upon further examination, she discovered it signed and dated by the legendary art-rocker from 1997—the same year as the artist’s industrial influenced album Earthling was released.
Labelled DHead XLVI, this places this work amongst Bowie’s Dead Heads series, a collection of portraits across the mid-90s with non-sequential Roman numerals attached to them. Depicting a phantasmal visage in sharp profile, the swirled acrylics of rusty and cool tones around the ghostly, featureless face are par-for-the-course of the singer’s visual style and evoke the palette of his Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane years. While his visual arts practice is lesser known to the public, Bowie was an avid painter his entire life, taking much inspiration from abstract portraiture and German expressionism, and his work can be seen in liner notes and on covers of certain albums—such as the 1995 concept album Outside, which shares not only the style but the naming convention of the Dead Head series.
“The Dhead – Outside” by David Bowie.
DHead XLVI is going up for auction through Toronto auction house Cowley Abbott. The piece is expected to fetch between $9,000 and $12,000, which certainly isn’t a bad return on a $5 thrift find. The auction will run from June 15th to 24th, and after lockdown measures had gallery doors shuttered for many months, the piece is in fact available to view in person upon appointment.
The death of David Bowie in 2016 was a loss mourned the world over (quite especially by this writer), with him bidding adieu to all via his final studio album Blackstar. He left behind a massive body of work that dove deeply into his own mind as well as conjured a reflection of the world he saw around him. A keen observer and depicter of the people and places that he met along his worldly travels, there is always his distinct and inspiring fingerprint upon any and all of the works he was involved in. And while DHead XLVI may be a subtle and simple piece of the fractal that made up his character, the discovery of a David Bowie painting tucked away inside a Goodwill still feels like the discovery of a little bit of stardust.
E. San San Wong, Barr Foundation program director and GIA Board of Directors alumni, wrote recently a piece on why centering racial equity is necessary for achieving Barr’s Arts & Creativity program goals.
In this post she describes where the Barr Foundation is headed in its intentions to integrate racial equity more explicitly across its strategies. She also mentions the recent “Solidarity Not Charity” report commissioned by Grantmakers in the Arts.
To further investigate this line of economic systems change, Barr, Hewlett and Rainin foundations supported Grantmakers in the Arts to explore how the grantmaking community can support culture-workers and artists through an increasingly just economy. Earlier this year, Grantmakers in the Arts released Solidarity Not Charity: Arts & Culture Grantmaking in the Solidarity Economy, a commissioned report and interactive website that provides an overview of the Solidarity Economy, culture-workers’ role in it, and what grantmakers may do to support it through recommendations and an action checklist.
United States Artists announced Lulani Arquette, GIA Board of Directors alumni, and Roberto Bedoya, current GIA Board Member, as recipients of the 2021 Berresford Prize, “an annual award that honors cultural practitioners who have contributed significantly to the advancement, wellbeing, and care of artists in society,” details the announcement.
“Lulani Arquette and Roberto Bedoya are complementary figures in the field that have both created new possibilities for artists, and will each receive the $25,000 award this year. Their visionary approaches engender cooperation, promote thoughtful civic engagement, and advocate for artists on a local and national level,” states the press release.
Image – Courtesy: Lulani Arquette & Roberto Bedoya
Image montage: Steve Cline
“What is the #ShiftThePower movement and how much has it achieved?,” writes Alliance Magazine discussing a webinar aimed to answer these questions with a panel of activists and professionals working with small, grassroots organizations within local communities.
“Bringing insights from across the philanthropy ecosystem, the panel reflected on power relations within the sector and how supporting the growing field of community philanthropy can activate change,” details the article.
The New York Life Foundation in partnership with the Afterschool Alliance announced $1.5 million in new grants to 36 youth development organizations to support disadvantaged middle school youth during the out-of-school time (OST) hours.
According to the press release, this year, 20 one-year grants “focus on supporting OST programs’ work to advance racial and social justice efforts.”
United States Artists and the Rainin Foundation hosted a virtual gathering of the inaugural Rainin Fellows: Margo Hall, Rodrigo Reyes, Amara Tabor-Smith, and Saqib Keval with Jocelyn Jackson of the People’s Kitchen Collective.
Don’t miss the conversation, held April 29, moderated by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, vice president and artistic director of Social Impact at the Kennedy Center.
The past several years have certainly been times of political upheaval and uncertainty. From the chaotic turmoil that was Trump’s presidency to the scrambling of international governments to face the pandemic, the political landscape has been fraught with a series of strange events. One such event whose ramifications are still unfolding is Brexit—and in an attempt to look at some of the effects of this massive shift, new art show I Love You, Moi Non Plus is examining the new context of the UK and France’s relationship and the barriers this change has caused.
Irreverently taking its name from the grooving baroque pop hit ‘Je t’aime…moi non plus’ by Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg (translating to “I love you…me neither”), the ambivalent mood of the collection is set from the get-go. Combining wit and grief in the works showcased, the artists have taken influence from both nations and made for a very pointed European melting pot in their works.
Organized by Somerset House and Dover Street Market, I Love You, Moi Non Plus, the collection is a primarily digital showcase featuring established and lesser-known artists from all across Europe. A limited exhibition is being held at space 35-37 in the district of Marais until June 10th.
‘ILYMNP’ by Susan; courtesy of Dover Street Market.
Included among the artists featured is legendary musician and producer Brian Eno. His contribution ‘Franglish Flag’ is a visually striking mash-up of the Union Jack and the Tricolore, bordered by the words “ENMESHED” and “ENTRELACÉ”. It’s a simple idea and a clean geometric design, but the positioning of the vibrant colours give a jarring sense of collision that strongly invokes the feeling of this confusing new context forced upon these neighbouring nations.
In their original statement, Somerset House made a strong appeal to the artists of Europe and highlighted their goals:
“Now more than ever, art and creativity are essential in helping us to build bridges and amplify the voices of people from all walks of life, and we want you to take part in the creative journey. Armed with your brushes, pencils, cameras, words or whatever you prefer, we invite you to create an artwork that describes what the relationship between the UK and France or the continent means to you.”
With so many aspects of the global political climate causing tension, fear, and hopelessness, I Love You, Moi Non Plus has given artists across the UK and Europe a chance to give voice to their woes. Art has always been the strongest form of expressing grief in a way to help others through the same tides. And while one exhibition may not bring down the walls the UK government has thrown up, it can at least reach between the cracks to meet the familiar hands outside.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation just announced Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY), a three-year, $125 million initiative to reactivate New York State’s creative economy and secure the future of its artists, according to the press release.
“Part of the state-led recovery plan for New York, CRNY is a two-part workforce initiative that will provide artists with either full-time employment opportunities or guaranteed income to remedy the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” explains the announcement.
In his most recent blog, Vu Le discusses ways in which white supremacy manifests in nonprofit and philanthropy.
When I bring up white supremacy in meetings or presentations, sometimes I get the feedback of “that’s a really heavy term. Is it really applicable to this situation? Can’t we just call it ‘inequity’ or ‘injustice’ or something that won’t turn people off?” We are a sector terrified of naming things, even as we seek to fight them. But how can we be effective when we refuse to name what we’re fighting? Besides naming it, we need to have a better understanding of what it is. White supremacy is not just the cross burnings and racist marches and other awful things we see in the movies. In nonprofit and philanthropy, it manifests in ways we may not even realize, or in ways we refuse to acknowledge as white supremacy. These things add up. They make whiteness the default. They keep power concentrated in white leaders and institutions. It makes it easier for injustice against racialized people and communities to take place.