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BOSTON
- Monday, January 11, 2021 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Mayor's Office
of Arts and Culture, in partnership with The Boston Foundation and the Barr
Foundation, today announced that 17 local BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and
People of Color) arts and culture organizations will each receive $25,000
unrestricted grants for COVID-19 relief. The grantees will also participate
in a collective learning and discovery process to identify the shared and
unique needs of organizations founded, led by, and serving communities of
color to thrive in the Greater Boston area. These findings will directly
inform future grant-making, technical assistance, and other supports.
"This
is an exciting learning opportunity for us, and I'm looking forward to
working with our funding partners and the grantee organizations to better
serve Boston's arts community, and support the equitable representation of
all cultures and artistic practices in the city," said Mayor Walsh.
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Grantee OrigiNation
Cultural Arts Center
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The
organizations receiving relief funding are directly involved in supporting
artists, including youth artists, to create and present new work, and they
serve as cultural anchors in Greater Boston's BIPOC communities. Many have
also pivoted in the pandemic to meet the basic needs of their communities
and to support cultural workers deeply impacted by public health
considerations. The grantee organizations are:
"We
are proud to join with the City of Boston and the Barr Foundation in
supporting these critical cultural organizations that serve as hubs and
connectors within their communities," said Eva Rosenberg, Interim
Director of Arts & Culture at the Boston Foundation. "The Boston
Foundation is committed to investing in leaders and communities of color
and we welcome the opportunity to deepen our relationships with these
incredible groups as they help lead the way to a just recovery and
much-needed social healing through the power of creativity and
culture."
"Relief
funding for BIPOC organizations is extremely important, especially given
the current times we are living in and given the history of where BIPOC
organizations have been on the funding ladder," said Shaumba Dibinga,
Founding Artistic Director of OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center. "The
hope is that this funding will bring awareness to other funders and create
a larger pool for BIPOC organizations to receive relief funding and keep
our businesses thriving."
Funding
from the City of Boston was made possible by the CARES Act, and this
collaborative effort strives to immediately support small- to mid-sized
arts organizations drastically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This
initiative also aims to begin addressing historical disinvestment in BIPOC
communities and the need for structural change that prioritizes investments
in culture-bearers, artists, and arts organizations of color that are
uniquely positioned to imagine and lead our communities towards a more just
future.
"This
is such a committed, creative group of leaders, and we are grateful to
invest in, and learn alongside them, in partnership with the Boston
Foundation and the City," said San San Wong, Director of Arts &
Creativity at the Barr Foundation. "Investments in the arts are
investments in our civic infrastructure. Greater Boston has many BIPOC
artists and cultural organizations that are elevating the diversity of
voices and perspectives, and aspirations for justice in our communities. We
hope this initiative provides both short-term relief and long-term insights
into more authentic and sustainable ways to strengthen and sustain
them."
As
part of this initiative, the City of Boston, The Boston Foundation, and the
Barr Foundation will convene leaders from these grantee organizations,
along with others, through a facilitated process that seeks to identify
obstacles to accessing support and resources for BIPOC arts organizations.
Together, the community and funding partners will attempt to imagine what a
more equitable cultural ecology would look like, including specific
recommendations for philanthropic investment and transformative
capacity-building.
"I
look forward to building off of this partnership and utilizing our
learnings to advocate for more investments in Boston's ALAANA and BIPOC
organizations," said Kara Elliott-Ortega, Chief of Arts and Culture
for the City of Boston.
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