June Member Call: Arts & Cultural Organizing

Cultural erasure has always been key to the process of colonization and fascism. By restricting access to language, artistic expressions, spiritual practices, and kinship bonds, colonial forces attempt to impose their domination by fracturing the identity and power inherent to a people’s culture. At the same time, false dichotomies are enforced between what art is/is not (and who gets to make it), culture and politics, and the struggle for freedom “here” and “over there.” 

For too long philanthropy has reproduced these silos in its grantmaking approach—creating scarcity and competition amongst artists, and placing cultural work in a separate category from community organizing and power building. 

On June 8th, Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG) and Grantmakers in the Arts will co-host NFG’s next Member Call to gather funders for a political education and strategy session on the importance of arts and cultural organizing. During this call, we will unpack the history of how BIPOC and low-income communities, especially those in the South, have been working to advance a holistic approach to systems change that incorporates arts and culture as core elements that not only helps people better understanding of the world around them, but also helps them build power.

Together, we will: 

• Strategize on how philanthropy can actively promote narratives that illustrate the link between cultural organizing and power building; 
• Cultivate shared commitments that NFG’s network can advance in support of movements that center arts and culture in their working toward racial, gender, economic, disability, and climate justice;
• Surface the initiatives and intermediaries that funders can immediately drive resources to.