January 2025 News
February 3, 2025 • 7 minute read
Apex Predators & Philanthropy in Times of Crisis
“It is not illegal to invest in Black people,” Susan Taylor Batten, President & CEO of ABFE (an association of Black philanthropy professionals), reminded attendees at Grantmakers in the Arts’ recent conference in Chicago. Susan was joined by Amber Hamilton, President and CEO of Memphis Music Initiative, and Kashif Shaikh, Co-Founder and President of the Pillars Fund, for the closing keynote “Philanthropy in the Times of Crisis”. The session took place amidst the political backdrop of the U.S. election, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Supreme Court’s decision on Affirmative Action, and attacks on DEI initiatives, and called on funders to resist the “apex predators” — those forces within our institutions (and ourselves) that keep us mired in the status quo.
Kashif and Susan both shared their journeys in speaking truth to power and choosing bravery in the face of hopelessness. Hamilton challenged the attendees — more than 600 arts funders from private and public institutions across the U.S. — to commit to the “slow, deep, irreversible” work to transform our sector toward justice. Her finale speech brought the crowd to tears, laughter, and to its feet, for its candor and urgency. “You got into this because you wanted to do good in your world,” Hamilton said. “Not because you want to shuffle paperwork, not because you want to help people hoard wealth, not because you wanted to be a gatekeeper between the money and the people.”
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NPN’s presence at the conference included Stephanie Atkins, Director of Southern Programs; Stanlyn Brevé, Director of National Programs; Sage Crump, Director of Racial Justice & Movement Building; and Caitlin Strokosch, President & CEO (and former GIA board member).
Read more about the keynote and view a colorful graphic recording of it on the GIA website.
LA Fire Relief: Emergency Grants + Other Resources
Artists and arts workers impacted by the Los Angeles fires can now apply for an emergency grant from the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. Administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation, the Fund has been created by a coalition of foundations, arts organizations, and philanthropists to award one-time grants of unrestricted funds up to $10,000. The deadline for applying is February 18th, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. PST. Apply at www.cciarts.org/relief.html.
For more resources, including lists of other emergency grant opportunities, check out the LA Fires Relief + Arts Resource Hub at Giarts.org.
NPN On the Road: Facing Race — Our Power, Our Solutions
In November, NPN sent a five-person delegation to Facing Race, the nation’s largest multiracial and intergenerational racial justice conference, organized by Race Forward. Since making racial justice explicit to NPN’s mission in 2017, we’ve sought out spaces that uplift racial justice work beyond the arts, building our connections and practices in new ways.
This year’s conference theme was “Our Power, Our Solutions,” to highlight the social justice movement’s capabilities and strength. “Despite the shifting conditions of the political landscape, the fact of the matter is that this movement has power,” said Leslie Grant-Spann, Race Forward’s senior director of conferences and convenings.
We found reassurance and inspiration at the conference. “[It] made me feel hopeful,” said Stephanie Atkins, NPN’s Director of Southern Programs. “I was reminded how many of us are working to address injustice.” Addam Garrett, NPN’s Director of Operations, returned with a greater commitment to center relationship-building in NPN’s upcoming Annual Conference in October.
Brittany Dudley, NPN’s Data Management and Fiscal Sponsorship Associate, learned practical strategies for navigating the current political landscape. And Sage Crump, NPN’s Director of Racial Justice & Movement Building, was able to engage with comrades outside the arts and develop new collaborations.
Announcing the Fall 2024 Development Fund Awardees
The National Performance Network (NPN) is pleased to award $40,000 and leverage $185,000 through the Fall 2024 Development Fund to further support four Creation Fund projects that advance racial and cultural justice. Congratulations to Pioneer Winter Collective, Nejla Yatkin, San Cha, and Dora Arreola & Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro!
Documenting Anti-Palestinian Repression in the Art World
The arts journalism site Hyperallergic recently published “Things Not Seen,” documenting repression and censorship of artists and arts organizations who have critiqued Israel’s genocide in Gaza or expressed support for Palestinian liberation.
“Denying artists platforms due to their solidarity with Palestine dovetails with a broader project aimed at eroding the possibilities for challenging authority,” write Hrag Vartanian (Hyperallergic’s co-founder and Editor-in-Chief) and Valentina Di Liscia (News Editor). “Between institutional censorship and principled artistic refusal, exhibitions mounted since October 2023 have been meaningfully shaped by work not shown.”
NPN & Artists U Launch Artist Share — Join Us!
NPN and Artists U are launching an online Artist Share series, designed for presenters, curators, funders, and artists to learn about artists’ work. Starting in February, this Tuesday evening series launches with three sessions featuring three artists each (2/4, 2/11, and 2/18, 6-7pm ET).
These are not pitch sessions, but rather a chance to get close to each artist’s practice, intentions, and questions. For the past three years, NPN and Artists U (led by artists Andrew Simonet and Michaela Pilar Brown) have been building conversations with NPN artists as a form of community organizing — artists share challenges and strategies for sustaining their lives, their art, and their communities.
“We don’t ‘help’ or ‘fix’ artists,” write Andrew and Michaela. “Artists are brilliant problem solvers who create world-changing work in intensely under-resourced conditions. Often, we artists are not even aware of our profound insights into work, balance, community, and money until we say them out loud.” Growing out of these peer-to-peer conversations, NPN and Artists U are now expanding the circle to invite others to learn about artists’ new work, struggles, and solutions.
Announcements
First Peoples Fund announces 2025 Native Performing Arts Program Fellows and Grantees
Three NPN-supported artists — Rosy Simas, Anthony Hudson, and Emily Johnson — have been named as part of the inaugural cohort of Native Performing Art Fellows and Production Grantees from First Peoples Fund.
The Native Performing Arts (NPA) program is designed to support Native performing artists in developing and enhancing their artistic skills and knowledge.
“We’re witnessing a remarkable surge in Native performing arts and productions across the country — a vibrant continuation of our traditions of storytelling, music, dance, and performance,” says Justin Kíí Huenemann (Diné), President and CEO of First Peoples Fund. “We’re thrilled to launch our first dedicated funding to support Native performing artists and their work.” Congratulations to all of the fellows and grantees!
Creation Fund Activities during February
Praise Music Sonogram, Julia Barbosa Landois
February 6th, 7th, & 8th, 7:00 pm CST
February 8th has an artist talkback after the performance.
Matchbox 1 (The Emily Todd Theater) at MATCH (Houston, TX)
Praise Music Sonogram is a multidisciplinary performance by Julia Barbosa Landois that combines spoken word, video, and experimental sound to tell a story of motherhood, miscarriage, and abortion access across national and state borders. Contrasting an unexpected experience in a European haven for healthcare seekers with the medical scarcity and the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S., Barbosa Landois delivers a narrative that is both deeply personal and unexpectedly comedic.
Arms Around America, Dan Froot & Company
February 20th & 21st, 8:00 pm EST
MDC North Campus, Lehman Theater (Miami, FL)
Miami Light Project and Live Arts Miami present Dan Froot & Company’s Arms Around America, an evening of short plays based on the oral histories of families around the country whose lives have been shaped by guns.
National tour of Ouroboros, Nejla Yatkin
February 28th, 8:00 pm EST
Studio5 (Evanston, IL)
Guggenheim Fellow and award-winning choreographer Nejla Yatkin will embark on a five-city national tour of her acclaimed solo work, Ouroboros, starting February 28th, 2025 in Evanston, with additional stops this spring in Washington, DC; Boston; Tampa; and Houston. Ouroboros is a powerful theatrical solo dance performed in the round that combines movement, live music, and storytelling, and invites the audience to engage with its exploration of paradoxes, cycles, and transformation.
What We’re Reading
Each month, NPN’s staff and board engage with a reading that helps shape our analysis of our sociopolitical landscape and deepen our understanding of how to embed liberatory practices throughout our work.
The Collective Learning Series is organized by NPN’s Department of Racial Justice and Movement Building (DRJAM). While we dig into new texts each month, we begin each year with a touchstone: Amilcar Cabral’s 1969 essay, “Tell no lies, Claim no easy victories…”.
“When it comes to writing and practicing how creating a liberated society requires an understanding and engagement of culture, there are few who stand as tall as Cabral,” says Sage Crump, DRJAM’s Director.