The Wallace Foundation has announced the initial grants of an effort to foster equitable improvements in the arts and build an understanding of community orientation through research based on a collaborative study of grantee efforts.

Launched in 2021 as a $53 million project focused on a smaller cohort, the initiative has been expanded to $100 million over five years. An initial cohort of 18 BIPOC-centered arts organizations will receive grants ranging from $900,000 to $3.75 million over five years and work with the foundation in the first year of the initiative to frame an organization-specific issue to be addressed, define the project’s scope, and identify technical needs before beginning a four-year implementation. Examples of challenges include succession planning, developing equity-centered practices and values-aligned business models, increasing visibility, and creating cultural spaces that nurture artists and the communities to which they belong. 

The grant recipients are 1Hood Media in Pittsburgh; Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan; BlackStar in Philadelphia; Chicago Sinfonietta in Chicago; EastSide Arts Alliance, Black Cultural Zone, and Artist as First Responder in Oakland; Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas; Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Laundromat Project in New York City; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico; PHILADANCO! The Philadelphia Dance Company in Philadelphia; Pillsbury House + Theatre in Minneapolis; Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in New York City; Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project in San Francisco; Ragamala Dance Company in Minneapolis; Rebuild Foundation in Chicago; Self Help Graphics & Art in Los Angeles; Theater Mu in Saint Paul; and the Union for Contemporary Art in Omaha.

As part of project implementation, researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Virginia will examine how community orientation—defined as presenting the art forms of a particular racial, ethnic, or tribal group; supporting artists from and developing the cultural workforce of that community; and advocating within broader socio-political contexts—differs between organizations and how each group defines ideas of relevance and resilience. In addition, the Social Science Research Council will oversee 18 fellows—early-career qualitative researchers—to be paired with grantee organizations to develop ethnographies documenting organizational history, practices, and culture.

“This opportunity to work with Wallace has given us the freedom and space to reflect on how far we’ve come, where we’d like to go next, and how we can contribute to the bigger picture with insights that may help other organizations thrive,” said Brigitte McQueen, executive director of the Union for Contemporary Art.

“Historically, arts organizations created by and for communities of color have been overlooked and underfunded,” said Wallace Foundation director of arts Bahia Ramos. “We hope to support their vision, elevate their contributions, and learn with them in ways that benefit other arts organizations of color along with a broad range of other nonprofit arts organizations interested in how community orientation can contribute to an organization’s relevance and resilience.

(Photo credit: Ragamala Dance Company)