The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy just issued its report on arts funding in America, and the results, while not surprising, make stark comment on who gets money and what it means.
Fifty-five percent of grants go to organizations with budgets greater than $5 million, which represent less than 2% of the 100,000+ arts and culture nonprofits in the US. The primary audience of these large institutions is predominantly white and upper-income. Arts funding has an issue.
While the purpose of the arts, and creative culture in general, is to broaden democratic engagement and give common experiences to all citizens, according to the report, the greater a funder’s commitment to arts and culture, the less likely it is to prioritize underserved communities or advance social justice through its grant-making. In other words, from a money perspective, greater interest in the arts equals less interest in the culture at large.
That’s not good for any of us, and certainly not for arts funding.
You can get the full report here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Leipzig is the founder and CEO of
MediaU,
online career acceleration. MediaU opens the doors of access for content creation, filmmaking and television. Adam, Cultural Daily’s founder and publisher, has worked with more than 10,000 creatives in film, theatre, television, music, dance, poetry, literature, performance, photography, and design. He has been a producer, distributor or supervising executive on more than 30 films that have disrupted expectations, including
A Plastic Ocean, March of the Penguins, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Dead Poets Society, Titus and
A Plastic Ocean. His movies have won or been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, 11 BAFTA Awards, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Emmys, 2 Directors Guild Awards, 4 Sundance Awards and 4 Independent Spirit Awards. Adam teaches at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Adam began his career in theatre; he was the first professional dramaturg in the United States outside of New York City, and he was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where he produced more than 300 plays, music, dance, and other events. Adam is CEO of
Entertainment Media Partners, a company that navigates creative entrepreneurs through the Hollywood system and beyond, and a
keynote speaker. Adam is the former president of National Geographic Films and senior Walt Disney Studios executive. He has also served in senior capacities at
CreativeFuture, a non-profit organization that advocates for the creative community. Adam is is the author of ‘
Inside Track for Independent Filmmakers
’ and co-author of the all-in-one resource for college students and emerging filmmakers
'
Filmmaking in Action: Your Guide to the Skills and Craft' (Macmillan). (Photo by Jordan Ancel)
