Grantmakers in the Arts

**ORGANIZATION NEWS** Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and Denver Arts & Venues celebrated the inaugural recipients of the 2024 Social Impact Artist Award on November 19, 2024, at the Studio Loft in Ellie Caulkins Opera House. This first-of-its-kind award honored Jeff Campbell, Suzi Q. Smith, and Chelsea Kaiah for their remarkable contributions to Denver’s arts community and their dedication to using art as a catalyst for social change. Each honoree received a $35,000 cash award along with an additional $15,000 to support a socially engaged project, spotlighting diverse voices and inspiring positive impact in the community. Learn more about the grant and awardees in this special film: https://bit.ly/4ijteWU

**NEWS FROM THE FIELD** Right now, philanthropy has the opportunity to invest in trans and queer communities of color who are transforming pain into power. As we continue to process the results of the elections, we invite you to join trans and queer resource mobilizers for We Got Us: Resourcing BIPOC Trans/Queer Communities, a funder briefing co-sponsored by Emergent Fund, Funders for Justice, and Funders for LGBTQ Issues. Join Justice for Funders for this moderated conversation on Wednesday, December 4, 2025 at 12pm PST/3pm EST. This webinar is designed for C3 and C4 funders. Please note that this webinar is for funders only. Funders includes grantmakers, donors, donor networks, and funder affinity groups. Learn more about the webinar and RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3ZvnMsK

**GIA WEBINAR** Meet our guest speaker, Mark Treskon! Mark Treskon, PhD, is a principal research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Treskon’s research centers on equitable community development, the arts economy and creative placemaking, civic assets, financial capability, and housing and housing policy. He has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on Federal housing programs, the arts economy, community-based planning, and home lending policy advocacy. Treskon has a PhD in sociology from New York University, a Master's in Urban Planning from the University of Toronto, and BA in Geography from the University of Chicago. Learn more about Mark and register for the webinar here at the link in our bio 🔗

**GIA UPDATE** The Grantmakers in the Arts office will be closed in observance of the holiday. We will return to the office on Monday, December 2nd. In the meantime, make sure you check out our upcoming programs, conference website, and unlimited resources at the link in our bio.

**GIA WEBINAR** Check out these takeaway quotes from guest speakers of the GIA Redistributing Power webinar. Drawing from real-world examples, this panel explored strategies for arts funders to maximize their long-term impact by supporting the needs of today’s cultural ecosystem. Learn more about our upcoming webinars by visiting our website: https://www.giarts.org/

**GIA READER** "This work is important. This work is transformational. This work has real impact on communities." - Amanda Williams Did you catch our opening keynote address from artist Amanda Williams at this year's conference? If not or you're looking to reflect on some key takeaways, make sure you visit our official conference blog: https://bit.ly/495KlYf A native Chicagoan, Williams recognized the impact of what she referred to as the “invisible residue of policies” that have impacted primarily Black and Brown communities. Having lived in impacted neighborhoods and seeing it first hand, as an artist and a resident, she discussed two projects that “underscore this idea of artists oftentimes pursuing a compulsion or a question before they’re able to formulate what it is that they’re actually doing.”

**GIA WEBINAR** Meet our guest speaker, Nydia Padilla-Rodríguez! Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez is the founder and Artistic Director of Borinquen Dance Theatre, Inc. (BDT), an organization established in 1981 to empower youth through dance and self-development. She is also a retiree of the Rochester City School District Administrator. A native of Rochester, New York, Nydia grew up inspired by Puerto Rican cultural traditions and passionate about using the arts to impact young people’s lives. Her dedication to education and the arts led her to earn degrees from SUNY Brockport, providing her with the foundation to develop BDT into a well-respected institution within the Rochester community. Learn more about Nydia and register for the webinar here at the link in our bio 🔗

**GIA READER** "Grantmakers in the Arts holds public policy and advocacy as one of its core funding focus areas and believes one of the most important roles we can serve in benefitting our members and the arts grantmaking community comes by way of our public policy and advocacy work. We are maximizing the impact our sector can have toward increasing access to the arts and realizing intersectional and economic justice through the arts." Read more on how grantmakers and foundations can further support both advocacy and lobbying from Eddie Torres here: https://bit.ly/3Om5LH2

**GIA READER** Uprising Theater and Grantmakers in the Arts presented The Olive Tree as one of our off-site sessions this year. The performance is a true story about a Jewish American woman's journey from a Birthright trip to Israel to living in a Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem, Palestine. Maren Rosenberg's one-woman performance is followed by a Q&A with Uprising Theater's founder and professor on the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, Iymen Chehade. Playwright, Maren Rosenberg, challenges the audience with some of the following questions: 🌳 "What are we to think of ourselves as Americans, whose votes and tax dollars have such a direct impact on others' lives? What power do we each have?" 🌳 "How are we willing to use it and what are we willing to give so that others may enjoy what we often take for granted?" Learn more about the performance and Uprising Theater here: https://bit.ly/3Z5NMts

**ORGANIZATION NEWS** The Gish Prize Trust today announced that the 31st annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize has been awarded to Vicky Holt Takamine, a kumu hula (master teacher) of traditional Hawaiian dance whose artistic achievements are inseparable from her activism on behalf of the culture, rights, and natural environment of Indigenous Hawaiians. The Prize, established in 1994 through the will of legendary screen and stage actress Lillian Gish, known as the First Lady of Cinema, is one of the most prestigious honors given to individual artists and arts supporters in the United States and bears one of the largest cash awards, currently valued at more than $450,000. Read more the full announcement and about Vicky's achievements here: https://nyti.ms/4eIN0YS