Grantmakers in the Arts

**GIA WEBINAR** Meet our guest speaker, Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez! Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez is the founder and Artistic Director of Borinquen Dance Theatre (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 WEBINAR** Meet our guest speaker, Joseph Cureton! Joseph Cureton is the Chief Coordinating Officer and co-founder of Obran Cooperative, the first worker-owned conglomerate corporation. His work focuses on corporate strategy, capital formation, and transactional support for the Cooperative's mergers and acquisitions practice. He is a serial entrepreneur (founding two of the Cooperative's portfolio companies Core Staffing and Tribeworks). His work builds pathways to the solidarity economy, centerning the challenges faced by modern workers. Joseph is a new father, a software engineer (Drexel University), and classically trained chef (Johnson and Wales) by trade. Learn more about Joseph and register for the webinar here: https://bit.ly/3YNdWAQ

**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

**GIA READER** The For the Love of Radical Giving podcast is a GIA Reader miniseries that deconstructs traditional philanthropy and celebrates the joy and power of giving out of love. Each episode explores radical, innovative, community-driven approaches that challenge traditional philanthropic models, highlighting the voices and experiences of those actively working to democratize philanthropy and create equitable, impactful change. In episode 5, we will take a road trip through the hills Appalachia and uncover how culture there unlocks a resilient future. Join host Thomas Tomayo Young and guest speakers Joe Tolbert Jr., Tiffany P., Taysha DeVaughan, Rae Garringer, Ty Murray, and Kalil White through this insightful listening journey! Listen to the full podcast here: https://bit.ly/4eBWnth

**GIA WEBINAR** Meet our guest speaker, Sarah Calderon! Sarah Calderon is the Executive Director of Creatives Rebuild New York. Previously, Sarah was the Managing Director of ArtPlace America from 2015 to 2020. In this role, Sarah led strategy, finance and operations, management, and grantmaking strategies for higher education. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education (Bronx, NY) from 2008 to 2015. During her tenure at Casita, she oversaw the opening of a new, 90,000-square-foot facility for the Center’s arts and education programming and developed partnerships with organizations ranging from Lincoln Center to the NYC Housing Authority. Learn more about Sarah and register for the webinar here: https://bit.ly/3YNdWAQ

**NEWS FROM THE FIELD** After the election, many of us are reflecting on what’s next. You're not alone. Spend some time with this piece as Vu Le reflects on the despair many feel following the recent U.S. election results, especially those affected by systemic oppression. Vu urges readers to allow themselves space to grieve but also to connect with one another for resilience. Vu emphasizes the power of community and reminds us that the fight for justice continues, inspired by past civil rights leaders. For those seeking hope and solidarity, he shares supportive resources and encourages visionary action for systemic change. You can read the full post here: https://bit.ly/4fEc83Q Quote Credit to Daniel Hunter ??

**GIA READER** Over the next few months, GIA will be revisiting some of our programming from this year's annual conference in Chicago! Check out our Reader site to dive into conversations, keynotes, off-site recaps and more. Kicking off this series by revisiting the Nuts & Bolts panel with speakers F. Javier Torres, Michelle Coffey, Suzy Delvalle, and Lu Zhang. "Transitionary periods in leadership within arts, culture, and philanthropy present unique challenges and opportunities for organizations to preserve and archive history, strengthen systems, innovate, and thrive. This panel explores the importance of transitionary leadership in place of an immediate executive search for a permanent new leader. Panelists discussed emerging trends and identified strategies for navigating transitions successfully in the context of arts and culture philanthropy." Check out the full blog here: https://bit.ly/3Cr5Oym

**GIA WEBINAR** Case Study of Benefits, W2 Employment, and a Worker Cooperative: Findings from Creatives Rebuild New York’s Artist Employment Program For two years, Creatives Rebuild New York supported employment and benefits for 300 artists in collaboration with over 100 community-based organizations across NY State. In this webinar, we will focus on this program and specifically the program’s two employment models: in some collaborations artists were directly employed by their partnering organization; in others, they were employed by Tribeworks, a cooperative portable benefits platform that provided employment and access to fringe benefits. We will use Urban Institute’s recent report that examines these two models to reflect on the program’s impact and ramifications for future programs, philanthropic investment, and policy. Join Joseph Cureton (Tribeworks), Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez (Borinquen Dance Theatre, Inc.), Mark Treskon (Urban Institute), and Christina Hunt Wood (Multimedia Artist) in this conversation moderated by Sarah Calderón (Creatives Rebuild New York) on Tuesday, December 3 at 2pm EST/11am PST. Learn more and register here: https://bit.ly/3YNdWAQ