RDLF News: Issue 13

Roman Susan: A Neighborhood Beacon

At the beginning of April, Sabrina Boggs interviewed Roman Susan’s Kristin and Nathan Abhalter Smith about their situation with Loyola University and their plans for the future. For more context, you can read their?public letter to Loyola?and?news coverage on their website. Here's an excerpt:

Nathan:??A lot of people naturally have been asking us if we’re going to get another storefront or gallery space. But what we’ve learned is how important and valuable it is to respond to the site you’re in. This program is this room. There’s no bridging it to another space. If we got another space, we would treat it similarly. It would be its own unique thing and it would develop through the ideas of people that come in the door.

Kristin:?Right now, we’re trying to drive home the values of this space and we’re not willing to let it go quite yet, or to name what the next thing is. We have all these projects that build off this space, and remind people that their own agency in a space can be activated and celebrated artistically. The idea that this is an anomaly space can be applied to a lot of different ways of thinking about art and public life, and how we move through the world and express ourselves.?

We want to be here as long as we possibly can. We’ve always expected that something like this would happen, so when they were trying to get us to leave earlier and buy us out of our lease, we said no. When institutions try to move forward despite what the public wants, we’ll be the unreasonable ones who are like, “Nope. Leave us alone.” As artists with a voice, we can remind people to question what they’re being told.?

Read the complete article here.

The RDLF Calendar

Introducing the newest resource from the RDLF, our partner calendar!

We update this calendar frequently with events from our partners. Expect to see performances, webinars, workshops, festivals, exhibitions, pop-up distributions, and more. Current partners are welcome to send their public-facing events to sabrina(at)loganfdn(dot)org for addition. To subscribe on Google Calendar,?click here.

Grantee Highlights

Congratulations to InquireFirst ,?whose team of journalists won Third Prize in the Fetisov Journalism Awards in the category of Excellence in Environmental Journalism for their project "Traces of Oil in the Peruvian Amazon."

InquireFirst supported the project with a reporting grant that not only provided the journalists with a stipend as they worked on the project but also paid for expenses. The work is striking for many reasons, such as the representation of Indigenous journalists and sources, and the multimedia, multi-language layout of the project on their website.?

In addition, congratulations to the following partners, who were featured in the news recently:

• "Checking in with ChiArts": The Chicago Reader spoke with The Chicago High School for the Arts staff and a current student how the school has adapted to the landscape in arts education since the COVID shutdown, among other things.
• "About Face Theatre: 'The Brightest Thing In The World'": Director Keira Fromm and Education Manager Dionne Addai from About Face Theatre ?talked about their recent production on WGN News. ?
• "Young volunteers get to work at Northwest Side nature preserve ahead of Earth Day": A recent volunteer project organized by The Honeycomb Project was featured on WGN News.?
• "Storycatchers Theatre aims to change lives through new arts program": ?Executive Director Tasha Levy and Changing Voices Alum J'Lonni Sanders from Storycatchers Theatre were on NBC Chicago Today to talk about their creative storytelling program.
• "How to Become a Successful Writer From Behind Bars": Empowerment Avenue's Christopher Blackwell spoke with Narratively about how he became such a successful writer while still incarcerated.

Upcoming Opportunities

Open Applications

• AMPT Nonprofit Participatory Evaluations Cohort 2024 Application:?This experience aims to build the capacity of participants to develop and implement evaluation strategies through a cohort model. This cohort will meet for 6 IN-PERSON sessions from June 2024 to November 2024. Application is due by Friday, May 17th at 11:59pm.
• Field Foundation "A Road Together" Program: This new grantmaking program designed specifically for small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations with annual operating budgets up to $1 million and with a strong commitment to equity that are reflective and inclusive of Chicago’s diverse and historically underserved communities. Application is open through Friday, May 17.
• AWS IMAGINE Grant: This is a public grant opportunity open to registered nonprofit organizations who are using cloud technology to accelerate their missions. Round one applications will be accepted from May 3 through June 3.
• Paul M. Angell Family Foundation Mini-Grants: Mini grants are available for small, Chicago-based, Latino arts organizations which have budgets of under $200,000. Application is due by Friday, June 7 at 5:00 p.m. CDT.?

Job Openings

• Public Health Watch: Bilingual Health-Equity Reporter
• InvestigateWest:?Development Director
• Searchlight New Mexico:?Executive Editor
• Between Friends:?Bilingual Counselor
• AMPT Chicago:?Capacity-Building Manager
• Wisconsin Watch:?Audio/Video Director; Director of Engagement, Growth and Innovation
• The Boulevard of Chicago:?Resident Life and Transportation Services Manager
• Freedom of the Press Foundation:?Director of Development

Resources

• Editor Safety Hub: An initiative of the ACOS Alliance and WAN-IFRA, created in association with safety training experts, news editors and journalists. Take advantage of free, self-paced courses for news editors and managers.
• Lead Artist | Dancer/Collaborator Contract Template: Chicago Dancemakers Forum has created a free contract template for use between an individual Lead Artist (dancemaker) and an individual dancer/collaborator. By creating and distributing this resource, Chicago Dancemakers Forum aims to support dancemaking practices by making the contracting process a little easier and more accessible.

What We're Reading

Locked In, Priced Out: How Prison Commissary Price-Gouging Preys on the Incarcerated

• The Appeal : "The Appeal’s 9-month investigation uncovered prison commissaries’ exploitative, inconsistent systems with inside prices up to five times higher than in the community and markups as high as 600 percent."

Snack giant PepsiCo sourced palm oil from razed Indigenous land

• The Bureau of Investigative Journalism : "The US food and drink giant PepsiCo has been linked through its supply chain to Amazon deforestation and the invasion of Indigenous lands in Peru, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Mongabay and Ojo Público can reveal."

The Vital Connection Between Philanthropy and Independent Media in Preserving Democracy

• Global Investigative Journalism Network : "The decision to fund journalism emerges not merely as an act of altruism but as an indispensable strategic imperative, wielding profound influence in shaping societal narratives and driving transformative change."

Idaho Is Losing OB-GYNs After Strict Abortion Ban. But Health Exceptions Unlikely This Year.

• InvestigateWest : “The workforce shortage is exacerbated by doctors’ confusion about how to practice medicine under Idaho’s abortion ban that only allows abortion if it is needed for the mother’s life — not their health.”

New Bill Would Stop Cops From Citing Debunked ‘Excited Delirium’ Syndrome

• New York Focus : "Referencing a New York Focus story, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas introduced legislation to prevent public agencies from naming the medically discredited condition in their reports."

We'd like to hear from you!

Thanks for reading! We have an open call for content from our partners to highlight the brilliant work they're doing in the community. If you are a current grantee or partner with The Reva and David Logan Foundation and you would like to contribute to our next newsletter, please reach out to Sabrina Boggs, Communications Coordinator at sabrina(at)loganfdn(dot)org. Please note that we will not share fundraising campaigns.

In addition, we are frequently reposting our grantees on our social media, so make sure to follow us and tag us in your posts! Links to our socials are below.

See you next time!

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