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Philanthropy and Funding

Content in this section engages with ideas around philanthropy and arts funding around the world. For a look at the United States, start with Grantmakers in the Arts conference or, for a global perspective, check out essays from Romania, Mexico, and Canada.

The Latest

That Which We Call a Struggle: A Response to Ife Olujobi’s “$5000”
Essay
That Which We Call a Struggle: A Response to Ife Olujobi’s “$5000”
by Chris Myers
5 February 2024
New York City Grantmakers in Conversation
Video
New York City Grantmakers in Conversation
The People Behind the Portal
Tuesday 24 October 2023
New York City
The Artistic Caucus: How Four Theatres Joined Forces to Disrupt Curatorial Practices
Essay
The Artistic Caucus: How Four Theatres Joined Forces to Disrupt Curatorial Practices
by Lauren Halvorsen
13 July 2023
actors onstage
Can a Theatre Company Lead Change?
Essay

Can a Theatre Company Lead Change?

22 April 2019

Owais Lightwala talks about how Toronto’s Why Not Theatre grew from a scrappy startup to an institution in their own right—which came with a greater responsibility to tackle some of Toronto theatres’s biggest challenges: space, childcare, and diversity.

a group of people in costume at the Porthcawl Carnival
Should Our Funds for the Arts Pay for Cultural Democracy?
Essay

Should Our Funds for the Arts Pay for Cultural Democracy?

17 March 2019

Nan van Houte expresses a desire for funding bodies to take their responsibility and support cultural democracy without compromising the existing subsidies for the arts.

The Future of Crowdfunding for Theatre Artists of Color
Video

The Future of Crowdfunding for Theatre Artists of Color

An online conference hosted by Advancing Arts Forward

Friday 1 March 2019
Video Conference

Advancing Arts Forward and HowlRound Theatre Commons presented the panel The Future of Crowdfunding for Theatre Artists of Color livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 1 March at 11:30 a.m. PST (San Francisco) / 1:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 2:30 p.m. EST (New York) / 7:30 p.m. UTC +0 (London).

David Howse, Judith Batty, and Reginald Browne
Beginning to Walk the Walk
Essay

Beginning to Walk the Walk

David Howse in Conversation with Judith Batty and Reggie Browne

20 January 2019

David Howse, ArtsEmerson’s executive director, talks to two board chairs, Judith Batty of Arena Stage and Reggie Browne of McCarter Theatre, about diversifying audiences, philanthropy and fundraising, intern programs to cultivate new talent, and more.

two people sitting
We Need Theatre to Exist, and Maybe Research Can Prove Its Necessity
Essay

We Need Theatre to Exist, and Maybe Research Can Prove Its Necessity

26 June 2018

Theatre artist and educator Robert Ruffin explores the idea of theatre being necessary for human survival and the research that needs to be undertaken to prove it. 

The Ugly Truth About Arts Institutions Led by Women of Color
Essay

The Ugly Truth About Arts Institutions Led by Women of Color

9 May 2018

Founder and executive artistic director of Dallas’s Bishop Arts Theatre Center Teresa Coleman Wash looks at the realities of running a theatre company as a woman of color.

Can We Really Tell Whose Butts Are In Our Seats?
Essay

Can We Really Tell Whose Butts Are In Our Seats?

1 September 2017

Producer, dramaturg, and grant writer Heather A. Beasley writes about the challenges and ethics of collecting audience demographic data, and offers a radical proposition.

Equity, Equality, and the Need for Evolution
Essay

Equity, Equality, and the Need for Evolution

The state of funding for Latinx Theatre Companies in the City of Angels

7 June 2017

In this first installment of a three-part series, Armando Molina writes about funding for theatres in Los Angeles, California.

The Status of Creative Freedom in Romania
Essay

The Status of Creative Freedom in Romania

27 March 2017

Ioana Tamas discusses the status of artists in Romania, in this installment of the series leading up to the IETM Plenary Meeting in Bucharest.

Conversation Advocating for the Arts
Video

Conversation Advocating for the Arts

Friday 15 April 2016
Amsterdam, Netherlands

IETM’s Plenary Meeting in Amsterdam: Live Art in Digital Times presented the conversation Advocating for the Arts livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday 15 April at 12:30-14:00 CEST (Amsterdam) / 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. BST (London) / 10:30-12:00 GMT / 6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. EDT (New York) / 13:30-15:00 EEST (Bucharest) / 16:00-18:30 IST (New Delhi) / 18:30-20:00 SGT (Singapore) / 19:30-21:00 JST (Tokyo) / 20:30-22:00 AEST (Sydney). You can join the discussions in the session by sending your questions and remarks on twitter with the hashtag #IETMAmsterdam.

The IETM Satellite Meeting
Video

The IETM Satellite Meeting

Monday 7 March and Tuesday 8 March 2016

 

IETM presents the Satellite Meeting in Paris livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 7 March and Tuesday 8 March. 

Kill New Play Deniers
Essay

Kill New Play Deniers

2 March 2016

Ira Gamerman reports on Australian playwright David Finnigan's new play Kill Climate Deniers that has been funded through an arts grant from the Australian government and called out as a waste of government arts spending although it hasn’t premeried yet.

The LIT Fund Wants Your Nickels
Essay

The LIT Fund Wants Your Nickels

Radical Transparency and a Long Term Vision For Downtown Theatre

23 November 2015

Ben Gassman discusses the LIT Fund’s grant lottery system and the concept of radical transparency.

Don’t Depend on Ticket Sales
Essay

Don’t Depend on Ticket Sales

18 October 2015

Seth Lepore discusses why artists and producers can’t depend purely on ticket sales for revenue, using one of his tours through the Midwest as an example. 

Promise Me You Won’t Start an Arts Nonprofit
Essay

Promise Me You Won’t Start an Arts Nonprofit

28 August 2015

Seth Lepore lays out the pros and cons of fiscal sponsorship versus becoming a non-profit for small arts groups or individuals.

Eight Steps to Actual Actual Innovation in Arts Funding
Essay

Eight Steps to Actual Actual Innovation in Arts Funding

15 August 2015

Artistic innovator Adrienne Mackey offers eight steps to actual actual innovation in arts funding.

Value Set at $200/hour
Essay

Value Set at $200/hour

Money Lab and the Patronage Auction

28 June 2015

Edward Einhorn on the economics of Money Lab and what it taught him about the relationship of art and money.

Supporting the Intersection of Art and Activism
Essay

Supporting the Intersection of Art and Activism

26 April 2015

Jennifer Sokolove talks about funding work around climate change, and how organizations can reimagine granting to support work at the intersection of art activism.

portrait of laura shamas
Women Playwrights
Essay

Women Playwrights

Who is Keeping Count?

21 May 2014

Is there really no institution in 2014 that will sponsor an ongoing annual study of American women playwrights working in theater seasons around the country (and directors, producers, designers, for that matter)? What if there were a way to fund some sort of new national study, to formalize a precise methodology of what shows/seasons to count and when, and get an accurate assessment of what the gender equity percentages for women playwrights in the United States really are in 2014? If we can’t find an institution or university that will fund this (which seems a shame), is there a DIY way to organize an all-inclusive study that includes every region of the country? Can we pool our resources and do this?

Rehearsing Nightmares.
The Phantom Seats of Philanthropy
Essay

The Phantom Seats of Philanthropy

29 November 2013

Adam Burnett and Jud Knudsen imagine a world without arts funding and wonder: could that actually be the impetus we need to rethink how and why we make theater?

I Don’t Want to Talk about Innovation
Essay

I Don’t Want to Talk about Innovation

A Talk about Innovation

26 October 2013

A revised version of Todd London’s address delivered at the National Innovation Summit for Arts + Culture in Denver, October 21, 2013.

Portrait of Jane Chu smiling.
What History Can Teach Us About Arts Philanthropy in the Age of Obama
Essay

What History Can Teach Us About Arts Philanthropy in the Age of Obama

31 January 2013

Julia Bumke discusses the vital role governmental support plays in achieving the funding necessary to revitalize theatre in America.

A watercolor art piece in which a blue figure and an orange figure interact with each other.
A New Revolution?
Essay

A New Revolution?

9 February 2012

Jaan Whitehead addresses the revolutionary attitude necessary for artists to reclaim the theatre from the institutions that produce it.

Portrait of P. Carl.
A Virtual Theater Movement
Essay

A Virtual Theater Movement

6 January 2012

P. Carl asks if the virtual connectedness of the twenty first century theater community can provide the place for artists to move beyond the brick and mortar settings of the current regional theater movement, and into greater creative freedom.

ART/New York Fall Forum
Series

ART/New York Fall Forum

ART/New York convenes their first Fall Forum to foster community, support collaboration, and encourage resource sharing among their members.