A Call to Action for Arts Education Funders in the Wake of COVID-19

By: Jeff M. Poulin

Note: This post was last updated at 11:15am on 3/19/20.

Last week, the global teaching artist community (and broader arts education sector who supports teaching artists) gathered together in a webinar co-hosted by several national and international organizations. This webinar, which was attended by 500+ people primarily in the US with many abroad, focused on the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, specifically through the lenses of labor laws, programmatic adjustment tactics, flexible and transparent organizational infrastructure changes, and virtual/digital pedagogical strategies. Anyone can watch the recording of the webinar here.

One of the primary concerns throughout this webinar was how funders can continue to support the field of arts education, specifically teaching artists who are contract cultural workers with no full-time pay or medical benefits.

Take a moment to fill out this four-question survey to help inform funders! (before Saturday, March 21!)

Why The Focus is on Funders

According to the 2017 Creative Youth Development Field Survey (distributed by the Creative Youth Development National Partnership; never fully published, but findings presented in June 2018 in Denver, CO), over 70% of funding for U.S. creative youth development programs comes from donations. While 30% is earned through events, lessons, and sales, it is safe to assume this segment of income will see a dramatic decline during the COVID-19 era. Only 3% of creative youth development programs have an endowment, leaving the rest to rely on public and private funders for support.

The arts education community calls on funders to partner with and respond to the direct needs of their current and potential grantees to ensure that every child continues to have the opportunity to develop their creativity and our infrastructure supporting these young people maintains is strength, agility, and vibrancy.

With funders – whether public agencies in the arts/culture, education, social service sector or private mega-foundations or family funds – re-evaluating their strategies during this unprecedented time, the arts education community calls on funders to partner with and respond to the direct needs of their current and potential grantees to ensure that every child continues to have the opportunity to develop their creativity and our infrastructure supporting these young people maintains is strength, agility, and vibrancy.

The Example of Seattle

In a blog posted yesterday by James Miles from ArtsCorps in Seattle – one of the hardest hit communities in the US from COVID-19 – issued a call to their supporters to #MakeArtAnyway:

If you are a funder, grantor, donor, we ask that you offer relief to non-profits of program deliverables during a time of crisis. We also ask that you do not withhold, or limit, funding at this time of need. We are incredibly appreciative of those that are able to navigate the changing situations daily, by extending deadlines, offering open online support, waiving fees, and finding ways to offer financial support. To paraphrase a recent ArtsFund email, “a loss of revenue is a loss of the funds that provide paychecks for artists, staff, and contract workers.” We are the cultural fabric of the region, and we are woven together through everyone’s support.

In response to calls like the above from James, Seattle Mayor, Jenny A. Durkin – who is managing what is arguably the American epicenter for the COVID-19 outbreak – announced an Arts Recovery Package on March 17.  It is composed of two key initiatives:

  1. $100,000 in immediate relief for artists and creative workers; and

  2. $1 million Arts Stabilization Fund to invest in arts and cultural organizations to help mitigate revenue losses due to the moratorium on events and public gatherings.

These funds will be managed by the city’s  Office of Arts and Culture.

Funders Respond

Like in Seattle, other funders have been incredibly responsive. Released by the Social Sector Accelerator on March 17, the Capacity Dividend Report outlined two findings from a series of fast-response surveys on calls which they hosted across the philanthropic sector. The first identified challenges faced by nonprofits, which included:

  • Developing and implementing business continuity plans, 

  • Adapting and surging in services to clients and beneficiaries as their needs evolve and change,

  • Weathering major funding shortfalls due to loss in revenue from earned income sources and cancelled events,

  • Transitioning to remote work, and

  • Addressing racism and bias in communities and services. 

Then they articulated the responses from grantmakers so far in this journey, which included:

  • Rapid response funds,

  • Conversion of program grants to general operating support,

  • Pooled funding with other donors, and

  • Extension (or elimination) of deadlines for grant reporting and applications.  

Additionally, other groups like Philanthropy Massachusetts & the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network have issued flash polls to generate quick data to inform decision-making. Check out their findings here.

We’ve seen two examples of funders in our own sector at the intersection of arts/culture, education and youth development, and social change responding creatively.

The Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh, PA responded with a moving letter from their president, Grant Oliphant. He said:

A moment like this can rob us of our sense of agency and power. However, I would argue that the path forward is to realize that we do have power, even in the face of something that makes us feel incredibly small, and that it lies where it always has—in remembering that we are in this thing together and in finding ways to embrace our collective responsibility and accountability to each other. This is one truth of which I am absolutely certain: We will emerge stronger and better from the challenges of this time to the extent we remember what it truly means to be members of a local, national and global community.

He went on to outline several strategies the foundation was pursuing to deliver on these commitments.

The Clare Rose Foundation in San Diego, CA has convened their San Diego Creative Youth Development Network (digitally!) to proactively listen and respond to their needs. They will continue to hold weekly Zoom calls for the Network to listen, strategize, and build a supportive community. Director, Matt D’Arrigo has shared the top priorities in an effort to help inform other funders in the space. The Network encouraged local funders to…

  • Turn restricted grants into general operating support to enable organizations to pivot and invest funds where they are needed most;

  • Be open to extending grant periods and program/project timelines/outcomes;

  • Work with peer funders and government agencies to create collaborative funds to help those most impacted (Teaching Artists and hourly staff are identified as the most immediately impacted as programs shut down and they will be out of work);

  • Release one-time emergency funding for grantees to help shore up organizations during a likely economic downturn. This may require going over the traditional 5%; and

  • Provide (or make connections) for thought partnership and expertise to help organizations strategize and plan for both the short- and long-term impact.

A Call to Action

So, now as a teaching artist and arts education community, we ask you to help us encourage funders to respond in the best ways possible to this crisis. Instead of a petition or other type of demand, we want to crowd source the information, which funders may be seeking. Please complete this four-question survey by Saturday, March 21st. We will issue a follow up to this blog with the information (and any new resources we find) compiled through the survey.

Thank you all for making the world a better place during this global epidemic. If there is any sector that can respond innovatively, it is ours.