The Washington Post: Eduardo Vilaro, the artistic director and chief executive of New York’s Ballet Hispánico, has tried to ignore the slights. Well-heeled patrons who wouldn’t join his board because they favored older, Whiter organizations. Theater managers telling him they couldn’t present the company because they had already programmed a “minority-themed” group.
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I’m so happy that larger corporations/foundations are making moves like this. The fact that there are Ballet companies that have endowments of $1 million with an annual budget of $7 million shows much how arts organizations need this. This move, an initiative of $160 million going to Black, Indigenous, and people of color organizations across the country is a huge thing. The fact that Ballet Hispánico will receive $4 million from this initiative is incredible and shows the impact that this amount of money can make for arts companies that focus on celebrating minorities within their art. That’s over half of this singular company's annual budget. I think the President of the Ford Foundation, Darren Walker, is going to be a large player in how foundations and bigger companies will begin to value theatre, museums, and the arts overall. I’m curious as to how this type of funding will grow over the next 5 years. The systemic racism that people are tackling in the arts is a problem that doesn’t just exist in the arts and in creating initiatives like this one, Mr. Walker is closing that equity gap… maybe not perfectly or permanently, but he’s attempting too, which is more than can be said for many.
I think this is an amazing time for this to happen. The funds are great for allowing the employees and artists to survive the current times as well as continue to create new pieces once the pandemic is better controlled. It’s also perfect timing that the money coming in is a significant portion of their budgets. With less shows happening this is potentially a rest time for these companies to squirrel away funds and build up for the future.
I also love that the endowments aren’t tied to budgets. This is something in hopper corporations continue to do going forward.
The news of this unprecedented $160 million award really brings me joy during a time where it is much needed. As a latinx community member growing up in NYC, the Ballet Hispanico has always been a place of connecting myself with my culture while enjoying some contemporary ballet. The pandemic has really made the future uncertain for many cultural institutions and the Ford foundation is prioritizing substantial grants to Black, Indigenous, and people of color organizations across the country. This summer we have had a reckoning with racial justice in this country after the murder of George Floyd and it is very comforting to see them prioritize the BIPOC arts. The BIPOC arts are the key to educating the general population of how similar we all really are, and it is a first step to helping the country heal our divisions. I really hope that the future of these artistic institutions will be much better than our current situation
This is absolutely amazing. Not only does this help each BIPOC owned arts organization, but also creates higher-paying jobs for artists of color that have just as much talent as their white counterparts in better endowed companies. The biggest shock to me was reading about how Ballet Hispánico’s annual budget is $7 million and only receive endowments of about $1. Hearing of how under-funded this company and Alvin Ailey, as famous as they are, no one wanted to invest in a company full of BIPOC people. The sentence “Theater managers telling him they couldn’t present the company because they had already programmed a “minority-themed” group” really struck me to my core. This happens all of the time in the arts where companies feel they have “filled” their personal guilt quota of helping minority communities. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Ford Foundation and the BIPOC organizations they help further develop
This article gives me a lot of hope for the companies donated to in the article. As stated, they will help a lot of underfunded BIPOC companies to sustain themselves during the pandemic, which is hard enough as it is for big well-known companies. I also appreciate that this is not a onetime coronavirus relief donation, and instead intends to remain consistent outside of the coronavirus pandemic. It makes me excited for life after the pandemic slows, as we will likely see more BIPOC companies stepping up to the plate. Despite all the positivity of this article, I also particularly thought about the quote, “It takes an ice pick to this huge glacier of structural white supremacy.” This massive donation is clearly an amazing thing, but like Vilaro says, just an increase in money does not encourage any inherent structural change, like the problem with white companies only wanting to support a limited number of minority performances. That is something to keep in mind, but overall I believe this was a great incentive that will motivate a lot of people.
Finally. I think this is so important and truly an amazing thing that is being done. With the pandemic and BIPOC arts already being underfunded, the fact that they are donating millions to arts groups of people of color is something that was always needed, but especially is crucial at this time for everyone to get back on their feet. I hope this gives a jump start to BIPOC art groups and gives the fair chance at success as all the other groups have. This also goes to show how much this was overdue and needed in art/theatre and the blatant racism that is ingrained throughout the different entertainment/art industries. I’m really excited to see all the new upcoming works and see BIPOC artist groups finally have a fair shot at creating freely without restrictions such as money. The world, especially the art world, wouldn’t be what it is today without BIPOC people and their influence, so I’m excited to see how this new grant will give them new opportunities to create authentic art.
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