Occupy Arts Funding

The recent report by Grantmakers in the Arts (Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change) dramatically reveals the inequity in nonprofit arts funding: the richest 2% of arts organizations (those with annual budgets over $5M) receive 55% of nonprofit arts funding from private foundations. This limits access to the arts for many Americans, and negatively affects racial, demographic, aesthetic, and geographic diversity. While there are many explanations for this situation, it is an important first step is for artists, arts leaders, arts funders, and arts patrons to declare that this artistic income disparity is wrong and must be changed.