The Wallace Foundation Awards 8 New Research Grants to Arts and Culture Organizations and Social Science Researchers Rooted in Communities of Color

PRESS CONTACTS

Julie Danni
The Wallace Foundation
JDanni@wallacefoundation.org / 212-251-9742

Caroline Farrell / Emma Gold / Delaney Smith
Resnicow and Associates
CFarrell@resnicow.com / EGold@resnicow.com / DSmith@resnicow.com
212-671-5157 / 212-671-5186 / 212-671-5160

Joining Wallace’s multiyear arts initiative launched in 2021, these organizations and researchers will conduct studies on issues relevant to the well-being of arts organizations and communities

NEW YORK, January 13, 2025 – Today, The Wallace Foundation announced eight new grants awarded to arts organizations founded by, for, and with communities of color and social science researchers to investigate issues ranging from the cultural sustainability of the Ring Shout tradition to new models of collaborative endowment building and artist-land ownership. The grantees selected are participating in the research-focused component of Wallace’s ongoing arts initiative, Advancing Well-Being in the Arts. To date, the Foundation has invested over $13 million for studies within the initiative, which includes a grant to the Social Sciences Research Council to fund fellowships to 18 early career scholars working in partnership with arts organizations of color to develop 18 ethnographies. In total, the initiative is producing a total of 45 new studies for the field.

As part of the foundation’s most recent awards, the following organizations have been given a total of $2.72 million to conduct their own research on issues relevant to the well-being of arts organizations of color and the communities they serve: The Center for Cultural Power; Centro de Economía Creativa; Clemmons Family Farm; Full Spectrum Features; LA Commons; Morehouse College, The McIntosh County Shouters, The Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, and The Voices of Gullah Singers; White Research & Development Incorporated; and TERC.

Selected through an open call for requests for proposals (RFPs), each organization will receive funding to lead the planning, implementation, or expansion of individual research projects of their own concept and design. Funded by Wallace in recognition of a historical lack of investment in arts organizations of color and the under-documentation of their contributions, these projects are designed to answer questions pertinent to the field, and ultimately to advance practice, inform policy, and help build thriving communities.

“The Wallace Foundation is honored to support this latest group of research grantees,” said Bronwyn Bevan, Vice President of Research at The Wallace Foundation. "Each of their studies is designed to address issues that are critical to building a vital, equitable, and sustainable arts ecosystem.”

The projects of these 8 grantees reflect two strands of research:

• Field Studies: Representing a diverse range of artistic disciplines, geographic locations, and communities served across the field, arts service organizations committed to advancing communities of color collaborate with researchers on studies designed to add depth, breadth, and perspective on the nature of the ecosystem of nonprofit arts organizations of color and their communities.
   
• Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) with Arts Organizations of Color: Scholars and research teams work in partnership with arts organizations of color to address shared questions of interest and importance to the field and to scholarship. These grants include early career scholars from a variety of disciplines across the social sciences to encourage and expand interest in conducting research in the context of the arts and culture.

“Supporting the arts ecosystem and better understanding grantees needs is at the core of Wallace’s arts initiative. I look forward to working with this group of awardees as they join our research cohort and expand understanding of the ways in which they support their communities,” said Candace Miller, Wallace’s Research Officer in the Arts.

These research projects are just one component of Wallace’s five-year, $107 million arts initiative, launched in 2021. As part of this work, the foundation is partnering with arts organizations founded by, for, and with communities of color to advance their well-being, enhance understanding of their contributions to community, and ultimately to help build a more equitable and sustainable arts ecosystem. In May 2022, Wallace selected 18 organizations with budgets above $500,0000 for the first phase of the initiative. These organizations are carrying out individual projects designed to advance their organizational well-being, gathering insights along the way. A second phase is also underway, supporting studies related to the goals and activities of a wide array of smaller arts organizations of color with budgets below $500,000, executed in partnership with regional arts organizations and arts service organizations across the country.

For more information on this initiative, including open RFPs, please visit Wallace’s website.

ABOUT THE GRANTEES AND THEIR RESEARCH PROJECTS

Field Studies

The Center for Cultural Power (Oakland, CA)
The Center for Cultural Power (Cultural Power) is a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) women and artist-led arts and cultural strategy nonprofit that activates and mobilizes artists and Culture Bearers to envision a world in which cultural, economic, and political power are distributed equitably, and where all human beings can live in harmony with nature. As part of this work, Cultural Power supports BIPOC artists, traditional, and tradition-based Culture Bearers through awards, fellowships, training workshops, and networking opportunities. Expanding on its prior research on the relationship between BIPOC artists’ confidence, sense of community, and role in social change work, Cultural Power will conduct a mixed-methods study of blended cohorts of BIPOC artists and Culture Bearers, examining approaches to building narrative power, as well as the economic and cultural sustainability of their social justice work. Study findings will be utilized to develop tools for measuring how BIPOC artists and Culture Bearers build leadership skills, critical consciousness, professional sustainability, and community networks that transform them into leaders within social justice movements.

"Cultural Power is grateful for the opportunity to deepen our work with Cultural Bearers and uplift traditional narrative strategists who hold ancestral wisdom and transmit knowledge across generations. These stewards safeguard cultural cornerstones, they are way finders in their community and are honored for their knowledge and integral leadership roles. Our study will expand the field’s knowledge of the impact Culture Bearers have on building thriving networks of artists that focus on community-centered solutions to our most pressing challenges, such as food insecurities, cultural preservation, community care, and health," said Aisha Goss, Vice President (interim).

Centro de Economía Creativa (Puerto Rico)
The Centro de Economía Creativa, an organization that supports the artistic and cultural sector in Puerto Rico through research, management services, and training, will lead a study investigating the management practices and impacts of Puerto Rican arts groups. Within a context of multiple economic crises, political unrest, climate disasters, and the recent global health pandemic, Puerto Rican arts organizations and initiatives have innovated and adopted cultural management models that provide community impact while navigating constant crisis conditions. Utilizing a combination of ethnographic, case study, and survey research methods, the study will deepen understandings of how Puerto Rican arts organizations are organized, define their impact, and identify and allocate economic resources for their sustainability.

"This research will allow us to continue to understand more broadly the ecology of cultural organizations in Puerto Rico and their impacts. We want these best practices to serve the ecosystem's decision-making and the training of future generations of leaders. We thank The Wallace Foundation for its trust and commitment to arts and culture in our archipelago,” said Javier Hernández Acosta, founder and PI, Centro de Economía Creativa.

Clemmons Family Farm (Charlotte, VT)
Clemmons Family Farm (CFF) is a Vermont-based arts and culture nonprofit organization that provides artist service programs designed to support Vermont’s artists of African diaspora cultures to thrive. CFF also offers community arts and culture programs aimed at improving community mental health and wellness, strengthening social cohesion, and creating a sense of place. Building on its prior study that investigated cross-sectoral approaches to empowering artists and fostering social cohesion and community well-being, CFF will utilize a mixed-methods approach to investigate how cross-sectoral approaches can improve social capital, wellness, and health equity outcomes for artists in rural and predominantly white environments. The work will include illuminating strategies for organizations to collaborate effectively to achieve these improved outcomes.

Research Practice Partnerships (RPP)

Full Spectrum Features (Chicago)
Full Spectrum Features, a Chicago-based organization working to foster equity in the independent film industry, is partnering with JusticexDesign and the Inkcap Collective to design a study that addresses the double-bind of justice and harm that is often inherent in storytelling. The study aims to yield a new suite of art-based learning tools designed to engage communities ethically, thoughtfully, and meaningfully as they navigate painful accounts and histories through storytelling. During the planning year, Full Spectrum will develop the framing for this toolkit. The planning project is expected to produce a research plan for a full study to be launched in 2025.

"This work really gets to the heart of what we do at Full Spectrum. Storytelling can be so powerful—it can heal, but it can also hurt if we’re not careful. This research is helping us figure out how to do it right, with care and accountability, so we can keep creating films and tools that truly make a difference in our communities," said Jason Matsumoto, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Full Spectrum Features.

LA Commons (Los Angeles)
LA Commons works in Los Angeles neighborhoods to facilitate artistic processes that leverage community stories to create public art. In partnership with the University of Southern California’s Spatial Analysis Lab (SLAB), LA Commons will explore the role of public, private, and community property in stabilizing cultural hubs in communities of color in L.A. to understand how these communities might deploy arts and property rights-informed strategies to mitigate gentrification-driven displacement. During the planning year, the team will focus on three in-depth case studies of the Leimert Park, Little Tokyo, and Boyle Heights neighborhood through which they will work with local community and arts practice partners to co-create a full research design to be launched in 2025.

"We are extremely grateful for this opportunity with The Wallace Foundation's support to examine key strategies for preserving the cultural hubs at the heart of many communities experiencing displacement. Through our work, we intend to develop arts and property-based approaches aimed at stabilizing and celebrating the neighborhoods that are central to Los Angeles’ identity as one of the most diverse cities in the world. We look forward to sharing our findings with colleagues across the country given the relevance of these issues," said Karen Mack, Executive Director of LA Commons.

Morehouse College, The McIntosh County Shouters, The Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, and The Voices of Gullah Singers
Researchers from Morehouse College and Claflin University, both historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and the University of Georgia will partner with three prominent Gullah-Geechee Ring Shout Tradition (RST) organizations to address the lack of intergenerational transmission and the limited economic opportunities for practitioners, which challenge RST preservation. The McIntosh County Shouters, The Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, and The Voices of Gullah Singers, all renowned RST practitioner-led culture-bearing organizations, will work with the research partners to delve deeper into these issues and to consider the broader landscape of challenges and opportunities that RST practitioners face. Over the course of this study, the team will visit UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) sites in Belize and Nigeria to examine African-centered models of cultural transmission and apply for the Ring Shout Tradition to be awarded the ICH designation. They will also explore new pathways for knowledge exchange and transfer, focusing on music, theater, and Africana studies education at HBCUs.

“Drawing connections across the African diaspora is central to the mission of Morehouse College as a historically black, liberal arts college. This project marks the first collaboration among Ring Shout groups in their recent history. It is an opportunity for these arts organizations to focus on their futures instead of immediate performances. We are grateful to The Wallace Foundation for supporting interdisciplinary work that showcases the practice of applied research and our commitment to developing mutually beneficial community partnerships,” shared Regine O. Jackson, Ph.D., Dean of the Humanities, Social Sciences, Media & Arts Division and Professor of Sociology.

White Research & Development (WRD) Incorporated (Cincinnati) 
Leveraging participatory action research (PAR), White Research and Development, Inc. in collaboration with the Robert O’Neal Multicultural Arts Center and 11 Cincinnati-based arts organizations founded by, for, and with Black and African American communities, will document and test an innovative process of collaborative endowment planning. Given that arts organizations of color (AOCs) tend to be non-endowed and more consistently undercapitalized on national, state and local levels, this study seeks to investigate how AOCs can share resources and build endowments together to support their collective growth and sustainability in perpetuity. The study will also identify systemic barriers, challenges and solutions that emerged during a 16-month planning process. The study’s findings will contribute to the limited research on endowment planning for AOCs, help other AOCs engage in endowment planning processes, and offer insights for arts administrators, funding organizations, and educators.

TERC (Cambridge, MA)
How do community-based dance centers contribute to a healthy arts learning and development ecology for Black youth? TERC, a STEM learning-focused nonprofit, will partner with four community-based dance centers serving Black youth in three U.S. metros to explore the supports, opportunities, and resources for learning and development provided in these spaces. In partnership with Boston-based

OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center and Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts (RCPA), Gary, Indiana-based DancExcel: Champion Center for Creative Arts, and NYC-based STEM from Dance, which draw on and affirm the cultural values of African American youth through dance, TERC will use qualitative methods to illuminate the practices, pedagogies, and programmatic features that support Black youths’ growth, wellbeing, and social connectedness.

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About The Wallace Foundation
Based in New York City, The Wallace Foundation is an independent national philanthropy whose mission is to help all communities build a more vibrant and just future by fostering advances in the arts, education leadership, and youth development. Wallace aims to help solve problems facing the fields in which it works, benefiting both the organizations it funds directly and the broader field by developing credible, useful knowledge to inform policy and practice nationwide. Research commissioned and produced by the foundation is available without charge at www.wallacefoundation.org