In these cold winter months when I’m at my desk wrapping my brain around what we do and why we do it, I know I’m not alone. We’ve all been struggling to keep the faith in the shadow of persistent and horrific violence in the world, the climate crisis, the war on women, the quest for liberation and peace in the Middle East, the threats to democracy and human rights, and the list goes on. As we work to build opportunity and abundance for our organizations and communities, and for safety for courageous filmmakers, journalists, artists and storytellers everywhere — it is clear that who we are and what we have — are not always distinct and quantifiable. What our communities need, and how they manifest our collective futures, reflects our purpose and core mission.
The Alliance is at a powerful inflection point; award-winning initiatives like Arts2Work and the Innovation Studio have amplified our work globally. Our partnerships with institutions like the Smithsonian and the Warhol, companies like NBCUniversal and Epic Games, visionary funders like MacArthur, Blank and Snap Foundations, and community-based organizations like the Hip Hop Education Center and the Watts Labor Community Action Committee have built our capacity to support and serve the media arts field in new ways. Our evolutionary Communities of Practice program Unlocking Creativity has brought together a group of organizations working with currently and formerly incarcerated artists and justice-impacted youth that is already envisioning breakthrough business models of creative production and redefining traditional ideas of risk and return.
I want you all to meet the new 2024 Alliance for Media Arts + Culture Board of Advisors – these extraordinary people have stepped up into this work with us to support programs, people and new vision in this organization. They have already been a huge inspiration and we are looking forward to building together in the new year. Thank you to Andre Torres, Beth Miyares, Chihiro Wimbush, Gillian Rose, Martha Diaz, Veronica Corzo-Duchardt and JJ Harris.
Best wishes to everyone for a safe and warm holiday.
And it’s never too late to join the Alliance
~ Wendy
Notes from the Field
Philly Daydreams: Stories In Transit Encore
Thursday, December 14th, is the last day to see artist Anula Shetty’s augmented reality installation Philly Daydreams: Stories In Transit. A product of Shetty’s time as the artist-in-residence at Public Works, the piece captures the intimate experiences of Philadelphia commuters and transit workers throughstories, daydreams, thoughts, and performances recorded by Shetty. Philly Daydreams is viewable either at SEPTA’s Oculus or through QR-triggered photographs on select trains.
Arts2Work announces the 2024 Power of Storytelling grants
Ten $5,000 grants for short films will be awarded and grantees will receive funding, mentorship from award-winning filmmakers, and workshops on short film budgeting, co-creation and impact producing and distribution strategies. Applications are due Friday, January 5, 2024 at 5PM PT. Winners will be announced by January 31, 2024. Additional information is here. Apply here!
Grants and Calls
ITVS Short-Form Open Call Makers of short nonfiction films with projects in pre-production or mid-production are encouraged to submit to ITVS Short-Form Open Call for the opportunity to receive between $30,000 and $50,000 in support. Projects must be under 25 minutes long and made specifically for PBS public media digital platforms. ITVS has a special interest in projects that concern criminal justice reform, democracy, civics, and environmental justice. Deadline: December 15th
Humanities for All Project Grants
California Humanities is awarding up to $25,000 to support large scale public humanities projects that promote empathy and understanding towards under-served demographics. A wide range of programming formats are encouraged including community discussion series, workshops, and lectures.
Deadline: January 16th
ArtsHERE Grants
The National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with South Arts have launched the ArtsHERE program which will award non-matching grants between $65,000 and $130,000 to approximately 95 nonprofit organizations throughout the country.
Deadline: January 19th
Workshops, Festivals, Convenings
| Short Cuts Film Festival, December 14th, Westport, CT Sacramento International Film Festival, December 15th, Sacramento, CA Chesapeake Film Festival, January 6th, Easton, MD San Diego Underground Film Festival,January 13th, San Diego, CA Sundance Film Festival, January 18th-28th, Park City, UT Slamdance Film Festival, January 19th-25th, Los Angeles, CA |
Media Policy Watch
by Priscilla Genet
Poet and activist Professor Refaat Alareer was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Northern Gaza last Wednesday. In addition to his own writing and position as a professor of literature at The Islamic University of Gaza, Alareer edited multiple collections of Gazan writers work, including Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine. A flood of tributes filled the website X (formerly Twitter). Many students and colleagues commemorated him, with former student Jehad Abusalim recalling his “passion [for] the English language as a tool of liberation […] a teleportation device that defied Israel’s fences.”
This Monday, the free speech advocacy organization PEN America announced its next President to be writer and L.G.B.T.Q. rights exponent Jennifer Finney Boylan. PEN has had a particular focus in recent years on combating sweeping book bans in school libraries, highlighting the censorship of books written by people of color or LGBTQ people. In an interview with New York Times, Boylan stated that her experience as an LGBTQ advocate will not inform her position as president stating “My job is to fight for freedom of speech for everybody, including people I disagree with,” and expressing PEN’s controversial balance of concern for social justice as well as for the protection of all free speech for all including that containing “intolerance or bigotry or language that we hate.”
