Inching toward equity in arts funding, thanks to a racial reckoning
“At the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, equity in arts funding has been the subject of sometimes bitter debate for more than a year. But the 18-member commission hasn’t given up. The racial reckoning over support for, say, D.C. Black art vs. European classics continues, with strides toward reconciliation.
On Tuesday, the D.C. Council, acting on a request from the arts commission, voted to end a set-aside program that guaranteed millions of dollars annually for a group of the District’s wealthier, better established performing-arts groups.
That money, which averaged a bit more than $7 million a year, now goes into a general fund of more than $33 million — and anyone can compete for a piece of it. The more money there is at a community level, the more likely some of the city’s grass-roots talent will be discovered.”