What’s New with the GIA’s Policy and Advocacy Efforts?
with Althea Erickson and Eddie Torres
Recorded April 5, 2023
Grantmakers in the Arts holds public policy and advocacy as one of its core funding focus areas. As part of this work, we find one of the most important roles we can serve in benefitting our members and the arts grantmaking field – maximizing the impact our sector can have toward increasing access to the arts and realizing racial justice through the arts – comes by way of our public policy and advocacy work. In our vision for the future, focus upon advocacy and public sector policy and practice are an increasingly central priority for foundations.
Realizing this vision requires GIA’s collaborative efforts engage in advocacy and lobbying both in the arts grantmaking field and at the federal level, where we see the most strategic impact of scale/efficacy at scale. This requires a both-and approach: assessing the needs and priorities of the field and the priorities and possibilities within Congress.
On this podcast, we are glad to be joined by special guest Althea Erickson, director of Sol Center for Liberated Work, Center for Cultural Innovation, and Eddie Torres, president and CEO, Grantmakers in the Arts. They discuss recent lobbying and advocacy efforts of GIA, navigating how shifting priorities can influence GIA approach to advocacy, and opportunities for you to support legislation right now.
To listen to the full episode, click here.
Sherylynn Sealy:
Welcome to a podcast by Grantmakers in the Arts, a national membership association of public and private arts and culture funders. I'm Sherylynn Sealy. GIA’s Senior program Manager.
Organized since 2012, GIA's Arts Education Funders Coalition, or AEFC has worked to address specified needs in comprehensive arts education and to strengthen communication and networking amongst arts education funders. Advised by a committee of coalition members, GIA engaged the services of Washington DC-based firm Penn Hill Group. Penn Hill Group brings education, policy, expertise, and experience working with diverse education groups to research, develop, and promote educational policy strategies. Together, Penn Hill and the Committee of Funders drive their efforts toward ensuring a better arts future. However, as the federal administration changes, so do their priorities, how has that influenced the advocacy and lobbying efforts of GIA? How has that shifted the priorities of the AEFC Committee? On this podcast, we are glad to be joined by special guest Althea Erickson, director of Soul Center for Liberated work at the Center for Cultural Innovation in our very own Eddie Torres, president and c e o of grant makers in the arts, they'll provide an update on the AEFC committee and discuss what funders should be paying attention to right now. So welcome to both of you.
Eddie Torres:
Hi.
Sherylynn Sealy:
Hi. Thanks so much. And Eddie, why don't you get us started letting folks know a little bit more about what the AEFC committee really is.
Eddie Torres:
Sure. Thank you. Sure, so Grantmakers in the Arts’ Arts Education Funders Coalition includes Americans for the Arts, Arts Education Partnership, Hienz Endowments, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, National Guild for Community Arts Education, Grantmakers in Education, and the George Gund Foundation. So, public policy and advocacy at Grantmakers in the Arts is one of our core focus areas. We've believe that, as a field, philanthropy can be most effective if it understands the extent to which it's interdependent with other systems with, quite frankly, much larger systems. And, the government really is the biggest supporter of people and change. So, we think that it is essential that folks who give philanthropically support advocacy for public policies that support arts, arts and education, and that support workers because artists are workers. And we think that that has to include not just support [for] engagement and support for advocacy, but also support for lobbying.
We think that there are specific pieces of legislation that need to pass in order for arts access, uh, arts, engagement, arts and education, and pro worker policies to be enacted that are essential for sort of a robust, positive progressive society. So the arts and education, uh, coalition came together in 2012. It was really historically been focused on federal arts and education policy. We think that those are great things and need to continue. We're really grateful that those have continued and we're grateful for the successes we've had. With that said, we think that also needs to be coupled with pro worker policies, uh, because artists are the engine of the art world. Artists are the engine of arts and education, um, and artists are workers. And, uh, unfortunately, they're too often vulnerable workers. And we think in general, too often workers are vulnerable period in this country. And so therefore, we think that…well, therefore we're grateful that the Arts Education Funders Coalition has expanded our mandate to include advocacy and lobbying for pro-worker policies.
Sherylynn Sealy:
That's great. Thank you so much for that, Eddie. That was a really detailed description, um, and looking forward to discussing more about what the committee's been up to. But before we even go there, um, can you tell us a little bit about what brought you to the committee? I'm actually gonna kick this over to you, Althea. Yeah,
Althea Erickson:
Absolutely. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about all the things. Um, so as, uh, as you mentioned, I lead the Sol Center for Liberated Work at the Center for Cultural Innovation, um, which is an advocacy policy and research shop focused on expanding social and economic protections for arts workers and others in the broader gig economy. And I think, you know, this work is really rooted in CCI is a longtime intermediary funder of individual artists. And I think Sol Center's work really grows from the recognition within CCI, that we can't just keep giving individual grants to individuals in the arts and culture workers and not try to address these underlying structural systems that put arts workers in the conditions of needing those funds in the first place. And I think if you want to work at a systems change level, then you really have to work on policy, uh, because that the policy sets the rules of the game.
It really, you know, basically defines the structures in many ways that we operate within. Um, and so we are, you know, I really appreciate the focus, um, that you brought to the conversation really from the beginning. Edon Artis as workers, I think we're really working to address those underlying conditions that drive precarity for so many individuals in the arts. Um, namely that they work outside of traditional employment and lack access to the social protections that we as a society have tied to, to employment. So unemployment, paid leave, health insurance, all those things. Um, and we've been super excited to join AEFC because it's a place where arts funders come together and collaborate to drive policy change that in that impacts, you know, the industry as a whole and the people within it, and has really expanded that mandate. And I think that's, that's really exciting, um, to see that, that development.
You know, I, uh, personally, I, I come from outside the arts. I've been, um, you know, Sol Center is new and we've been standing it up for about the last year. But, um, I've worked on benefits and protections for the self-employed for a long time and the labor sector through the Freelancers union. And I was at Etsy for a while also doing this work, and was always surprised that folks in the arts often weren't part of these conversations in ways that it, it really felt important because, so, um, because arts workers really are experiencing these conditions and, you know, a s e really feels like one place among others that I think are emerging and evolving in the arts sector where we can try and change that.
Sherylynn Sealy:
Great. Thank you so much for that. Althea and Eddie, of course, you know, you're at GIA, so you're naturally a part of the coalition. But can you just talk a little bit about your experience, um, being a part of the coalition over the past few years?
Eddie Torres:
Thank you. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's actually very funny to me. I mean, I, Althea you made reference, uh, to being surprised that artists weren't a part of or, or weren't frequently enough a part of the worker benefits conversation. And before I got to grant makers in the arts, I was with, uh, the city government here in New York. Uh, and I was also, again, very surprised by how infrequent sort of field organizing felt to me. I mean, I, I, I certainly experienced some of it, but I mostly experienced, uh, individual organizations kind of advocating for themselves as individual organizations. Uh, it was, uh, only occasionally and oftentimes around some big moment that I saw large sections of the field come together. And when they did, it was effective. When they did, it had impact. Um, and, um, it's really important, it was a big important lesson for me to bring with me into, uh, Grantmakers in the Arts.
You know, when we got to Grantmakers in the Arts, we just had really positive, uh, the organization had had really positive impact on, uh, you know, the every Student Succeeds Act, um, uh, uh, federally in terms of inclusion of, uh, arts and education, um, in federal legislation. And we thought that was really exciting and important, and we were excited about it. Uh, we've also been really excited about, um, you know, influencing the Department of Education to include in its volume two roadmap for reopening, uh, how important access to the arts and engagement with the arts is in reentering, you know, students reentering the public schools, you know, uh, during the pandemic, first of all. And we were also really grateful that we influenced them to include how racialized access to the arts has been historically. And that recreating that racialization, uh, during the pandemic would be a horrible lost opportunity.
Uh, and we were part of, you know, a big large coalition of folks who were advocating for the arts and advocating for racial equity in the school's reopenings. So we were grateful for all of that. But we're also, I mean, there were so many opportunities that we saw in including the arts in things like the Older Americans Act now that we know so much about the role of arts in health and in, uh, uh, healthy resilient aging. We were also really grateful to get the arts included in the Childcare for Working Families Act, considering how much we know now about the role of the arts in children's, uh, cognitive, uh, psychological and emotional development. And also just knowing how important the role of, uh, support for childcare is for working families. Um, so I'm really grateful that we managed to do all of that. And I'm really grateful that as we've broadened our aperture beyond just looking at, uh, federal Arts in Education policy as something, you know, that's discreet, that we've also attracted new folks into this process. So that's why we have somebody like you Althea from Sol Center. Um, that's why we've attracted the folks at, you know, grant makers in education. That's why we've attracted folks, you know, from the Wallace Foundation, you know, in recognition of the fact that the arts don't have to be separate from these larger social systems.
Sherylynn Sealy:
Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, that's great. Eddie. I appreciate you kind of bringing the two together. Um, and, and also providing the timeline that you've seen over the past few years that with the AEFC committee, and I actually wanna stay with you on this. Um, speaking of, you know, the timeline and all of the different priorities that you've seen, not that one priority would fall by the wayside, but just kind of focusing on, on different things. You know, the Arts Education for All Act Every Student Sit Succeeds, act like, you know, we've, we've done quite a, a few things, um, over the past few years. So how have the committee's priorities shifted or developed now that we are in 2023, we've gone through, you know, different administrations and so, so how have the priorities changed, um, looking at this year specifically?
Eddie Torres:
Yeah, thank you. Uh, you know, we, I I don't even think it's a matter of changing so much as broadening, you know, because I mean, the Arts Education for All Act, um, which was, you know, introduced, uh, last year, uh, is going to be reintroduced, uh, in September of 2023 during Arts and Education Week. And this is the most comprehensive arts education, uh, legislation ever proposed in, in Congress. So, you know, we are, uh, enthusiastically going to endorse it and promote it, and that remains the same. But what is changing is simply, again, continuing to broaden the aperture, specifically looking at, for instance, portable benefits for gig workers. Um, you know, we think that there's a really great opportunity, uh, uh, particularly coming up, it looks like, um, DelBene and, uh, Suzan, representative Suzan K. DelBene and representative, uh, Mark Warner, are going to introduce legislation this year, uh, for portable benefits for gig workers.
This is absolutely essential. I mean, gig workers make up around 30% of our nation's workforce, you know, first of all, and second of all, uh, for any of us who've ever been between jobs at some point, we've been a gig worker, you know? Mm-hmm, we've been a consultant or whatnot. Um, you know, the fact of the matter is that gig workers artists are gig workers, but also gig workers are all of us. We've seen how important gig workers are, uh, to the economy, particularly during the pandemic. You know, the federal government actually expanded unemployment insurance for the first time to, uh, uh, include gig workers. The fact of the matter is, this is a social justice issue. The fact that employment, the fact that unemployment insurance is tied to employment in America is basically, uh, uh, uh, uh, anti-social justice, just because that is the case that, um, unemployment insurance is tied to employment, uh, only because we didn't want to, uh, um, extend public benefits, uh, to black people in during our, our country's history.
Um, and this is true of, uh, health insurance. This is true of benefits in general. Um, and, and not until we explicitly address this that we are going to, to remediate what is basically an act of social injustice and an act of social injustice that's been enshrined in public policy. Um, so this is a great opportunity, not just for artists, but just for workers across the country. So, you know, first of all, second of all, we're also really excited, uh, about, uh, the, uh, introduction of, um, uh, first of all, just the expansion of social security income, uh, which is, is basically, uh, disability insurance for people with disabilities, and also lifting the caps on the assets that people with disabilities are allowed to hold before they get disqualified from receiving public benefits. Um, and just like I said, gig workers are all of us.
People with disabilities are all of us. I mean, uh, first of all, people with disabilities are wildly undercounted. I mean, you know, if you talk to any disability expert, they'll tell you that basically like one in four Americans has a disability, one and two, if we're lucky enough to live long enough, that'll actually include the vast majority of us. Mm-hmm, we'll all eventually have a disability . Um, and, you know, being able to receive income, whether that's grant income or whether that's, uh, uh, work from be, you know, income from being a contract worker and still being able to receive public benefits while you have a disability is essential. It's essential to artists, it's essential to workers, it's essential to most of us at some point in our lives. So we are really excited. This is going to be introduced at some point this year by, um, she Brown.
And again, we are going to, as we are doing with portable benefits, we're going to enthusiastically endorse this and advocate for this. And finally, there's the Universal Charitable Deduction. Uh, the Charitable Act actually just got introduced by Senators Lankford and Coons. Um, and it basically allows, uh, a far broader swath of the American population, uh, to receive a tax benefit for their charitable contributions. Right now, about 90% of Americans don't receive a tax benefit for their charitable contributions. This is inherently undemocratic, and it matters for nonprofits across America. You know, over the, the past decades, um, the amount of charitable giving has been increasing while the number of people giving has been decreasing. That basically means fewer people are giving larger amounts. That's inherently un-democratic, that is inherently un-American. Everyone gives, at some level, it's just the vast majority of people don't receive any tax benefit for doing so. Right now, we only give that tax benefit to rich people. Everyone deserves to receive benefits for giving charitably, and we're really excited to support the Charitable Act.
Sherylynn Sealy:
That's great. Thanks for that update, Eddie. And, and it sounds like you mentioned a broad shift as opposed to shifting priorities, or excuse me, a broader focus as opposed to shifting priorities. It sounds like at the beginning, there was a hyper focus on arts education, kind of like full stop, and now we are kind of in a space of public policy and advocacy, um, which, which I think is fantastic. Uh, do I have that right?
Eddie Torres:
Yeah, you have that exactly right. I mean, we think that, that the, the US government is the biggest system with which we all interact, and that philanthropy is just a small part of, you know, the larger, uh, structures in America. But philanthropy can play a role by supporting advocacy, by supporting lobbying can play a role in the systems that affect most people.
Sherylynn Sealy:
That's great. Yeah.
Althea Erickson:
That's great. Yeah. I, I was just gonna add that I think there also is a lot of untapped power here, right? So, you know, Eddie was on the Hill last month, um, talking about these issues. And one thing that really stuck with me was, you know, the folks he was talking to don't really think of the arts as a constituency on these issues. And then are really thrilled to have, uh, folks coming in to talk about, for example, portable benefits from the arts. And, you know, in many ways, a lot of these issues get, um, sort of narrowly framed. And despite the fact that, as Eddie said, these are racial justice issues. They're social justice issues, they're about inclusion. It's about really ensuring that everyone has the social protections that they deserve, regardless of how they work. The public debate about those conversations are very narrow, right?
They're about mm-hmm. Lyft drivers or Uber drivers or what have you. And so there is huge opportunity here to expand the conversation to include arts workers who do tend to work, um, independently and as self-employed folks, um, and, and to make sure that their needs and concerns are considered when these things are being discussed. I, I think another area of work for the committee that came up over the last year was we, um, worked on submitting some comments to the Department of Labor around the independent, uh, worker classification issue. And in there, I think, you know, it was a really great process. We spoke to a lot of arts workers about their personal experiences. And I think what we was, that folks, um, don't want to have to choose between security and flexibility, they believe in, I think we share that belief that they deserve both.
And by submitting comments to the Department of Labor, I think we were able to also uplift that experience of arts workers in the broader conversation and to make bigger, broader points that, um, all workers deserve, for example, in this, in this submission, wage and hour protections, regardless of how they're, they're classified. And I, I think that they're, the arts can play, um, and funders in particular can play really a really important role in amplifying, uh, those messages and, and being different, um, deliverers of those messages <laugh>, uh, than are sort of ty typically in the public conversation. I think the other place where funders in particular can be really powerful is by leveraging our experiences funders. So, um, you know, Eddie brought up the issues of asset caps in CCI. Well, that for sure is a huge focus of ours and an area of, of advocacy at Sol Center.
And a lot of that is based on, um, CCI's experience as a grant maker with a program that targets, uh, and supports individuals with spinal cord injuries, trying to make grants, uh, to individuals with spinal cord injuries and running into the problem that the asset limits on their s s I prevent them from being able to, uh, receive those grants. Um, and so I think that experience then helps us to be credible advocates on that topic and helps make, uh, you know, make the points that we're making in the advocacy that we're doing real incredible to the policy makers that we're speaking with. Um, so I think, you know, it, it really is incredibly powerful and, and there's a lot of opportunity, um, to advance these causes in ways that they might not be, uh, if our folks in the arts and arts funders in particular aren't at the table.
Sherylynn Sealy:
That's great. Thanks for that, Althea, and you kind of just named a few different, uh, focus areas, I guess, for, for advocacy and lobbying, but I still wanna make sure I, I ask the question in case there are a particular ones that you want to re-highlight, call out. Um, so how should funders be focusing their advocacy and lobbying efforts? Um, right now?
Althea Erickson:
I, I mean, I would say that, um, it really goes back to what Eddie was saying at the beginning about expanding sort of the aperture of our focus . Mm-hmm. Uh, and not keeping our focus so narrowly on the arts sector as a silo apart from the rest of the economy, but really digging deeper into the systems of which the arts are a part and which impact the arts. Um, that's great. And I, I think, you know, some of that, as I said, can evolve from the experience of great grant making. So for example, you know, CCI’s, um, spinal cord injury leading to advocacy on that point, I think, um, however, uh, there are others, I, uh, totally agree that the, the really thinking about arts and culture workers as workers mm-hmm, uh, who, who produce art and not funders of products of art, uh, is really important.
And then if you take that framework, then you start to think about advocacy around the conditions that enable artists to live, right? So yes, the benefits and protections I think we've already talked a lot about, but also housing, right? Uh, guaranteed income, I think, um, community protection, like anti-gentrification effort, you know, that all of these issues. And I guess the, the way that I would encourage funders to think about focusing those efforts is to really follow the movement leaders in the community who are communicating, uh, what their priorities are. Mm-hmm and, and to follow those efforts into advocacy. I think, um, also to be really open to working in coalition with folks outside the arts, right? There are a lot of folks, you know, on the benefits and protection side who've been working on expanding the social safety net to those who are excluded from it for a long time. I think about folks like the Domestic Workers Alliance, or Unemployed Workers United, or others who, um, are really leading this effort. And in that case, I think building relationships with those groups and, and, and being willing to follow those groups, um, into this work is really, really important.
Sherylynn Sealy:
That's great, Althea, thanks for that. And that makes me think of some of the previous conversations that we've had both in the podcast and outside of it, where we talk about, you know, what does equitable funding look like and what are some shifts that funders can make in their grit making? And one of the things that we often say is, well, while funding an individual project is fine, funding movements, looking towards systems, looking at intersectionality and where systems overlap is so crucial, if we're going to expand our thinking, um, and also bringing in the policy aspect. Um, and, and looking at that, cuz like you said, Althea, that is the reason for so much of, of the way that the world is, is functioning today. So, um, thank you for that. Eddie, did you wanna add on to that?
Eddie Torres:
Well, what I, I would add on to that two things, you know, I mean, the, the with such frequency we hear, you know, this kind of hesitance from, uh, uh, funders, uh, when it comes to funding advocacy or lobbying, uh, just because they kind of don't know what they can and can't do. And the fact of the matter is everybody can advocate. I mean, advocacy is basically talking about an, uh, and how important something is. And also talking about the impacts of current policies, that's basically advocacy. You know, when you are only engaging in lobbying if you are ba encouraging somebody to support a discreet piece of legislation, right? Uh, so if there's a bill that you want someone to vote for or against, and you're saying, you know, if you're doing grassroots lobbying, you're saying to the public vote for or against this bill.
If you're doing direct lobbying, you're saying to a legislator, vote for or against this bill. Right? Now, foundations with the exception of community foundations can't lobby, right? They can advocate, they can't lobby, but, uh, community foundations can, but all foundations can support their grantees lobbying. That's completely legal. You can give, uh, a project grant and say, here's your project grant. I understand some of this will be going to lobbying, you know, stay within the law and you're good to go. You can give general operating support grant and say, here's your general operating support. Some of this will go to lobbying, stay within the law, you're good to go. You can't say, here's your lobbying money, uh, uh, unless you're giving it to a 501(c)3. But that just gets, you know, that, that gets technical. Uh, but above and beyond that, you would actually have to work pretty hard to break the law in these regards.
Um, so you, you can actually do far more, uh, than you probably realize. That was the one, one of the two points I was gonna make. And the other point, you know, I wanted to make too was, um, you know, Althea was talking about not looking at support for the arts, uh, in isolation from other, you know, social, uh, phenomenon, social investments, uh, as were you, she and, uh, you know, your work, she is actually a really good example of looking across content areas. Cause I'm thinking specifically about your work as the head of, uh, the support for individual artists committee. Mm-hmm a committee that looks at supporting artists, but also looks at supporting immigrants, supporting housing, supporting mental health, because, you know, you recognize that nobody exists in isolation from the larger context, you know? Right. And I would love to see, uh, uh, grant makers do likewise. You know, this, this conversation right now for grant makers in the arts is a combination of, you know, our public policy and advocacy work, our racial equity work, our support for individual artists work all bundled into one podcast. You know, I think that, uh, all of our grant makers have the opportunity to say, look, you know, my foundation supports the arts and it supports housing and it supports health. I can, I can actually support policies that overlap with all of those. Yep.
Sherylynn Sealy:
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Exactly. You, you hit the nail on the head with that, Eddie. Like, and I think it also brings us back to something that Althea mentioned earlier, um, enabling artists to live, right? Like after they finish their project, they're human beings. We are human beings. Like there's more. So, so it sounds so simple, but it also just sometimes feels not. And so I, I appreciate you bringing that, bringing that up. Um, Eddie and Althea. And so before we wrap up, I, I just wanna create space, if you have any final thoughts, um, about AEFC committee or, you know, thinking about policy and advocacy.
Althea Erickson:
Yeah, I mean, I think there's a couple. One that feels so important is, um, that we really need to support the infrastructure of power building and not just the direct advocacy itself, but you know, particularly in historically marginalized communities and communities that have historically lacked power. There's a lot of work to be done, especially in the arts, I think, around organizing and digital organizing around, yes, commissioning research and supporting data. I feel like that always feels easiest. So I would encourage folks to think more about the movement building, um, mm-hmm also the infrastructure to support connection and coordination between groups and organizations to really build that movement power. And also the work to shift and shape the public narrative and frankly, culture itself, which we should be really, really good at, and is so important to shifting, um, you know, what is in the realm of the possible, who we're solving for, what are the problems and what are the solutions that we're putting forward?
Culture frames, all of that. And, uh, there's so much, I think, untapped potential for us, uh, to really drive broader, broader change in justice. Like really thinking about that, the infrastructure of movement, um, and doing it in a way that again, follows movement leaders and doesn't decide like, okay, I'm gonna think about the, what that is and make it cut, grow out of thin air, but really listen, like put, we, I have a little kid, so I always say like, I'm putting on my listening ears, uh, and, uh, really listening to what those individuals and groups need. And, and I would say, you know, even like we at Sol Center do a lot of work with arts worker groups on the ground, and they're all volunteer run. Nobody's being paid to do this work, and that is so hard. Uh, and so I think there is just a ton of opportunity there, um, to support that movement building.
And then I guess the other, uh, sort of big picture thought I had was just, you know, the, the thinking about systems change work is so important and really reinforcing that policy is a core piece of that. I, um, recently took a training with a racial equity institute, which I recommend everybody take. It's really, really powerful. But they have this metaphor where they talk about, you know, if you see like one dead fish in a lake, you maybe think there's something wrong with the fish. Maybe it got sick, unlucky, what have you, you see too, maybe you think they were in the wrong place at the wrong time together, but it's like an individual fish level problem. Uh, but then if you look at the lake and you see that all the fish are belly up in the lake, you think maybe there's something wrong with the lake, uh, or maybe even deeply more the, the groundwater that feeds that lake.
And I think, you know, for too long we've been really focused on fixing the fish and not the lake that they swim in. Or even more importantly, like the groundwater that feeds those lakes and mm-hmm, you know, engaging at that level of like policy advocacy, supporting power building, doing it in a cross-sectoral way, like with our friends and other economic justice movements and social justice movements and environmental justice movements, et cetera, I think will really help funders drive those lake level interventions that ultimately will hope, hopefully like put ourselves out of jobs, which is, should be our goals, right? So anyway. Yeah, that's my pitch rad, because, and policy
Sherylynn Sealy:
Yes. No, I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for that. Um, Eddie, do you wanna give some final thoughts before we wrap?
Eddie Torres:
You know, I actually wanted to say that, um, you know, I'm so glad that we're doing this conversation with you AIA because it was actually during, uh, she was leading a webinar on increasing support for artists with disabilities when, uh, Angie Kim from the Center for Cultural Innovation emailed me literally in real time as the webinar is happening to tell me about, uh, CCI’s work, uh, and the challenges of increasing support for individual artists because of these outdated policies that, um, uh, kick people off of, um, uh, public supports when they, people with disabilities, off public supports when they receive grant funds. Um, you know, so first of all, and then second of all, just how excited we were that you were joining the, uh, arts Education Funders Coalition, uh, because we were just really excited to bring, uh, your perspective into these conversations. And, uh, we feel like we've benefited enormously from your insights. So thank you. We're really grateful to you.
Althea Erickson:
Oh, I'm so grateful to be able to be a part of the group and it's an amazing group and I feel like, um, yeah, so much as ahead. Um, so I feel really excited about the opportunities and the potential going forward.
Sherylynn Sealy:
That's great. Alright, well thank you both so much for this very informative and lively conversation. Uh, a few things that I'm taking away from the conversation are, think broadly. Don't be afraid to lobby and advocate fund the project, but also fund the movement at the lake level. That's a new technical term that we should all start using lake level. Thank you for that. Um, and I'm just looking forward to seeing what comes in the future for 2023 and the AEFC committee. So for listeners, if you have any questions about this podcast or upcoming programming, feel free to reach out to me, sherylynn@giarts.org, or visit our website giarts.org. Be sure to follow grant makers in the arts on Twitter and Facebook @GIArts, as well as Instagram @grantmakersinthearts for exciting new updates. And thank you so much for listening. Bye.
