Supporting our Black Artists and Practitioners Within the Penn Community
June 5, 2020
Dear Community,
As we mourn the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice and countless others who have been killed because of the color of their skin, The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation unequivocally condemns racist actions and violence.
We acknowledge the pain and suffering felt by so many black communities right now, which is layered on top of years of pain and suffering, with little to no relief. We also acknowledge that we need to take steps to address our role in these inequities and to work for change within our work.
Just as importantly, we see and hear the call for action and we have been thinking about other ways that we can support our community at this time. We see friends and colleagues organizing art initiatives to raise money for bailout initiatives, creating artworks as calls to action or as significant provocations. We want to support these efforts, and to contribute in our own way to support innovative and meaningful cultural production.
Toward this end, we invite proposals for projects led by or primarily serving black artists and practitioners within the Penn community.
The deadline for submission is June 16th. Applicants will be notified by June 24th.
We will fund up to 5 projects at up to $1,500. Projects will need to take place by the end of the fall 2020 semester and funds will need to be managed by a department, program, or center*.
To apply, please share a one-page statement that includes:
- What you’re proposing
- What you hope to achieve
- What you need in order to make this happen (including funding amount)
Please email statements to Chloe Reison at reison@upenn.edu. In the email, please state your name and title (if student, please share year, school, major/focus). Please also confirm the department, program, center that will manage the funds and Cc a staff member of that department, etc. who can confirm.
With love and a heavy heart,
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation
*If you have questions or concerns about this, or if this is not a possibility for any reason, please let us know (reison@upenn.edu).