The Power of the Arts to Transform

The Social Justice Fund believes that lasting change requires us to transform the dominant culture from the ground up by encouraging diverse forms of expression. We recognize that the creative power of arts and culture, especially among historically oppressed people, can be a catalyst for transformative action. Our Cultural Grants Program aims to encourage grassroots organizations to use culture and the arts to achieve these goals. In December 2006 Social Justice Fund awarded 10 cultural grants ranging from $2,150 - $10,000.

Brother to Brother of Portland, Oregon is a support and advocacy organization for African American LGBTQ men. They received a grant for performance workshops aimed at expanding community awareness of racism and homophobia.

One With Creation of LaConner, Washington is strengthening the Coast Salish people’s identity, values, and knowledge of traditional culture through multi-generational organizing strategies. The grant will help fund their Canoe House project, which includes carving an ocean canoe.

Stonewall Youth of Olympia, Washington supports, informs and advocates for LGBTQ youth. This grant will support the Stonewall Youth Theatre Project, which encourages youth to share their experiences, hope, and vision through theatre.

The Center Pole Foundation of Garryowen, Montana received a grant to create a digital arts and culture archive of Crow cultural items currently held in museum collections across the country as part of a broader effort to reclaim the original art and craft work of the Crow people.

Community Alliance of Lane County, based in Eugene, Oregon is dedicated to working for a society that is free of bigotry and that upholds human rights and human dignity for all. CALC will create youth murals and replace hate graffiti with art; circulate two photo exhibits, student art, essay and poetry contests; and host commemorations of the birthdays of Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez.

Justice Works!, based in Lake Stevens, Washington, is a statewide organization of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, friends, and supporters that is confronting racism as it is experienced by African Americans in the criminal justice system. The grant will fund their “Set Up to Fail” theater project that exposes audiences to the experiences of people in and recently released from prison.

The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center serves as Seattle, Washington’s authentic, positive and community-driven voice for African American arts and cultural work. This grant will support post-screening community dialogues during their annual African American Film Festival in April of 2007.

Seattle Young People’s Project is a youth-led social justice organization that empowers youth to express themselves and take action on the issues that affect their lives. This grant will support the event planning costs of their Martin Luther King Jr Hip Hop Show. The image above is of a speaker at the hip hop show.

The Seattle Debate Foundation of Seattle, Washington will use their grant to help train students on how to use Hip Hop in public debates and weekend tournaments as a way of challenging the traditional elite code of debate and develop and articulate critical perspectives on their experiences as under-served youth.

UNETE, Center for Farmworker Organizing of Medford, Oregon is a movement of farm workers and immigrants striving to empower and enrich their lives through organizing, education and advocacy. They will use their grant to educate Latino youth about their cultures of their immigrant parents in order to foster intergenerational understanding and respect, and as a basis for leadership development training that will reduce inequities in educational access and opportunity.