Boston-based groups like Feast Mass, the Awesome Foundation, and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education’s CSArt program aim to make community-sourced funding more democratic and accessible. In a cash-strapped economy where arts funding has been deprioritized, such solutions have been particularly valuable …. Just as the food served at Feast Mass comes from local farms, rather than unsustainable agribusinesses, its grants represent an alternative to handouts from big corporations or the government.
From “Hacking Philanthropy: How microfunding is feeding the creative economy,” an article I wrote for the November 11th issue of the Boston Phoenix, reporting on how certain local artists and creative organizers are dealing with global economic meltdown.
Ultimately, these groups can serve as inspiration for anyone who is frustrated with how wealth is currently distributed by foundations, corporations, the government, etc — in any capacity. (Yeaah, I am making this #Occupy related.) These microfunding groups are autonomous initiatives, organizing community-based programs that directly connect grantors and grantees, instead of waiting for larger powerful entities to make systematic change to create a more sustainable economy. And drive creativity, innovation, etc. In other words, the sort of grassroots, ground-up organizing that needs to be happening across the board to empower individuals everywhere to work outside of larger ‘systems’ that clearly don’t work.
