Shauntrice Martin is a Louisville-based artist. Her work, which includes painting and sculpture, has been displayed in Louisville’s Mormen Gallery, Muhammad Ali Center and more.
Part of her work as an artist is being a resource for other minorities, specifically Black artists. Her arts equity firm, Okike, helps Black artists get funding.
Martin created the firm after seeing there was a barrier between artists of color and organizations offering grants.
“I saw that there was a big disconnect,” Martin said. “I've been on grant review panels, so I can see that the applications are pretty homogenous. It's like the same type of artist over and over from the same type of background.”
Martin said barriers to funding include application costs and a lack of knowledge about the intricacies grant application process.
She has also been at the helm of creating events that uplift the work Black creatives, like Black Future Fest and Artists and Afros.
She said the difficulty Black and other minority artists face to get their art out into the world is discouraging.
“This community is consistently disadvantaged. A lot of that is intentional,” Martin said. “If we can't even get money to create in the first place, then it's, I mean, it's gonna be a sad future. It's gonna be a future that erases our existence and our contributions.”
The issue of Black and other marginalized artists having difficulty getting grants is long-standing.
“Historically, arts organizations of color, those that are led by, formed with communities of color, have been overlooked and underfunded,” said Joy Young, South Arts vice president of programs.
South Arts is a regional arts organization that offers grants, fellowship and other opportunities to individuals and organizations in its region.
Young said focusing on community organizations of color is about acknowledging all the important roles they play.
“It is about supporting the mission and vision of those organizations, it's about elevating the many ways they contribute to community, arts as a vehicle for communication, arts for art's sake, and also arts for the ways that arts build economic vitality in community,” Young said.
It is with that goal in mind that South Arts launched a new grant program aimed at supporting the ongoing, operational cost for BIPOC arts organizations.
The initiative, called Cultural Sustainability, will offer 12 organizations within South Arts' nine-state region — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — up to $150,000 to cover operating costs.
The grant is open to designated nonprofit organizations, private entities, fiscally sponsored artist or ensemble organizations, and state and federally recognized tribal governments. It’s also not limited to these types of entities.
“As a further component, we are offering collaborative learning experiences through a cohort engagement model that will be co-designed with grant recipients at the time of the award,” said Aiyana Straughn, South Arts director of arts partnerships.
The new grant is in partnership with the Wallace Foundation and guided by the question, “How do arts organizations founded by, with, and/or for communities of color define and develop their well-being and that of their communities?” and how to sustain that well-being.
Straughn noted that many grants are project-based, but ones that help cover the everyday cost are more difficult to find.
“It's an acknowledgment of the labor that has already taken place,” Straughn said. “To say, tell us about what you have been doing. How can we come alongside you and support you as you continue to do that thing, instead of always asking for more.”
Applications for the Cultural Sustainability grant are open through Feb. 5 2025. There will be a webinar in early December for interested organizations or individuals.
