Art and artists are essential to healthy communities. Art creates space for connection and debate, cultivates healing and growth, and makes all of us more empathic and engaged.
We envision a future where art is valued for cultivating empathy and healing and where we’re all inspired to imagine and work for a better world. When society engages with art and other creative expression, it fosters strong civic discourse, community engagement, and a sense of belonging. It also contributes to stronger communities both through overall health benefits and a thriving economic base. Despite this, cultural organizations and the artists they support are often seen as beneficial but not essential to healthy communities. This makes it harder to acknowledge difficult histories, understand one another, and view the world through multiple lenses. Without equitable access to social and cultural spaces where communities can gather, celebrate, reflect, organize, and question, we struggle to engage in dialogue about the world, the ways it must change and the promise of what’s possible.
At Wagner, our focus is on building a healthy and resilient arts ecosystem in the United States that can adapt and respond to shifting times. Through local and national investments in contemporary visual art exhibitions, publications, public art, and visual arts organizations at all scales, we center artists as catalysts of change and community development. We value organizations that support artists in their visions and professional growth, and who welcome audiences to participate, learn, and transform. Our on-site gallery, grantmaking, and artist-driven initiatives support visionary leadership, perspectives grounded in place and community, and field-leading arts innovation.
Artists are essential changemakers who bring us together as a society to reflect on our shared histories, catalyze new ideas and possibilities, and bring creative solutions for a more just world. The arts play a crucial role in inspiring civic change – arts attendees are twice as likely to volunteer in their communities, and 72% of people say the arts help them better understand different cultures. And yet, artists are often undervalued and receive limited support for their work, with only around 4% of all charitable contributions in the United States going to arts and culture.
That’s why at Wagner, we invest in artists’ visions for change as well as opportunities that support their growth and reach.
We value institutions and organizations that are artist-centered, inclusive, and forward-thinking. And we support field leading programs that use the power of art to extend the reach and social impact of the communities they serve — meeting the needs of both artists and the current moment.
We also invest in artist-run initiatives because artists need to be part of imagining and creating the infrastructures they need to do their best work. These include creating publications that further the discourse on their practice; reimagining and experimenting with museums and institutional frameworks; and championing artists creating opportunities for their peers through mentorship, dialogue, and supporting one another’s wellbeing.
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A healthy and resilient national arts ecosystem needs several things for artists to thrive: a community of artists at different professional levels; ample employment opportunities and public art commissions; affordable places to live and create; writers and platforms to document and discuss new ideas; accessible museums and arts institutions; and a collective mindset that welcomes new ideas about society and the role of artists.
Locally, while arts and cultural production in Greater Boston accounts for upwards of two billion dollars in direct economic impact, it, like many cities across the US, face an affordability crisis that threatens artists’ ability to stay in place, which impacts our creative ecosystem at all levels. To address these needs in Greater Boston, we resource affordable studio spaces, public art opportunities, fellowships, and public dialogue that furthers a sense of belonging and civic participation in our region.
In communities across the country, our funding focuses on small arts organizations that act as anchors for their neighborhoods’ cultural life. Small arts organizations cultivate local artistic community and development; and create critical bridges between art, academia, history, and community organizing and yet they are under-recognized for the role they play. Smaller and less-established contemporary art organizations struggle to secure long-term, sustainable support because giving is strongly linked to established institutions, where museums with budgets in the top 1% receive 41% of donated revenues.
We believe that every community deserves access to spaces where artists can experiment and take risks because a vibrant and thriving arts ecosystem contributes to the health and wellbeing of not just the artist, but the entire community.
Related Insights
At a time when loneliness and isolation have been declared a public health crisis, transformative art experiences continue to foster discourse and connection. More than 80% of Americans believe the arts play a vital role in addressing key health challenges in their lives and over 90% believe that the arts can make people feel better emotionally. We believe that museums and cultural organizations can be the platform we need to heal, reflect and recognize our shared humanity.
We support cultural organizations in their growth moments to build strong community relationships with people of different backgrounds and identities that they wish to serve and support. We know this work is complex. It often requires that institutions expand their practices and integrate community feedback to meet changing social needs, while staying true to their mission. This evolution can be seen in museums participating in community development efforts in support of their neighbors, changing their collecting or exhibition practices to be more inclusive or organizations at all scales imagining civic change that will further build community wealth and wellbeing.
At Wagner Foundation, we invest in this visionary arts leadership, grounded in place and community, and organizations that welcome audiences to participate, learn, and transform.
We collaborate with partners to expand access to wealth-building opportunities and create pathways to fair wages, ensuring everyone has the resources they need to thrive.
We partner with organizations focused on clinical healthcare delivery, public health systems, and the social, cultural, and environmental factors that impact health.
