At a time when so many feel deep despair about what’s happening in our country — and around the globe — City of Asylum hosted a multi-day meeting of the minds that brought about connection, inspiration and hope. During their first-ever Bridges – City of Asylum Pittsburgh Creative Summit, which took place on the Northside from May 20 to 23, a group of passionate, international folks gathered to discuss the literary arts, the power of music, exile, translation, community-building and the future of philanthropy in the midst of such uncertain times.

A Deep Dive into City of Asylum Pittsburgh Creative Summit

Over the span of four days, the gathering featured 80-plus award-winning authors, performers and changemakers from around the world who partook in meaningful discussions, panels and events. (Everything free and open to the public, as well as through a livestream online.)  

Inspiration struck after attending a three-part panel on Thursday, May 22, titled Philanthropy & Funding for Arts, Culture, and Human Rights, which met on the Community College of Allegheny County’s Allegheny Campus. Conversation topics ranged from the crucial need to protect the freedom of creative expression, to learning how organizations are pivoting to meet the needs of the people they represent. Jake Goodman, Executive Director, Opportunity Fund, said, “The reason we support the arts is the same reason authoritarian leaders fear and suppress them; they know their power.” 

There’s no doubt that summits like these help like-minded folks pool their resources and passions. Hendrik Trassaert, Sweden’s Cultural Counselor to the United States, said, “Practically and mentally, it’s important to convince public opinion. We’re looking for as many kindred spirits as possible to link up.” After all, he said, the arts, culture and education are all of great importance to our democratic rights. Elisabeth Dyvik (Program Director, ICORN, Norway) agreed, expressing her wish: “Each of you take something home today, and it spreads.”

Focusing on the Bigger Picture

Panelists like Khaled Harara (independent artist/cultural entrepreneur) brought perspective and gratitude to the space. As a Palestinian refugee who now lives in Sweden, Harara said that ICORN (International Cities of Refuge Network) saved his life. Having come from a war zone, he is now focusing on how to see conflicts from a different angle. “I have all the gratitude for what I have right now,” he said, “a safe place, beautiful smiles.”

One of the most important voices represented at the event requested that he not be named in this article, out of understandable concern for his personal safety in the current political environment. President of a group of self-described “artivists,” his first name means “hope” in Persian, and we will refer to him as “Hope.” After expressing immense gratitude for his inclusion, he began by saying, “I feel good, positive energy because you all do some incredible work.” Having left Kabul in 2021, “Hope” is now settled in the United States and can speak from both sides of the fence.  “If your name is ‘Hope,’ you have to be hopeful,” he says. “It’s the job you have.”

Art and Worldly Politics

The speakers touched upon what drives them, where their resources come from and what’s shifted in recent months and weeks. Gracie Golden (Senior Officer of Strategic Initiatives & Relocation, Artistic Freedom Initiative) spoke about how they receive generous funding from private foundations like Andy Warhol Foundation, but have recently had other funding terminated, which sadly is not a unique story in the U.S. right now. Though it’s recently much tougher, she admits. “It reflects a challenge we’ve been facing for some time.” 

Golden said they’re also receiving an unprecedented number of requests for residencies from those in extremely dire and dangerous situations in Gaza, the Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan and beyond.  “When the funding goes away, where do you go, and where do you adapt?” she asked. She also lamented the erosion of international media hubs, which are so vital to free expression, because of recent cuts in USAID.

“We’ve always had to adapt,” Golden said. “It’s the only constant in this line of work. We always turn toward coalition building in hard times.” She added, “We have to be in communication with each other.”

An Unknown Future for Philanthropy

The group talked about philanthropy being on the watchlist, and how five organizations in Pittsburgh have received notice they are being observed by the federal government. Diana Bucco, President of Buhl Foundation, drew parallels to the pandemic when organizations like hers had to make a plan to unify, mobilize and advocate. What’s so unsettling now, however, is that very methodical targets have been designed to disincentivize the sector to band together and act.

Yet Bucco believes that those in the philanthropy world need to not simply wait and see. On some level, she’s witnessed a naivete and false optimism that “perhaps it’s not so bad.” Yet the acts have been so aggressive, she says, that we won’t be able to do something once we’re able. She thinks strategy is what we need now. “For us,” she says, “we need to do a counter move and say, ‘How are we going to mobilize right now and do something about it?’”

Some proposed strategies revolve around rethinking resources. First, figure out: What can you delay?  Second, be willing to unify with a shared message and to creatively fund in ways folks traditionally have not.

Introducing New Ideas to Creative Summit Goers

Ellyn Toscano, Executive Director of Hawthornden Foundation, talked about an additional existential problem brought about by a newer bill that threatens to tax foundations’ money. “Our tax exemption is eroding,” she says. The good news she does see, though, is movement toward trust-based philanthropy — to stop giving grants targeted toward certain projects, and to allow grantees to use funds however they see fit. “It’s a positive trend,” she said, “offering the power to determine how you can be most effective.”

“Hope” says there’s a shift from charity to solidarity, as donors seem to be really looking into their values. He believes it’s making people “more rooted into community, more strategic and transparent.” 

“Numbers are important,” “Hope” says, “but stories are what moves you to care. We need stories that move all of us.”

Anne Marie Toccket, Executive Director of Posner Foundation, described the industry as being remade in real time. So far her organization hasn’t changed its strategy while navigating a balance of staying the course and realizing this is not “business as usual.” She says it’s important to not abandon who they’ve been supporting, and to make sure 1st Amendment lawyers are in place. On a positive note, she sees now as an opportunity to reassess what hasn’t been working. “It feels like a moment of change for us,” she says.

How Larger Corporations Can Make a Difference

Kendra Ross (Head of Social Impact at Duolingo) brought an interesting lens — and said her company’s also experimenting in how they give, while taking its cues from the community. “We’re just getting started,” she says. “I’m coming here to learn today more than I am to talk.” 

“I am an artist with a corporate background,” Ross says. “My ‘why’ will not shift.” She also shared that she comes a Black radical tradition, and that’s what she’s clinging to in this uncertain moment. “You stand on your square; you do not move.”

Ross thinks conversations like this need to happen more often, away from Zoom and Instagram screens, and not only when reacting to a crisis.  “We need to be building for 2029,” she said, “and not online, but in person.”

One major theme throughout: Isolation being our greatest danger. “How can we move forward – and together?” became a recurring query. Bucco said, “I am seeing philanthropy and higher ed and institutions coming together and saying, ‘What’s our game plan?’ We’re not taking this lying down.” (She promises these conversations are happening, even if we aren’t hearing them yet.)

How City of Asylum Connects Citizens and Artists

Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Senior Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression at the Ford Foundation, remarked how City of Asylum seemed the perfect organization to host this summit, since artists need to be leading the conversation. “Artists are the smartest people in the room,” she says. “I always listen to the artists.”

“Hope” refers to artists as “the historians of emotion.” This is due to their ability to capture that grief, that rage, that hope that doesn’t get written into history. When asked how artists are living within the uncertainty of our times, he said, “We turn that pain and suffering into purpose. We are very resilient. When there are dark times, we find ways to survive.”

“I feel that responsibility on my shoulders, to be here at this table, for all those people who have done this before me,” “Hope” continued. “And I’m hoping that things will change.”

Story by Corinne Whiting
Photo Courtesy of City of Asylum Pittsburgh

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