Ford Foundation [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.fordfoundation.org/newsroom
.
7 April 2015:
Foundation Launches Effort to Advance Arts, Culture, and Social Justice in the 21st Century
Building on the foundation’s legacy of commitment to the arts, the distinguished visiting fellows will explore the power of culture.

The Ford Foundation today announced a new effort centered on the roles art and culture play in illuminating and addressing urgent issues of equity, opportunity, and justice in the U.S. and around the globe. The yearlong exploration, The Art of Change, which builds on the foundation’s decades-long commitment to advancing freedom of expression, reaffirms the central importance of creativity and cultural expression to healthy societies at a time when they are increasingly under threat.

“Changes in the world around us demand, more than ever, that we recognize and celebrate art, creativity, and freedom of expression as the revolutionary forces they are,” said Darren Walker, president of Ford Foundation. “Widening inequality, growing extremism, evolving technology, and volatile markets render art—and its unique role in effecting social change—more important, not less, for societies today.”

Over the next 12 months, the Ford Foundation will bring together leading thinkers, artists, cultural leaders, and activists from around the world for a series of provocative conversations to better understand the interplay of art, creativity, equality, and justice. The initiative will help determine how the foundation can most effectively advance the arts—and by, extension, drive social change—in an increasingly diverse and evolving world…

.

7 April 2015:
The Art of Change: Meet Our Visiting Fellows
Drawn from around the world, each visiting fellow is renowned in their field for their resolute focus on themes of arts and equity.