Interview with Susan Feder, Program Officer for the Arts and Culture
July 24, 2020
In this interview with Susan Elliott of Musical America Worldwide, Susan Feder talks about her role at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and what the foundation is currently doing to respond to the “twin pandemics” that she says our nation is facing today. Feder, who is the Program Officer for Arts and Culture, speaks on the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the events sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Stating that since the Mellon Foundation’s current president, Elizabeth Alexander, announced that the foundation’s new framework would be based in social justice practices, Feder elaborates by talking about the ways in which programs in the arts naturally touch on issues such as those of inequality and oppression. She specifically references operas dealing with mass incarceration and trans rights.
In addition to allocating an additional $200 million to nonprofit arts organizations (to the $300 million already allocated this calendar year), the Mellon Foundation is allowing for funds accepted by different organizations to be used for general operations, rather than specific projects - even those that such funds were originally allocated for the purpose of carrying out. This, of course, is due to the fact that many performances and other functions of the organizations sponsored by the Mellon Foundation are not able to take place during the pandemic. The Mellon Foundation sees the importance in keeping the arts alive and well during this time, specifically because they believe in the potential that the arts hold to spark change in this country.
Feder mentions that in addition to the monetary support they are offering institutions, they are offering “brain power” that will help organizations develop new ways of creating equitable programming, staffing, and board representative opportunities for people of color. Feder states that the Mellon Foundation is looking to see leaders in these types of developments. She closes by saying that she has hope for what lies ahead, believing that once we have emerged from the crises we are currently facing, life will be more representative of the demography and values of the United States, and that the arts will play an important role in that.
