By John Hayden
The performance arts in Miami, FL are as diverse as the residents themselves. For every well-known entity like the Adrienne Arsht Center and Miami City Ballet there are many smaller groups like the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education and Seraphic Fire making great contributions to the scene. Arts programs can struggle to get adequate funding even in the best of times. Now Funding Arts Network (FAN) is celebrating 25 years of helping fill the funding gaps.
Over the quarter century, FAN has given out five million dollars to dozens of arts programs and venues across the county. FAN president Paula Finkle talked with OutClique and said the growth of the community has been astounding. “From a city of very few arts institutions in the early ‘90s, Miami has become a cultural hub. Major cultural arts venues showcase program opportunities now available in dance, music and theater disciplines.”
This past year the purpose of their grants changed. Usually grantees must put on performances or installations named in the grant. Because COVID shut down everything for a year or more, FAN let recipients use the money as a lifeline to stay afloat. With venues opening back up a new batch of grantees are getting help to stage the comeback. This year FAN awarded more than 20 organizations to help with the upcoming season.
To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Paula says they are also focusing on social justice. “We are in the planning stages for an innovative 25th Anniversary Grant program and hope to offer Miami’s arts organizations an opportunity to apply for and receive grant funding for artistic projects that will address and redress social equity concerns.”
FAN has always tried to recognize and help the cross section of artistic achievement in the county. “Miami is a melting pot with lots of diverse voices, immense talent, distinctive ideas, full of energy and imagination,” Paula said. “There are lots of stories to be told, ways to tell them and places to present artistic works. It is one of the unique and joyous advantages to being a Miami-Dade County cultural arts enthusiast.”
FAN was started by Nita Maerks and Deborah Hoffman, a pair of friends who love the arts. They recruited 48 friends and created Fifty Over Fifty, Inc., the progenitor to FAN. The 50 members each gave $1,000 and gave it to the arts community. Today there are 250 members, and membership has its privileges. “Our tagline ‘where friends meet friends to enjoy the arts’ is a perfect way to describe FAN’s member benefits. Our members like to get together. FAN hosts quarterly membership meetings where art leaders and artists discuss thought-provoking topics and issues related to the visual and performing arts.”
There are also members only events like an exclusive tour of a private art collection with a renowned curator or visiting an art space with a gallerist. To learn more about FAN’s work and how to become a member, visit their website: FundingArtsNetwork.org.
