14 Artists and Creative Projects from, by, and for Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen The Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island in New York City President Trump signed an executive order on immigration which indefinitely banned Syrian refugees from entering the United States, suspended all refugee programs for three months and blocked citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries (Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen) from entering the country.

Media Impact Funders, a network made up of philanthropists working to create social change through media, has partnered with the Foundation Center to launch a free database and mapping tool of grants and other funding opportunities. For impact producers working in media and film, finding philanthropic support in alignment with specific causes and communities takes major research. While there are no short cuts to good prospecting and relationships, this new tool certainly lightens the load. As a non-profit technology company serving artists, Fractured Atlas is all about empowering people with information about funding sources worth your valuable time investment — time away from your critical creative work. While there are a number of documentary film grant lists out there on the internet (International Documentary Association has one of the most comprehensive, and of course the Foundation Directory Online is a ‘go to’ for research), the unique value I see in this new mapping tool is this: you are ONLY looking at funders of media who believe in the power of storytelling to make change. Also, media is broadly defined on the map and includes documentary, photo journalism, online platforms, trans-media, games, and more. Impact producers, you can be confidant you are searching within the right network with this tool. Before you click through and start exploring on your own, here are my tips learned from leveraging the Media Impact Funder database in my role as Director of Client Development at Fractured Atlas where I coach our fiscally sponsored projects: Explore the ‘Population Served’ search filter options. Your impact project is ultimately about and for people. The funders who care about the same people you’re serving through your storytelling are the funders you want to have on your radar. This is important not only for funding, but also for potential partnerships and screenings. Because many social impact media projects are intersectional, you will want to think about the multiple populations you serve. Think broadly. Get creative with your ‘Keyword’ search options. Keyword matches are made from the 1–2 sentence description of the media project, written from the funders’ perspective (because they are the ones reporting the grants into the database). So, for example if you are making a documentary about the militarization of policing in America and want to see who else is funding around this topic, you might search for projects that received funding using words such as ‘police’, ‘democracy’, ‘privacy’, ‘criminal justice system’, and ‘counter surveillance’. Your taglines and marketing language are less useful here, and this is the space to get creative with the descriptors from other points of view. Don’t forget about outreach campaigns. There is funding out there for more than just production expenses. Outreach campaigns often include media and are a whole other phase of expense and funding for producers. This tool lets you search by ‘Support Strategy’ and ‘Outreach’. Use the ‘Constellations’ visualizer. The database search results default to a list view, however it can often be difficult to get an intuitive snapshot when looking at a spreadsheet. By using the constellations view, that data is visualized and you can immediately see who is coming together around a specific topic, and see the different levels of support. Provide thoughtful feedback. The folks behind this new tool are genuine, and are actively seeking feedback on how to make this data actionable within the field (shout out to project lead Sarah Armour-Jones). Once you have dug in and given this new tool a thorough dance across the floor, suggestions can be sent by email through the mapping tool. Okay, ready to jump in and explore? You can also check out this 10 minute video tutorial of the database, and there is an FAQ on the site. Tips and Tools out.

by Aisha Jordan, Program Associate at Fractured Atlas Each month we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. This month’s featured project is Doppelgänger Dance Collective

by Courtney Duffy, Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow at Fractured Atlas Source: Flickr Fractured Atlas proudly signed on to a letter to the new administration in support of technology policies that promote universal access, an open internet, and civil rights. The letter, which was signed this month by 18 public interest and nonprofit groups, urges the incoming Trump administration to incorporate seven principles into its policy-making. Here are the principles, which can also be found in the full letter:

Fractured Atlas empowers artists to be entrepreneurs by removing practical barriers to creative expression. As a nonprofit technology organization, we take this entrepreneurial spirit to heart as we create novel and innovative solutions for age-old problems.

by Ian David Moss, Vice President, Strategy & Analytics at Fractured Atlas From Flickr user Ian Brown: “The Twitter logo mod is from graffiti seen on a wall during [the 2013 Gezi Park] protests in Turkey.” Last month, the cast of Broadway’s most popular show made a political statement from the stage…and the President-elect of the United States of America demanded, via tweet, that they apologize for it.

Image: “Gogbot,” Installation at the Gogbot Media Art Festival in Enschede. By Flickr user Ineke Happy holiday season! The Fractured Atlas and Createquity teams are back with another installment of the Createquity podcast, this time highlighting different perspectives on how to approach the issue of cultural equity.

Each month we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. This month’s featured project is Broad’s Word Ensemble.

All toxic relationships thrive on potential. All of them. Humans are optimistically addicted to seeking comfort and rational answers at all times. As a result, we will stay far longer than we should, and behave much more passively than makes sense, working toxic jobs that offer meager promotion opportunities, breaking bread with toxic, self-absorbed friends who offer neither a helping hand nor a shoulder to cry on, and sleeping with toxic people incapable of caring for anyone but themselves. We would much rather engage in the fantastical potential of what these relationships could be than deal with the reality of what we already know they are.

by Courtney Duffy, Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow at Fractured Atlas Source: Flickr Courtney Duffy, our Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow, is back with the latest edition of Copyright With Courtney. She discusses a new development in the ongoing legal battle between Google and Oracle over the use of the Java programming language, and what it means in the greater conversation about fair use. You can find Courtney on Twitter @cduffy90 and join the conversation using #CopyrightWithCourtney.