Skip to content
Apply
Stories

Russian artists and donors prompt a reckoning at arts institutions

People in this story

Marketplace, March 2022

Organizations of all kinds are reexamining their ties with Russia, corporations, financial institutions and arts organizations among them. The soprano Anna Netrebko withdrew from upcoming performances with the Metropolitan Opera after she refused to distance herself from her past support of Vladimir Putin and a Russian donor stepped down from the Guggenheim Museum’s board of trustees. Arts organizations are now grappling with the issues raised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is having an impact on both donors and performers.

Nonprofits sometimes turn a blind eye to donors’ backgrounds. If you don’t ask questions, you don’t have to deal with the answers.

“The default position is the donation is good, the donor is good. And so what you don’t get is much vetting at all,” said Patricia Illingworth, a researcher of philanthropy and ethics at Northeastern University.

Continue reading at Marketplace.

More Stories

Image of a hand holding a graphic that displays the ChatGPT logo.

Generative AI and Policymaking for the New Frontier

12.06.2023
The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston.

Why the OpenAI drama matters in Massachusetts

12.06.2023
President Joe Biden speaking at a campaign rally.

Biden admission about 2024 hesitancy fuels criticism of a ‘delusional’ campaign

12.07.23
In the News