Showing Black Philanthropy + Arts & Culture.

How Black Philanthropy and Arts & Culture Intersect

A giving circle meets. A church hosts a storytelling night. A library hosts an exhibit on generosity. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Black communities give time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties to cultural life. That keeps memory alive and makes the community stronger. The money at stake is large. The Arts & Science Council's AEP6 study found that the nonprofit arts and culture sector generated $453.8 million in economic activity in 2022. So who shapes that sector, and whose stories it tells, matters to everyone.

Arts & Culturecreativity and shared identityBlack Philanthropycommunity investment and leadership
Arts & Culture and Black Philanthropy: Belonging is a community strength
Where they meet: where daily life compounds
  1. Arts & Culture and Black Philanthropy: Belonging is a community strength
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Arts & Culture + Black Philanthropy

Culture is where community giving shows up

Black philanthropy has long included cultural work: saving stories, backing artists, hosting gatherings. NGAAP built The Soul of Philanthropy exhibit with the JCSU James B. Duke Library, which shows that collective giving and cultural expression can be one act. Giving that takes cultural form may reach people who never walk into a formal giving institution.

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Black Philanthropy + Arts & Culture

Whose stories get told, and who decides

Arts groups rely on choices about which stories to show, keep and fund. Giving circles, community funds and neighborhood networks can help make those choices from the inside. Foundation For Black Philanthropy has invested more than $620,000 in Charlotte-Mecklenburg residents since 1993. That shows how local giving can follow local priorities.

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Arts & Culture + Black Philanthropy

Belonging is a community strength

Arts and culture help residents see themselves in public life. That matters in a fast-growing region, where it is still an open question whose stories are visible. Black philanthropy gives through time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties. Those gifts build bonds that last across generations. They work even when no large grant is involved.

How culture and community giving feed each other

  1. 01

    Residents invest in culture

    Neighbors give time, talent and money to festivals, storytelling and community gatherings.

  2. 02

    Culture makes giving visible

    Cultural work celebrates what communities build, so younger people see and remember Black philanthropy.

  3. 03

    Visibility draws outside attention

    A lively neighborhood draws praise and developers. That pressure can push out the local artists who built it.

  4. 04

    Ownership decides who benefits

    When giving networks hold real decision power, they can steer money toward local priorities.

Giving circles and community funds can build ownership and steady funding early. Then a neighborhood's fame does not hand control of its story to outsiders.

By the numbers

  • $1.2B$1.2B generated by Charlotte’s visitor economy in 2025, driven in part by major arts, entertainment, and cultural events
  • 76%76% less unrestricted philanthropic funding received by Black-led organizations than White-led organizations
  • 208+208+ public artworks created over three decades in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
  • $1.6M$1.6M infused into Charlotte by the New Generation of African American Philanthropists

Folio links, articles, and reports

Sources & methodology15 referenced sources

Based on fftc:FWD Folio material for these topics, Arts & Science Council local data, and public sources, with broader context on how the issues connect.

AI assists with organizing and explaining selected fftc:FWD source material. It does not replace review by FFTC staff or the judgment of residents and civic partners.