by Andrea Caupain-Sanderson, co-architect and BFCF Interim Managing Director.
The Black Future Co-op Fund (BFCF) is committed to uplifting Black-led solutions that ignite Black generational wealth, health, and well-being. The Fund was born in June 2020, when four Black women set out to create a cooperative model of philanthropy rooted in the beauty, soulfulness, and strength of Blackness.
For the past five years, we have been shifting the philanthropic paradigm as we invest in generational prosperity, connect Black communities for collective power, and promote truthful Black narratives. Within each of these areas of impact, art plays a central role. The creative spirit cultivates and catalyzes liberated Black futures.
BFCF supports the arts because we know how vital they are to Black survival, resistance, and joy. From spirituals carrying coded messages of freedom, to the Harlem Renaissance that redefined American culture, to today’s artists who challenge systems and imagine new worlds—Black artistic expression is not a luxury, it is a lifeline.
When a society grows increasingly dangerous and oppressive, the arts offer precious spaces of freedom and nourishment. Today in the U.S., we are witnessing the systematic weakening of healthcare, the economy, and the social safety net. We face forces of institutional violence that are eager to steamroll justice. They seek to harm and disempower Black communities, along with other under-resourced communities.
In times like these, how do we keep our vision turned toward liberation? The arts ground us. They are one way that we can sustain our connection to inspiration, community, our bodies, and this earth. In Toni Morrison’s words, “Art reminds us that we belong here.” Art feeds our spirits while it fortifies our shared efforts to resist injustice and create a better society.
BFCF celebrates Black creativity and invests in Black creators. Our We See You grants recognize that supporting Black artists, cultural workers, and creative spaces is an act of community preservation, healing, and power-building. We want to ensure that Black stories are told by Black voices, that our cultural heritage is protected and passed forward, and that creative expression remains accessible as a tool for individual and collective liberation.
A world without Black brilliance would be an impoverished world. To create thriving Black futures, we need to dream freely and conjure new ways of seeing and knowing. We need our children to have spaces in which they can explore art as a wellspring of possibility.
One BFCF grantee, FLYSTART, works with community, youth, and incarcerated artists “to create an artistic platform that allows community members to master the skills necessary to develop a sustainable life using one’s natural talents and gifts.”
FLYSTART was able to use BFCF grant funding so that their youth artists club could host no-cost classes, along with field trips to museums, art studios, and galleries, and other activities.
Investing in the arts generates economic opportunity and community vitality. Black artists and cultural organizations are widely underfunded despite their outsized cultural impact and community reach. Black philanthropic support can help build sustainable creative ecosystems—funding working artists, establishing cultural spaces in Black neighborhoods, supporting arts education programs, and creating pathways for young people to pursue creative careers. These investments keep wealth circulating within Black communities while enriching the cultural landscape for everyone.
Ed King, Executive Director of BFCF grantee Pottery Northwest, reflected, “Building systems that uplift creative industries rooted in the African Diaspora, particularly those led by Black artists, is essential to sustaining and expanding the financial vitality of makers and communities of color. This is what makes BFCF so vital for Black communities…At Pottery Northwest, we are committed to cultivating an ecosystem of opportunity that expands access, education, upward mobility, skill-building, and workforce development within our professional ceramics studio.”
When philanthropy supports the arts, it amplifies voices that have been historically marginalized, while centering beauty and creativity as forms of both resistance and healing.
Tracie Anderson, Development Director of BFCF grantee Wonder of Women International, shared these thoughts with BFCF: “For us, the arts are not simply creative expressions — they are pathways to liberation. They are how we remember ourselves when the world has revised, reduced, or attempted to erase our narratives. As storytellers and sacred space creators, we know that Healing, Education, Art, Ancestry, and Liberation are not separate ideas — they are the pillars that protect our culture, restore our dignity, and preserve the truth of who we are…Your investment allowed us to expand healing-centered arts programming, cultivate spaces where Black women and girls are witnessed and honored, and activate community gatherings that blend creativity, wellness, and truth-telling.”
Ultimately, the arts transform how we see ourselves and each other. They challenge dominant narratives, build empathy across difference, and create space for difficult conversations and collective imagination.
Art knows: A more just and joyful world is possible.
Art asks: What can emerge next?
Art says: Be bold. We are vast, and we are beautiful.
The arts don’t just reflect our communities—they help us envision and build the future we deserve.