2019 Annual Report
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation
Supporting the arts and Supporting arts and education in thethe Triangle region education in the Triangle region of North Carolina of North Carolina DURHAM DURHAM COUNTY
ORANGE ORANGE COUNTY COUNTY
COUNTY
CHATHAM
COUNTY CHATHAM COUNTY
WAKE COUNTY
WAKE COUNTY
www.mdbf.org
CHRIS HILDRETH, ROOSTER MEDIA
We’re already seeing the benefits of the targeted focus. 2019 was the second year of our initial multiyear grants and the first for a new cohort of grantees that are finding meaningful and innovative avenues for serving their communities.
MDBF Trustees and Administration: Left to right: Lois Deloatch, Ben Jones, Chris Harris (Chair), Mimi O’Brien (Executive Director), Todd Walker, Allison Haltom, Russell Bryan.
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DUKE UNIVERSITY AND OTHER GRANT RECIPIENTS 18
This is the question we asked ourselves in 2019. As MDBF continues operating under the guidelines revamped in 2018, we’ve found that the specific criteria enabled us to concentrate our efforts more strategically. Last year we focused on impact and worked to determine—in specific terms—the kind of results our grants can help achieve. Now, we’ve turned our attention to discovering new ways to expand outcomes while involving communities we serve as much as possible.
K–12 EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM 12
How can our dollars be stretched to address needs in our communities in new, more innovative ways?
ARTS GRANT PROGRAM 6
2019 GRANTMAKING OVERVIEW 4
Chair’s Message
CHRIS HILDRETH, ROOSTER MEDIA
Joe Lucas Elected New Trustee
We look forward to sharing the differences these initiatives make in the years ahead. The foundation also anticipates strong, innovative proposals as we prepare for another group of multiyear grantees in 2020.
Joe Lucas joined the Biddle Foundation Board of Trustees in January 2020. He earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law. Mr. Lucas, a native and resident of Charlotte, NC, is the managing member of Pope Flynn, LLC, a Columbia, SC based law firm specializing in public finance and governmental counsel. Prior to joining Pope Flynn, he was a partner at McGuireWoods LLP, a full service law firm based in Richmond, VA, and Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, a full service law firm headquartered in Charlotte. Joe also serves as vice president of the Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Foundation and the president of the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund. He is a great-grandson of Mary Duke Biddle.
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Through the Durham Arts Inclusion project, Arts Access is creating opportunities for students of all abilities to engage in the arts through a professional development program for arts educators and artist residencies in schools. Durham Arts Council is expanding its capacity to strengthen the local arts community. The American Dance Festival is supporting regional choreographers with resources to create new works. The Hispanic Liaison/El Vínculo Hispano is investing in the next generation with programming that builds confidence and camaraderie while preparing youth for leadership roles. More detail on these projects is provided in the following pages.
In our ongoing partnership with Duke University, we’ve had the joy of seeing Arts & Health at Duke expand its offerings in 2019. We’ve had the privilege of watching the Rubenstein Arts Center flourish as well, which includes an unprecedented multiyear residency with the American Ballet Theater (ABT). Support from MDBF and the Jenny Lillian Semans Koortbojian Trust is expanding opportunities for area dance schools and area university students to participate in master classes and workshops with ABT. In addition, choreographer Stephanie Batten Bland is creating a new work that will be scored by a Duke graduate composition fellow. A highlight of the project will be the performance of Giselle by the ABT in March 2020, and our joint grant will allow hundreds of students from Durham Public Schools to attend. It is an honor to share the impact the Biddle Foundation had in 2019. Please help us increase awareness of these innovative nonprofits and our funding programs by sharing this report with your nonprofit contacts. We strive to be a good partner with our grantees and the communities in which they work, and we are proud to support the meaningful work they do. Impact and Community. Those have been focal points during my term as chair of the Foundation and as a member of the board since 2014. Serving on the MDBF board provided me with a tremendous opportunity to learn, to grow, and to help contribute to the legacy of my great-grandmother’s Foundation. It has been an honor to be a part of the foundation’s 7th decade of philanthropy. At the end of 2020, I will be stepping down from the board, and I am so pleased that Ben Jones, my cousin and another greatgrandson of Mary Duke Biddle, will succeed me as chair. Thank you to Ben, to the other current and former board members with whom I’ve served, to our incredible staff, and to the many organizations and communities impacted by the ongoing great work of this Foundation.
Our History
In September 1956, she established The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. Mrs. Biddle directed that at least one-half of the foundation’s grants be made to Duke University and identified three churches as institutions important to her. Otherwise, she was intentionally broad in her directions to future trustees on how and where to distribute grants. Mrs. Biddle valued the input and wisdom of her friends and trusted advisors, and, from the beginning, the foundation’s Board of Trustees has included family and non-family members. The foundation continues her practice of actively engaging members of the community to serve as trustees. Currently, the board is comprised of three family and four non-family members. Mrs. Biddle’s vision for current and purposeful giving drives the work of the foundation’s trustees and staff.
ORLA SWIFT
Mary Lillian Duke Biddle (1887-1960) was born in Durham, N.C., the daughter of Benjamin Newton Duke and Sarah Pearson Angier Duke. She attended public schools in Durham and graduated from Trinity College, later named Duke University in honor of her grandfather, Washington Duke. Mrs. Biddle developed an appreciation for the importance of philanthropy from her father, who was the guiding hand behind many of the Duke family’s charitable activities. Duke University, in particular, flourished in its early days thanks to the financial backing of her grandfather, father, and uncle James B. Duke, who were successful entrepreneurs as well as philanthropists. The Sarah P. Duke Gardens “will be a fitting memorial to your mother.” —Duke University President William Preston Few to Mary Duke Biddle
Staff Mimi O’Brien, Executive Director Kathy L. Harrison, Executive Assistant
Contributors Andrea Cobb, Artist Colleen Carrigan, Art Director Julie Johnson, Writer Kevin Seifert, Photographer
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GIFTS The following grants are made through an estate gift to MDBF from the Jenny Lillian Semans Koortbojian Trust. Jenny was a granddaughter of Mary Duke Biddle.
2019 Grantmaking Overview As directed by Mrs. Biddle, the foundation each year gives about half its grant funding to Duke University, and in 2019, The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation approved new grants to Duke totaling $525,000. It also approved new grants totaling $620,000 to organizations that focus on K-12 education and the arts, primarily in the Triangle region of North Carolina. In addition, the foundation approved grants totaling $67,500 to the churches Mrs. Biddle attended, for other projects that advance MDBF’s philanthropic goals, and to honor the life and legacy of James D.B.T. Semans, long-time trustee, to name a space in Durham’s renovated Main Library, in partnership with the Jenny Lillian Semans Koortbojian Trust. MDBF invests its assets through external, professional investment managers. In 2015, we moved all funds to The Investment Fund for 2 Foundations (TIFF). TIFF was founded in 1991 by a network of foundations with the express purpose of serving the investment needs of the nonprofit community. It is a cooperative-style organization for nonprofits to pool endowment funds to access the innovative investment techniques used by large foundations and universities. 2
Blair $10,000 See page 6 Gaspard&Dancers $10,000 See page 9 St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation $10,000 See page 11
In 2017, MDBF received a $1 million gift from the estate of Jenny Lillian Semans Koortbojian, granddaughter of Mary Duke Biddle.
TOTAL ASSETS IN $ MILLIONS TOTAL ASSETS IN $ MILLIONS
The Scrap Exchange $10,000 See page 15 Village of Wisdom $15,000 See page 17
30.5 25.9 23.1
23.1 21.5
2010
2011
31.0 30.5 29.4
31.0 29.2
33.8
29.4
31.6
33.7*
33.8
29.2
31.6
33.7*
25.9
21.5
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
*Preliminary estimated value
2010
2011
2012
*Preliminary estimated value
4
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Other 7 O
Duke 8
Durham 22
Arts 19
K-12 Educa on 15
GRANT AMOUNTS BY PROGRAM
GRANT AMOUNTS BY PROGRAM Arts
Arts
K-12 Education
$302,500 grants paid
$302,500 grants paid
$252,000 new grants approved
$252,000 new grants approved
$218,000 grants paid
$268,000 new grants approved K-12 Education $218,000 grants paid
Duke University
$608,000 grants paid
Other Duke
$67,500 grants paid $608,000
University
Total
Other
Triangle 10
Duke 8
Other 5
$268,000 new grants approved
$525,000 new grants approved
grants paid
$67,500 new grants approved
$525,000 new grants approved
$1,195,500 grants paid $1,212,500$67,500 new grantsgrants approved paid
Wake 2
Chatham 1 Orange 1
$67,500 new grants approved
Total
$1,195,500 grants paid $1,212,500 new grants approved
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ARTS GRANT PROGRAM
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American Dance Festival, Durham Support to co-commission and present “Radioactive Practice” by Abby Zbikowski at the von der Heyden Studio Theater during its 2020 season. $10,000
The Beautiful Project, Durham Support for a strategic planning process focused on financial health and institutional sustainability. $10,000
Support for Made in NC, a threeyear program to expand ADF’s commissioning program focused on the creation and presentation of new works by North Carolinabased choreographers. This grant will be paid over three years and was made by invitation. $75,000
Blair, Durham Support for a collaboration with the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective (CAAWC) to publish “All the Songs We Sing,” an anthology celebrating CAAWC’s 25th anniversary, and for related events and workshops. $10,000
MATTHEW HUNTER
Left: Liberty Arts (Durham). Right: Jonathan Brilliant with model for River Park sculpture, Hillsborough Arts Council (Hillsborough).
Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Chapel Hill Support for the 2019 season performances and programming. $10,000
The foundation’s Arts Grant Program seeks to strengthen the cultural sectors in Durham, Orange, Wake, and Chatham Counties. Funding focuses on preserving and enriching the area’s cultural life and encouraging artistic talent. The legacy grant to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, a distinctive public conservatory, furthers our commitment to the education of artists.
AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL: Nurturing the Local Dance Community “Arts enrich our lives. We can partake in them, and in return, they help us understand the world we live in and the people we live with.”
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or these reasons and more, Jodee Nimerichter can’t stop talking about the arts and in particular, about the art of movement. Executive Director of the American Dance Festival (ADF), Nimerichter has the privilege of being immersed in creative works of
choreographers, dancers, and others every day on the job. The ADF has encouraged and supported dance professionals since 1934. Its mission includes preserving modern dance heritage, training up-and-coming dancers, and expanding the audience by enhancing the public’s understanding of the art and its significance. Anyone talking with Nimerichter about her work couldn’t possibly ignore the passion in her voice. “There is a very blossoming local dance com-
munity that needs to be supported,” Nimerichter says, and she’s thrilled with the support ADF can now offer through a three-year grant from The Mary Biddle Duke Foundation. The grant opens the door for ADF to support and offer resources to a growing talent pool of choreographers who call the Triangle region home. Nimerichter explains the ecology of the dance landscape, a challenging one often forcing local choreographers to self-produce their works, which is a costly undertaking. 7
With multiyear funding, ADF will seek out 9-12 talented choreographers and dancers, commission them to create new short pieces, and give them the tools and resources to make it happen. The choreographers will present their new works in a shared program as part of the annual season of ADF in June and July for three consecutive years, 2020-2022. The ADF production manager will assist with lighting and other aspects of production. ADF studios will provide the space and time for creating. Nimerichter emphasizes the significant impact of this investment in local talent. The choreographers and dancers can invest all of their energy into a strong fifteen- to twenty-minute piece and explore the work in depth, focusing on quality rather than length.
In the end, the exercise of creativity gives them a piece they can easily tour. Intangibly, it provides a rich experience in the process of creating. This grant also offers an opportunity to help the choreographers and dancers succeed in the challenging modern dance ecology. Nimerichter says, “We’ll work hard to invite and encourage Southern presenters to develop relationships with the choreographers so they can continue to develop new works. And we’ll invite our audiences to bear witness to the creative process.” Ultimately, this grant provides another avenue for ADF to impact the community, support local artists, and help them succeed. The ADF addresses the community’s needs for participation in world-class
BEN MCKEOWN
American Dance Festival will “work hard to invite and encourage Southern presenters to develop relationships with the choreographers so they can continue to develop new works... ”
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arts, and specifically, world-class dance. It gives participants the chance to witness and experience the American indigenous art form of modern dance, a varied artistic expression that emphasizes individual creativity. Whether individuals participate as choreographers, dancers, educators, or audience members, they can immerse themselves in the arts and process life. The ADF has been impacting lives for more than eight decades. From summer intensives that create life changing career opportunities to the Parkinson’s Disease dance initiative that creates life changing movement—the impact is far reaching. And with the help of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, it will continue to grow.
CLICK! Photography Festival, Durham Support for the Programming Innovations for Click! (PIC) Grants, which will allow artists/arts organizations to produce and stage their own original photo programming during the Festival. $10,000 Durham Arts Council, Durham Support to build a strong development and communications program to grow and sustain contributed support, which can then provide increased funding to arts organizations and artists. This grant will be paid over three years and was made by invitation. $75,000
Support for the Emerging Artists Awards, a competitive, career development grant program for individual artists residing in Durham, Orange, Chatham, Granvillle and Person Counties of North Carolina. $10,000
Liberty Arts, Durham Support for a marketing and communications strategic plan for this artists’ collective that will contribute to its sustainability and capacity. $10,000
Gaspard&Dancers, Durham Support for “FreeFlight” and “Exit/No Entry,” original dances probing the idea of being walled off physically, psychically and geopolitically. $10,000
Mallarmé Chamber Players, Durham Support for the 2020 North Carolina HIP (historically-informed performance) Music Festival Orchestra, which celebrates early classical music in the Triangle. $10,000
Hillsborough Arts Council, Hillsborough Support for the River Park Public Artwork, a sculpture marking the entry to Hillsborough’s River Park, crafted from a 250-year-old fallen Southern Red Oak tree. $10,000
MOJOOA Performing Arts Company, Raleigh Support for “Bring Me My Purse,” a multidisciplinary art project that interrogates and lays plain the economic reality of Black women in America. $2,500
DURHAM ARTS COUNCIL: Nurturing a Thriving Arts Community with Expanded Reach
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n a sunny day, rays of light bathe the pavilion, a beautiful addition to the one-time city hall at 120 Morris Street in downtown Durham. Now home to the Durham Arts Council, the building pulses with life as choirs rehearse, dancers perfect their spins, and painters bring life to blank canvases. Founded in 1954, Durham Arts Council has a clear mission: “It leads, inspires, and promotes excellence in and access to the creation, experience and active support of the arts for all the people of our community.” Margaret J. DeMott, Director of Artist Services, says the move to downtown Durham in the late 1970s was pivotal for the organization
that had formerly been based out of houses in residential areas of the city. The move came at a time when a movement to create local arts infrastructure was sweeping the US. Dr. James H. and Mary D.B.T. Semans and Ella Fountain Pratt were all instrumental in the effort to expand the impact of the Durham Arts Council. DeMott says, “They understood the vision from the start.” Mrs. Semans, the daughter of Mary Duke Biddle, and her husband were founding trustees of the The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation and established a continuing relationship with the arts council. With their support, the Durham Arts Council launched a capital campaign to build a donor base
of support and renovate the city hall building and Carolina Theater. This pioneering campaign led the historic renovation of Durham’s once rundown downtown. Today, Durham Arts Council is still leading the way. Executive Director Sherry L. DeVries says, “We recognize how important arts are to making this community livable and exciting, and we want others to realize how important this work is, too.” DeMott adds, “Many people consume the arts by going to performances, so they appreciate the arts. But they don’t always think about what it takes to keep them going. Creating a vibrant creative community takes an incredible amount of support for artists and arts organizations.” 9
The Durham Arts Council provides a welcoming space to bring arts to everyone. Durham Arts Council serves in that role by helping launch and nurture artists and arts organizations. Funds support those who are emerging and those already well established. The organization serves the public by offering lifelong learning opportunities. “Durham is a hands-on community,” DeMott says. “The point is to make the arts accessible for people who simply want to try something new as well as for those who are highly professional artists.” The Durham Arts Council provides a welcoming space to bring arts to everyone. One way they’re doing so is by serving the community through Creative Arts in Public & Private 10
Schools (CAPS), a program that costs students nothing and schools only a modest fee. The program has touched 29,000 students in five counties. In addition to CAPS and other services, the Durham Arts Council supports the creative economy, an umbrella encompassing their work. They project, plan, and research the economic impact of the arts using the Creative Vitality Index to gather data for that purpose. And they advocate for state funding for the arts. A multiyear grant from The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation will allow Durham Arts Council to continue expanding its reach. DeVries says, “The funding is allowing us to build a more robust portfolio for the arts
sector by building our contributed base of support.” In other words, the additional funds have given Durham Arts Council the capacity to build a stronger development program. They’ve hired Christy Thompson, Director of Development and Communications, who’s leading a redo of their website and strengthening their branding for improved communication. The additional development will support the council’s capacity to raise funds. As they raise more funds, they’ll be able to increase support to the arts sector. DeVries says, “Our responsibility is to increase our reach. We need to constantly nurture our efforts.”
UNC School of the Arts Fall Dance Concert production.
PETER MUELLER
NorthStar Church of the Arts, Durham Support for “Follow the Northstar: Poetry and Puppetry,” a multidisciplinary residency that will produce a series of new works. $10,000 Renaissance Downtown Durham, Durham Support for Downtown Durham Public Space grants to local artists to activate downtown’s public spaces, awarded through a competitive and open process. $10,000 Soapbox Audio Collective, Durham Support to develop and produce original audio dramas. $5,000 St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Durham Support for the Hayti Black Filmmaker Collective Lab, which provides training and development led by subject-matter experts in various aspects of the business and craft of filmmaking. $10,000
COURTESY ST. JOSEPH’S / HAYTI HERITAGE CENTER
Support for the 2019 Hayti Heritage Film Festival. $2,500 Triangle Friends of African American Artists, Durham Support for “Dimensions of Black: The Founding Fathers of Hayti,” a multi-media production about this historic African American community in Durham. $2,000 University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem Support for UNCSA Deans’ Discretionary Funds and the Creative Excellence Fund. $60,000 11
LEWIS RAZO (SCHOOL OF DOC STUDENT)
K-12 EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM
Left: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival’s School of Doc (Durham). Right: Durham Nativity School (Durham).
Arts Access, Raleigh Support for the Durham Arts Inclusion Project, which seeks to enable Durham area children and youth with disabilities to participate more fully in the arts and cultural life of their schools and their communities. This grant will be paid over three years and was made by invitation. $75,000 Support for Durham Arts Inclusion Project—Durham community meetings. $3,000 12
BUMP: The Triangle, Durham Support for Bull City Youth Orchestra, a symphony orchestra for middle and high school students, in partnership with NCCU’s Department of Music. $10,000 Durham Nativity School, Durham Support for the Exploratory Learning Program, which will implement digital literacy education across all subjects in order to increase students’ reading and math scores. $10,000
El Vínculo Hispano/Hispanic Liaison of Chatham County, Siler City Support for the Orgullo Latinx Pride Youth program, which empowers Latinx high school students in Chatham County to advance academically, graduate from high school, increase access to higher education, and develop leadership skills. This grant will be paid over three years and was made by invitation. $75,000
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation continues its support for high-quality, progressive K-12 education and arts education, particularly for underserved communities. These grants help students to experience the joy of creating art and to acquire knowledge, skills, and talents they need to succeed in and outside of the classroom.
ARTS ACCESS: Equipping Arts Teachers To Include All Students
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iversity, equity, and inclusion—these three words echo through modern society. From corporate offices to community gatherings, individuals are asking to be included. When we think of addressing diversity, equity and inclusion issues, we may think of people of color, or disadvantaged populations, but Betsy Ludwig, the executive director of Arts Access, says disabilities are also a big part of the concept. Arts Access
is helping people with disabilities find the acceptance and community inclusion they’re looking for. Arts Access started in 1984 when a group of volunteers believed strongly enough in the arts being accessible to everyone that they acted on that belief. For a number of years, the organization ran completely on volunteer service. Today, the organization has grown to three paid staff and has seen increased ability to impact the community in the last 10 years.
Arts Access meets needs in the Triangle and across North Carolina, addressing the barriers people with disabilities often face. Still operating with the core belief that the arts should be accessible to everyone, Arts Access helps arts organizations gain skills in providing accommodations and accessible programs. Ludwig says what Arts Access supports is “meaningful inclusion”— that is, not just inclusion by letting someone with a disability sit in a 13
Arts Access supports “meaningful inclusion.”
chair in a corner of the room, but allowing those with disabilities to access and participate in creative artistic expression. For example, someone with low vision may have the opportunity to go on a tactile tour of an art museum as a result of a partnership between the museum and Arts Access. They may be able to listen to music, smell a flower, or hold a piece of clay to experience an art exhibit in a way that engages all the senses. For the next three years, Arts Access is engaging in a new project called the Durham Arts Inclusion Project. With multiyear funding by The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Arts Access is meeting yet another community need they discovered from surveys conducted in 2010 and 2016. The purpose of the survey was to identify what the needs were related to arts inclusion for school children with disabilities. 14
The top three needs they identified through the survey were: • Lack of inclusion training for arts educators • Lack of support for students with disabilities • Lack of teachers’ skills in managing the unique challenges students with disabilities face in arts classrooms The results of the survey shaped the current grant which is addressing the need for training. Executive Director Ludwig says, “We know the arts are good for kids. Arts promote social and emotional growth. They’re fun and contribute to positive learning outcomes, greater selfesteem, and stronger feelings of friendship and belonging. We also know statistically that kids with disabilities are not included at the same rate as their peers. They do not participate at the same level.”
Arts Access hopes to change that fact, paving the way for more participation by students with disabilities. They’re doing that with the help of the Biddle Foundation. Currently in dialogue with community leaders and arts educators about their needs, Arts Access staff are preparing to offer professional development workshops to help arts educators develop the skills they need to serve students with disabilities who show up in their classrooms. They will also provide artist residencies in schools, giving students and staff alike greater access throughout the school year. As they reach out to arts educators in Durham and Orange Counties, Arts Access leaders are excited about the potential impact of the Durham Arts Inclusion Project. They look forward to giving teachers the resources they need to include every student fully in the arts.
Musical Empowerment, Chapel Hill Support to expand this music education program, in which college students are teachers and mentors to K-12 students, through a collaborative partnership with North Carolina Central University and BUMP: the Triangle. $10,000
North Carolina Arts in Action, Durham Support to bring in a master trainer for teaching artists to enhance the quality of programming across Chatham, Orange, Durham, and Wake Counties. $10,000 Scrap Exchange, Durham Support for the Arts and ESL Project , which will train and support ESL teachers and subsequently students who are English Language Learners in the Durham Public Schools. $10,000
COURTESY NC ARTS IN ACTION
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Durham Support for Full Frame 2019 Summer School of Doc and 2019 Youth Screening. $10,000
National Dance Institute instructor mentoring NC Arts in Action staff. Below: Musical Empowerment program at NCCU.
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The Orgullo Latinx Pride program focuses on academic success and college/career preparation.
THE HISPANIC LIAISON/EL VÍNCULO HISPANO: Empowering Youth to Lead
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ccess to higher education, assistance with DACA applications, opportunities for civic engagement and connection with Hispanic heritage—these issues only scratch the surface of those the community identified as challenges for Hispanic youth in Chatham County in 2016. El Vínculo Hispano had conducted a community needs assessment,
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surveying residents and holding focus group discussions. The results of the assessment would guide the organization in future planning. Executive Director Ilana Dubester helped found The Hispanic Liaison/ El Vínculo Hispano in 1995 to address needs of the growing immigrant population in Chatham County. With only a brief hiatus in 2015, the nonprofit has served the community for more than 23 years, helping Hispanic
residents adjust to life in the US, access services, and learn about fundamental rights. As the recipient of a multiyear grant from The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, El Vínculo Hispano is currently bolstering its youth program, Orgullo Latinx Pride. The first youth program had started in 2003 and evolved over time to meet the changing needs of the student population.
During the 2015 hiatus, however, the program stopped. The 2016 community survey results showed residents wanted it back, and today, under the direction of Selina Lopez, Orgullo Latinx Pride is meeting a felt need among high school students in Siler City, where the largest concentration of Hispanic youth in Chatham County attend classes. Dubester says, “The grant supports the overall youth program and all of its activities. The program focuses on high school students because this is an area we have experience in. It’s also a group of youth that isn’t being attended to by other organizations that focus on resources for elementary and middle school students.” With 27 high schoolers currently enrolled, Lopez and a team of volunteers are actively involved in students’ lives. Whether tutoring, going on field trips, volunteering together, or assisting with college applications, they’re creating a sense of family, camaraderie, and respect. And they’re helping youth transition
to adulthood with a solid foundation. Lopez understands firsthand how Hispanic students feel. She says, “Growing up as a Latina, I was the only one in my class, and it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t until college that I recognized how resilient we are and learned to feel pride in my cultural heritage. I wish I’d had a role model when I was younger, and I want to be that person for the youth. Everything about OLP comes through personal experience. It’s what I would’ve loved to have had while I was growing up.” One part of the program that Lopez is especially excited about is the incorporation of cultural knowledge, introducing the students to their own cultural heritage and helping them understand the resilience of their own people. Another is civic engagement, giving students opportunities to meet government leaders and play a part in local government. Lopez says they’re offering a safe space for students to grow into the leaders that they are. Some of the current students are grandchildren of the first Chatham County residents El Vínculo Hispano
served more than two decades ago. During that time, the organization has served multi-generational families by building strong relationships in the community. Although the priorities shift when residents face changing societal challenges. El Vínculo Hispano’s primary mission has remained the same:
Student U, Durham Support for the “Voices of Student U,” a project-based education program in which students develop communication and technology skills, learn to work collaboratively, and write stories that represent themselves, their families, and their communities. $10,000
Village of Wisdom, Durham Support for “Bringing Black Genius to School,” which will create a replicable school model for improving teachers’ capacity to support the socio-emotional health and academic achievement of Black youth, in partnership with Central Park School for Children. $15,000
WAKE Up and Read, Cary Support for “Playing with Reading,” which infuses evidencebased literacy strategies into summer recreational camps that serve elementary school children and provides books and activities to promote grade-level reading and stem summer learning loss. $10,000
TheGifted Arts, Garner Support for The GiftedSummer 2019, a multi-week arts summer camp in Garner. $10,000
Voices Together, Durham Support for Voices Together Early Intervention for K-1st grade, which will extend this proven program into Durham Public Schools. $10,000
• Increase access to services and opportunities, individually and collectively • Protect and advance the rights of immigrants and the Hispanic community • Foment civic participation and community engagement • Promote an equitable, just and inclusive society for all The multiyear Mary Duke Biddle Foundation grant allows El Vínculo Hispano—and Lopez, in particular— to invest more time in individual youth. She’s grateful: “It’s very powerful and fulfilling to see their journeys.”
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DUKE UNIVERSITY AND OTHERS
Left: Music Maker 25, Duke Performances (Durham). Right: Nasher Teens, Nasher Museum of Art (Durham).
Arts & Health at Duke, Durham For the Artist in Residence Program, providing live music at patients’ bedsides and in public spaces in Duke Hospital. $45,000 Duke Performances, Durham For residencies and performances by Manual Cinema, Emmy-winning shadow puppetry, and Music Maker 25, a week-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of Music Maker Relief, a legendary organization that supports blues and roots musicians throughout the South. $63,000 18
Duke University, Durham For the Anthony Drexel Duke Sr. Scholarship. Mr. Duke was the nephew of Mary Duke Biddle, and this grant is made in his honor. $10,000 Duke University School of Medicine, Durham For scholarship support for thirdyear medical students. $25,000 Nasher Museum of Art, Durham For educational programming, exhibits, and the summer internship program. $105,000
Sanford School of Public Policy, Durham For a strategic planning process for Bull City 150: Reckoning With Durham’s Past to Build a More Equitable Future, a public history and community engagement initiative. $5,000 Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham For annual support of this acclaimed garden. $20,000
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, per Mrs. Biddle’s directive, awards half of its funding to Duke University. The continued family commitment to Duke has resulted in innovative programming as demonstrated in these varied grants and collaborative projects. She also wished the three churches she attended in North Carolina and New York to receive annual support. Grants are also made to support the nonprofit community in North Carolina and to respond to exceptional opportunities.
ARTS & HEALTH AT DUKE: Impacting Health with Music and Art
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s patients wait in hospital rooms filled with family and friends, they may ache for music to soothe anxious nerves or wish for crayons and a coloring book to calm their racing hearts. Thanks to Arts & Health at Duke, a simple request can bring both. Bedside music is routinely provided at Duke with the assistance of a full-time musician and five part-time professional contract musicians. A coloring book is an option available
to patients as a Request an Art Kit. In 1978, Arts & Health at Duke made waves as one of the first programs of its kind in the US. Founded to meet the creative needs of patients and staff, the program developed from core beliefs—based in research—that art has a significant impact on healing. The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation embraced those beliefs, too, and helped establish the program. From the earliest days until now, they’ve remained a consistent contributor. 19
ALEX MANESS
Patient requests to Arts & Health for bedside music have increased by 400% over the past two years. Five years ago, in hopes of increasing their impact, Manager Sharon Swanson says Duke Arts & Health leadership surveyed clinicians at Duke Hospital and asked a simple question: “What should we be doing?” The answers that came back provided clear direction: • Host art exhibits with pieces appropriate in a healthcare setting. • Provide live musicians in public spaces and at patients’ bedsides. • Deliver art kits to patients’ rooms. • Display artwork by North Carolina artists in the hospital collection that Arts & Health manages in patient rooms and public spaces. Since then, Duke Arts & Health has expanded to become an ever-growing presence in the hallways and by patients’ sides. 20
The Request an Art Kit initiative began in 2012, and requests have increased from 125 that first year to well over 2000. Volunteer musicians currently play a combined 80 hours per week in accessible public spaces of the hospital. The art exhibit hall— now booked two years out—hosts approximately 800 visitors during the lunch hour each weekday and others throughout the day. More than 4,000 pieces of artwork by North Carolina artists are displayed throughout the hospital. The impact of such a vibrant program cannot be overstated. Live music not only calms patients but provides a peace-filled atmosphere for loved ones and staff. Swanson says, “Music and art appeal to something we grew up with as children. We think of people who sang our favorite songs to us, or we think of church music if we grew up in church. The coloring
books we provide calm adults and take them to a place they remember.” Duke Arts & Health is a part of Duke Hospital’s vision to treat the whole person. Swanson says patients report feeling seen when they come to Duke. This is due in part to the amazing doctors and research taking place, but the creative arts also play a role. That role has expanded thanks to funding from the Biddle Foundation that allowed the musician in residence to move from part-time to full-time status. Swanson couldn’t be more pleased with the change. “One of the lovely things about having William Dawson on full-time staff is there’s always a musician here. He can play for bereavement services, for patients celebrating a birthday or an anniversary, or for weddings at the end of life. It’s great to have a musician here who can handle that and who has on many occasions,” she says. Dawson is the Musician in Residence and Semans/Byrd Performing Arts Coordinator, a professional performer with a talent for leading hospitalbased music programs. With a 400 percent increase in patient requests for bedside music over the last two years, Dawson is busy. In addition to playing for patients and events, he oversees the part-time contracted musicians as well as the volunteers. Under his leadership, the music program offers a more consistent presence for Duke patients, their loved ones, and the staff. With ongoing funding from the Biddle Foundation, Dawson and the Arts & Health at Duke team will continue to stand out as an arts and health program to emulate—in the US and around the globe.
LES TODD
Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Durham For 2020 initiatives and programming in the Art of the Moving Image, Dance Program, Music Department, Theatre Studies, and Art, Art History & Visual Studies. $252,000
“As You Like It” by Duke Theater Studies.
Christ Church United Methodist, New York, New York For annual support. This grant reflects the long history shared by the church, Mary Duke Biddle, and the Biddle Foundation. $5,000
Duke Memorial United Methodist, Durham For annual support. This grant reflects the long history shared by the church, Mary Duke Biddle, and the Biddle Foundation. $5,000 Durham Library Foundation, Durham For support to name the Adult Maker Space in the new Durham Main Library in honor of James D.B.T. Semans, a long-time trustee of the Biddle Foundation. This gift is made in conjunction with the Jenny Lillian Semans Koortbojian Trust. $25,000 Irvington Presbyterian Church, Irvington, NY For annual support. This grant reflects the long history shared by the church, Mary Duke Biddle, and the Biddle Foundation. $5,000 Museum of Durham History, Durham For support for a series of community-curated history exhibits that share Durham’s diverse stories, as part of the Durham 150 celebration. This project is funded jointly with the Jenny Lillian Semans Koortbojian Trust, for a total grant of $50,000. $12,500 North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, Raleigh For annual support of this statewide organization. $5,000 Triangle Community Foundation, Research Triangle Park For support of the Triangle Capacity Building Network, which has two main purposes: increasing capacity in the nonprofit sector and increasing funders’ impact through collaboration. $10,000
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