Studio Gallery Donation Clearinghouse of Arts and Social Justice Organizations


Local Arts Organizations

Organization:  Critical Exposure

Description/Mission: Critical Exposure partners with DC high schools and after school programs to give students skills in documentary photography, leadership and advocacy. They learn to think critically about their schools and communities and document issues that affect their lives, then use these images in a campaign to address an issue collectively.  Students have helped secure over $500 million in additional education funds and made crucial improvements in their schools, as well as gaining confidence their own voices to become effective agents of social change.

Rating: Recommended by the Greater Washington Catalogue for Philanthropy

Organization:  Project Create

Description/Mission: Project Create offers out-of-school-time arts programs for some of the most vulnerable children in the District.  They get time to themselves, the dedicated attention of a caring adult, and the freedom to create. Classes in mixed media, graphic design, drawing and painting, dance, music, theater, and sculpture are small, personalized, and designed to spark creativity and confidence while improving the prospects for academic and social success.

Rating: Recommended by the Greater Washington Catalogue for Philanthropy

Organization:  Transformer

Description/Mission: Based in Washington, DC, Transformer is an artist-centered non-profit visual arts organization that connects and promotes emerging artists & emerging arts leaders within local, national and international contexts. It provides a consistent, supportive, and professional platform for these artists and arts leaders to explore and present experimental artistic concepts, build audiences for their work, and advance their careers. Although social justice is not an official part of their mission, their education and support of underserved artists has resulted in the promotion of equity for minorities in the DC community.

Rating: Transformer receives a 75/100 Encompass Rating from Charity Navigator.