Modern Connections Collective adds funds plan as slashing in federal arts begins to reverberate

The Modern Connections Collective has introduced a Sustained Giving Program responding to a new scorn for arts funding at the federal level.

The Modern Connections Collective has introduced a Sustained Giving Program responding to a new scorn for arts funding at the federal level. Despite being founded by Jenny Oliver in 2014, this is only the Greater Boston collective’s third year as a formal business. It pays its way with dance classes, workshops, shows, merchandise sales and grants; the giving program lets people support it without being present for a class or performance. “We needed to have something that can be sustained long-term without having to rely on class takers or the government,” Oliver said. “We also know grants are not always a guaranteed source of capital.” Although not eligible for funds from the National Endowment of the Arts, which the Trump administration has cut and seeks to shut down, the collective feels federal cuts trickling down through the creativity ecosystem. “We partner with groups throughout the region. Many of them do receive NEA grants,” Oliver said. “While we didn’t have our funding slashed, other groups did – which then caused them to pull out of partnerships with us.” The collective’s new giving program invites individuals to donate on a regular basis to keep the cost of classes down and help with production costs. “Modern Connections cannot be rooted in community while being tied to a government that doesn’t value arts or humanity” Oliver said. There’s also good reason to contribute now, she said: “Our mission is to move dance from the margins of society into visibility. Dance is our first form of communication, from the time we are in the womb. It is important to me to make sure people understand that they’re in a body that moves,” especially important amid “the chaos happening in the world around us.”