Dear Friends of FAIR,
We are thrilled to announce the winners of our 2026 Artist Grant!
The FAIR Artist Grant was established as a fund for independent artists seeking support for professional activities that align with FAIR’s mission of advancing fairness, understanding, and humanity in the arts. Our purpose is to further a culture where all artists – regardless of their perceived identity group or belief system – can be judged on the quality of their work and practice their craft freely without fear. With an arts funding ecosystem that is still overwhelmingly driven by divisive DEI policies and groupthink, the FAIR Artist Grant is our effort to shift the tide back and reclaim core values of excellence, integrity, and free thought.
The winners of our 2026 Artist Grant span a wide range of artistic practices, professional backgrounds, and life experiences. They are filmmakers, theater artists, visual artists, writers, and educators. They are ambassadors, thought leaders, and innovators who represent our mission to change culture by creating new, better culture. We are honored to support their work.
Grand Prize Winners –
Alison Fairweather Murray: Filmmaker, Director.
Project funded: Pitch deck for dramatic television series
Celeste Teal Larkin: Executive Director at St. George Opera
Project funded: Hansel and Gretel at St. George Opera
Mary Poindexter McLaughlin: Playwright, Poet, Essayist
Project funded: Dear US: One Acts to Bridge the Divide
Timothy Naylor: Filmmaker, Professor of Film at LIU
Project funded: Anonymous Film Festival in NYC
Nevline Nnaji: Filmmaker, Dancer
Project funded: She Holds The Line: Black Women Speak on Gender Ideology
Johari Mayfield: Teaching Artist, Choreographer
Project funded: Wildcard: A Satirical Séance
Kimberley Tait: Author, Founder at Dogstar Press
Project funded: Dogstar Press LLC
Runners Up –
Steve Salerno: Journalist, Essayist, Professor
Project funded: Article exposing journalism school biases
Mary McDonald-Lewis: Voice Actor, Director, Writer
Project funded: The Macbeths
Kevin Ray: Theater Artist, Producer, Artistic Director
Project funded: Theatrical adaptation of Hope Mirrlees’ fantasy novel Lud-in-the-Mist
Bob Rahmanian: Visual Artist, Musician
Project funded: Unacceptable, a group exhibition
Learn more about our Artist Grant winners, and read their full bios here.
We are grateful to our donors and supporters who made the FAIR Artist Grant possible, especially the Snider Family Foundation. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support FAIR in the Arts. With your help, we look forward to continuing to build a new arts & culture infrastructure.
Warmly,
Brent Morden
FAIR in the Arts
In different, though related news… This week, FAIR in the Arts member Kevin Lynch scored a major legal victory against Playwrights Horizons, a New York theatre company.
A prominent nonprofit theater in New York has settled a lawsuit claiming that a discount offered to people of color was racially discriminatory. Playwrights Horizons, an Off Broadway company…offered an apology to Kevin Lynch, a white musician from New Jersey who sued over last fall’s “BIPOC night”…[Playwrights Horizons wrote that it] “regrets that Mr. Lynch felt excluded because of his race,” …[and we] have agreed to resolve the matter out of court.” …Lynch, in a statement…said he was pleased with the outcome. "Race-based ticket pricing violates all our civil rights, regardless of which race is on the receiving end of the discrimination…I consider it a victory for civil and human rights.”
With FAIR’s support, Kevin Lynch has been on the front lines challenging discrimination in the arts. We’re thrilled to see the fruits of his success — and equally excited to see this development covered in the New York Times.
Beyond Binary Thinking: Developing Nuanced Perspectives in Young Minds
Join FAIR Advisors Wilfred Reilly and Erec Smith for a conversation moderated by FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris. We will discuss the need to move beyond oversimplified oppressor/oppressed narratives to help develop critical thinking skills that honor complexity while maintaining moral clarity. This theme also supports FAIR's commitment to civil discourse, which is a foundational element of our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
Culture in Psychotherapy — Without the Corrosion of Identity Politics
Join FAIR with Dr. Douglas Novotny for this upcoming course: Amid today’s culture wars, Identity Politics has corroded the teaching and practice of psychotherapy. Many people on both sides feel distrustful, alienated, and/or demoralized. This course gives a structural model for clinical work that re-enlivens moral depth — without moralism. The goal of this course is to clarify concepts and conflicts that impact both daily life and clinical settings.
Research indicates that ideological diversity — seeing topics from different points of view — improves psychology. This course builds on Jon Haidt‘s Moral Foundations Theory, a cultural lens to grasp differences across cultures, within cultures, and the experiences of clients and students encountered by therapists. Specific clinical applications will be explored, and critiques and competing moral models will be considered. This structural model helps to explain interpersonal divisions (and intra-psychic ones) and offers ways to bridge them through deep cultural understanding and relational attunement.
This course is available now March 18th - April 18th (Home Study), March 28th, and April 8th. Course fee: $69 (+ $20 if requesting Continuing Ed. Certificate)
The Open Therapy Institute (OTI) is at the forefront of a burgeoning area of mental health care, developing innovative, evidence-based tools to help people, support professionals, and address social issues. Whether you’re a mental health professional, a patient, the leader of an organization, or just a citizen looking for openness and dialogue, OTI is developing solutions to help make things better.
Membership is for professionals in mental health fields including psychologists, counselors, social workers, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, pastoral counselors, and researchers. Membership is open to applicants internationally.
FAIR Educator Alliance 2025-2026
FAIR has launched the Educators Alliance for the 2025–2026 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.
Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies to support educators, communities, and local chapters—and to advance positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following the presentations, participants will have space for open-forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.
Meetings: First Thursday of each month at 7 PM ET via Zoom
Duration: 1 hour
Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!
Congratulations to all! I'm honored to be included with such a creative, diverse bunch. Thank you, FAIR.
Awful lot of female grant winners. Who was on the selection committee and what were the criteria for candidate selection, evaluation, and awarding of grants.
Also, seems like a DEI redux is a major push of FAIR. Same crew, different spin from what I can see.