Fund & Support
The Joan Meyers Brown Artist Development Fund
Your gift helps artists grow through professional development
The Joan Myers Brown Artist Development Fund supports dancers who demonstrate ability, artistry, and passion. Awards help artists grow through professional development, advanced training, education, and summer intensive study.
Named for IABD's founder, the fund carries forward her lifelong commitment to nurturing dancers and choreographers and giving them the opportunities they need to thrive.
Give Now
Give by Mail
Make checks payable to The International Association of Blacks in Dance and mail them to:
1621 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009.
Please note the fund in the memo line if you'd like to direct your gift.
Sponsorship
Connect your brand or organization with dance artists, companies, and Blacks in Dance supporters through IABD's annual Conference & Festivals and other events.
Legacy Gifts
Learn how to include IABD in your estate plans and help sustain Black Dance for the future.
For sponsorships, legacy gifts, or other questions, contact our Development team.
About Joan Myers Brown
Joan Myers Brown is one of the most influential figures in American dance. She founded The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO) and The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts, creating what President Barack Obama called "an artistic haven for African American dancers and choreographers to innovate, create, and share their unique visions with the national and global dance communities."
In 1988, she founded the International Conference of Black Dance Companies, and in 1991 she established the International Association of Blacks in Dance, where she serves as honorary chairperson.
Throughout her career, Ms. Brown has taught at Howard University and the University of the Arts, and has lent her leadership to the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, Dance/USA, the Rockefeller Foundation, and arts councils across the country. In Philadelphia, she has served on the Mayor's Cultural Advisory Council and co-founded the Coalition of African American Cultural Organizations.
Her story is told in Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina (2011) by dance scholar Brenda Dixon Gottschild.