Non-traditional forms of philanthropic support of the performing arts by African-American churches in North Carolina

This thesis will explore non-traditional forms of philanthropic support of the performing arts among African-Americans. It will seek to refute the myth that African-Americans offer minimal philanthropic support to the arts. The study will use as its conceptual framework the redefinition theory of Dr. Emmett D. Carson, President and CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation and noted researcher in the field of African-American philanthropy, to examine the forms of non-traditional arts support that exist within the two most populated African-American churches in Cumberland County, North Carolina. The study will also broaden the concept of "the arts" to include traditional cultural art forms unique to African-Americans. By broadening the concept of philanthropy and the arts, non-traditional forms of philanthropic support by African-Americans can be legitimized and valued by the African-American, philanthropic and arts communities. The study reveals that the arts programs within the two observed churches are supported substantially by non-traditional forms of support. The thesis also finds a pattern of philanthropic dualism that exists among participants of this study. While many offer non-traditional forms of philanthropic support to the arts to a great degree, they also contribute traditionally to the arts and other charitable causes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).