For those of us in philanthropy who invest in arts and creativity, we face a challenging time. And these are precisely the moments that require clarity, steadfastness, and commitment. It is in that context that I am pleased to share publicly a leadership transition on Barr’s Arts + Creativity Team that has been many months in the making.  

Our long-time director, San San Wong, is stepping in to a new role with Barr, as Senior Advisor, to focus her energies on a set of opportunities and challenges facing the arts sector and arts philanthropy nationally in this moment. Simultaneously, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Giles Li, who has been with Barr as Senior Program Officer for Arts + Creativity since 2020, as our next Director of the Arts + Creativity Program.  

Last December, the Arts + Creativity Team met with Barr’s trustees to reflect on progress, learning, and possibilities for the work ahead. The trustees embraced with enthusiasm the ways in which we intend to build on Barr’s enduring commitment to arts and creativity across Massachusetts in the years to come. Giles will share more about those plans for deepening Barr’s abiding commitment to the arts, especially in these times. In addition, we acknowledged that our work occurs in a national context, and there is work that Barr is well-positioned to advance by drawing on San San’s rich experience, broad networks, and visionary leadership.  

San San Wong

As San San steps back from her day-to-day leadership of the Arts + Creativity Program and focuses on this national work, I want to express my gratitude to her for her tireless leadership and significant contributions during her tenure.

When San San came to Barr in 2012, returning to her childhood home of Boston, Barr’s arts grantmaking was limited to Boston. Our trustees had only recently decided to elevate the arts to a full program (on par with education and climate), hiring San San as the first full-time Barr staff member dedicated wholly to the arts, and empowering her to shape a strategy for the program’s next chapter. In the ensuing twelve years, the Arts + Creativity Team has grown to six, with grantmaking across Massachusetts, and with targeted regional and national partnerships that are bringing vibrancy, joy, and cultural vitality to communities through the arts.

Since 2012, San San and her team have steered over $225 million to arts nonprofits across the region, and to individual artists through partnerships with The Boston Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, United States Artists and others.

San San’s efforts have also expanded and evolved arts philanthropy in Massachusetts and beyond to be more responsive and community-centered. This includes Barr’s Creative Commonwealth partnership with eight Massachusetts community foundations, which San San conceived during her tenure. San San also revived the Massachusetts Arts Funders Network, now at Philanthropy Massachusetts. She served on the board of Grantmakers in the Arts. And she also partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts to organize the first-ever White House Summit on arts and creativity. Her imprint on our cultural ecosystem is profound, and I am pleased she will remain with Barr to advance work at the national level. 

Giles Li

Giles came to Barr in 2020 as a highly-respected leader in the region and in the arts, I am confident that the Arts + Creativity Program is in excellent hands.

For his part, Giles came to Barr in 2020 as a highly-respected leader in the region and in the arts, having spent the preceding 14 years at Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), including his final seven years there as CEO (during which he was also named a Barr Fellow in the class of 2017). While CEO at BCNC, Giles successfully launched the Pao Arts Center in 2017, a groundbreaking effort that reflects the values and goals of Barr’s Arts + Creativity Program. At Barr, Giles has designed and led portfolios and initiatives such as Powering Cultural Futures, which supports 14 leading BIPOC arts organizations across the state with funding and technical assistance, in partnership with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and the national America’s Cultural Treasures initiative from the Ford Foundation. 

In highlighting the contributions that San San and Giles have made, I want to uplift our other colleagues on the Arts + Creativity Team: SueEllen Kroll, Jamilah Bradshaw, Francisco Torres and Susana Reyes. We are fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated team, and I am grateful for their many contributions to our work. I am confident that the team is in excellent hands with Giles’ steady leadership, and I appreciate his willingness to step in as Director and enable a transparent, smooth transition for Barr to continue advancing Barr’s Arts + Creativity Program.