Kanye West

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Rapper, Producer

FUNDING AREAS: Arts Education, Arts & Culture, TBD

OVERVIEW: Kayne West is a founder of Art of Culture, which provides free access to the arts for youth. He recently gave a $10 million gift to support a James Turrell piece. Despite the Kanye West Foundation’s overall spending and some exceptions, grants and donations have amounted to a very small portion of the foundation’s activities.

BACKGROUND: Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1977. The child of a photographer and former Black Panther father and a college professor mother, West grew up in Chicago. He attended Chicago State University for one year before dropping out to pursue a music career. Starting as a small producer, he released his debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004 to widespread critical and commercial success, and founded the record label GOOD Music.

ISSUES:

ARTS EDUCATION: Last decade, Kanye West founded the Kanye West Foundation to help disadvantaged youth excel in school, arts and music programs. The foundation has since shuttered. Kanye West and business partner Rhymefest, meanwhile, launched Donda's House, which bore the name of West’s late mother. The foundation’s signature program, Got Bars, provided free instruction in music writing to at-risk Chicago youth.

The charitable vehicle was renamed “Art of Culture,” and aims to “cultivate creative potential through artist and professional development, community building & collaboration.” Art of Culture has paired with Chicago's Blues Fest and provides free access to the arts for youth. According to its website, Art of Culture has “transformed the lives of over 500 of Chicago’s most talented youth, inspiring many to finish their educations, tirelessly work for a career in the creative industries, and embrace a network of ambitious & like-minded artists who provide peer-support.”

ARTS & CULTURE: In January 2019, West donated $10 million towards the completion of the Roden Crater by American artist James Turrell.

OTHER: West gave $2 million to support the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, including legal fees for Arbery and Taylor's families, and to support local Black-owned businesses in Chicago and other cities. He also bought and donated over 4,000 toys for children in Chicago for the holidays in late 2021.

LOOKING FORWARD: Art of Culture is a new direction for West philanthropy, a change reportedly sparked in part by West’s controversial comments. Only in his early 40s, the always-opinionated West should be watched for potential giving, particularly in Chicago. It appears that giving has slowed down significantly in recent years.