Grants, Foundations and Other Great Resources for Artists

Drawing by Van Gogh, Weaver

Over the years I have accumulated a list of great resources in my grants and foundations folder. I thought I would share them with you. Many are specifically for artists, but my interest has been in the economic development potential that craft production can have on low income populations, so there are also many that are targeted towards non-profits or efforts working in under-served communities.

Please let me know if any links quit working in the comments area. And, if you have some favorites you want to share with anyone, you can leave links and info there, too. Funding opportunities for artists and non-profits have become increasingly harder to obtain, but there are still places out there that can help give that financial push needed to start or grow a good idea. Also, as I am in the Unites States, my list will serve mostly those living here, although some do have an international focus or have branches in other parts of the world.

The link is embedded in the photo or name of the organization, followed by its mission or description. It is in alphabetical order.


Community/Artists Partnership Project was initiated in 1984 by Alternate ROOTS. Since its inception, the project has supported over 38 projects in eight states, convened a national gathering of community cultural workers and initiated a training program for the advanced study of community arts practice. Projects selected for funding focus on social issues in a variety of community settings.

The Alternate ROOTS Resources for Social Change Program directly supports the CAPP by hosting Learning Exchanges that share ideas, methods, and techniques for creating social change through the arts. The core method used to share information are learning exchanges that engage emerging, as well as established art partners in sharing best practices toward partnerships that incorporate the five key principles forcreating sustained projects with deep impact.



This link will take you to a list of resources for women provided by Awakened Woman. There is a section on women's art.


The Banff Mountain Grants Program supports projects that communicate the stories of mountain landscapes as places of ecological, inspirational, and cultural value, and that celebrate the spirit of adventure. Its concentration on communication of mountain stories is unique in the world.

Individuals or organizations may apply for grants of up to $5000 (Canadian dollars) to fund projects that creatively interpret the environment, natural history, human heritage, arts, philosophy, lifestyle, and adventure, in and of the mountains. Projects must include a communications component (such as film, literature, photography) that brings the project before a public audience. Projects must show respect for mountain landscapes as places of ecological, inspirational, and cultural value. Projects should be world class in execution, celebrate the spirit of adventure, and reflect our mission statement.

Black Rock Arts Foundation: The mission of the Black Rock Arts Foundation is to support and promote community-based interactive art and civic participation. For our purposes, interactive art means art that generates social participation. The process whereby this art is created, the means by which it is displayed and the character of the work itself should inspire immediate actions that connect people to one another in a larger communal context.


The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design (CCCD) is a regional center of the University of North Carolina with a strong nonprofit support organization. It is located on the fifty-acre UNC Asheville Kellogg Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. CCCD convenes national meetings, supports research in the area of craft and design, and curates exhibitions for a small gallery space and the sculpture and public art on the property's one-mile Rudnick Nature Trail. CCCD also manages an adjacent Conference Center, a multimedia rental facility serving area nonprofits, educational and corporate needs.

Mission: The mission of the regional UNC center is to advance the understanding of craft by encouraging and supporting research, scholarship, and professional development.

The mission of the nonprofit is to support the regional center through funding, programs and outreach to national and regional artists, craft organizations, schools, and the local community.

Founded in 2000 by Craig Newmark and others, Craigslist Foundation (www.craigslistfoundation.org) is a publicly supported, non-endowed 501(c)3 operating foundation (i.e. not a grantmaking institution). Just as craigslist.org is about 'people helping people' by facilitating online connections, Craigslist Foundation creates community in the nonprofit arena by 'helping people help', regardless of cause or sector. We are uniquely positioned to support nonprofits by providing free and low cost education opportunities to emerging nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs, thereby fulfilling our mission of "Providing knowledge, resources and visibility to the next generation of nonprofit leaders."



Creative Capital, a nonprofit organization, acts as a catalyst for the development of adventurous and imaginative ideas by supporting artists who pursue innovation in form and/or content in the performing and visual arts, film and video, and in emerging fields. We are committed to working in partnership with the artists whom we fund, providing advisory services and professional development assistance along with multi-faceted financial aid and promotional support throughout the life of each Creative Capital project.


Cubs Care: Cubs Care is the charitable beneficiary of the Chicago Cubs and a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation (MTF). Cubs Care focuses it's giving in the city of Chicago and makes monetary grants to organizations that aid children who have special needs, victims of domestic violence and youth sports programs. Most of these grants are to specific programs. Cubs Care also focuses on a wide variety of charitable and social service agencies located in the immediate neighborhood of Wrigley Field. This includes Lake View, Uptown and Lincoln Park. To help stimulate giving the fund, the MTF provides significant matching dollars to all funds raised for Cubs Care.

Note: Cubs Care funded the quilt project I worked on with Chicago artist, Allison Svoboda. See my Fiber Focus post on it.


Digital Women has over 17,000 International members. We provide information on starting a business, business finance resources including small-business loans for women and non-government business grants for women, along with a networking community for women-in-business.


Echoing Green: To accelerate social change, Echoing Green invests in and supports outstanding emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact solutions. Through a two-year fellowship program, we help our network of visionaries develop new solutions to society’s most difficult problems. These social entrepreneurs and their organizations work to solve deeply-rooted social, environmental, economic, and political inequities to ensure equal access and to help all individuals reach their potential. To date, Echoing Green has invested $27 million in seed funding to over 450 social entrepreneurs and their innovative organizations.




The Foundation Center's mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy.
Established in 1956, and today supported by more than 600 foundations, the Foundation Center is the nation's leading authority on philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance philanthropy at every level. The Center's web site receives more than 47,000 visits each day, and thousands of people gain access to free resources in its five regional library/learning centers and its national network of more than 340 Cooperating Collections.


Sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright Program provides funding for students, scholars, teachers, and professionals to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. The flagship international educational program sponsored by the U.S. Government, the Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and the people other countries.



Idealist.Org: This is an incredible resource if you are looking for a job with a social mission. It also has resources that are very useful. Idealist.Org is a part of Action Without Borders which connects people, organizations, and resources to help build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives. AWB is independent of any government, political ideology, or religious creed. Our work is guided by the common desire of our members and supporters to find practical solutions to social and environmental problems, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect.

International Quilt Association: The International Quilt Assocation is dedicated to the preservation of quilts and the art of quilting, the attainment of public recognition for quilting and for quilts as an art form, and the advancement of the state of the art through continuing education services for members, public education activities, and professional and artisan
development programs.

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation provides fellowships for advanced professionals in all fields (natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, creative arts) except the performing arts. Fellowships are not available for students. The Foundation only supports individuals. It does not make grants to institutions or organizations. The Foundation selects its Fellows on the basis of two separate competitions, one for the United States and Canada, the other for Latin America and the Caribbean.

MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 by MetLife for the purpose of supporting educational, health and civic and cultural organizations. Our goals are to strengthen communities, promote good health and improve education. The Foundation continues a tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement begun by MetLife in the 19th century.

The Kentucky Foundation for Women offers two grant programs: Artist Enrichment and Art Meets Activism. The Artist Enrichment grant supports feminist social change artists to develop their art making skills. The Art Meets Activism grant supports feminist artists to engage in art making directly involving social change. KFW awards $200,000 in grants annually, $100,000 in each program.

They also have a good links page.


Lindbergh Foundation: Each year, The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation presents Lindbergh Grants to individuals whose proposed research or education projects will make important contributions toward improving the quality of life by balancing technological advancements and the preservation of our environment. Awarded in amounts up to $10,580 each (a symbolic figure representing the cost of the "Spirit of St. Louis" in 1927), the Grants are made in numerous areas of special interest to Charles and Anne Lindbergh, including aviation/aerospace, agriculture, arts and humanities, biomedical research and adaptive technology, conservation of natural resources, education, exploration, health and population sciences, intercultural communication, oceanography, waste disposal management, water resource management, and wildlife preservation.

Nathan Cummings Foundation: The Foundation’s core programs include arts and culture; the environment; health; interprogram initiatives for social and economic justice; and the Jewish life and values/contemplative practice programs.

The Foundation seeks to work with partners in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. We make efforts to document the outcomes of our projects and share with others the results of our work and the work of our grantees. Several basic themes run through all of these programs and inform the Foundation’s approach to grantmaking:

• concern for the poor, disadvantaged, and underserved;
• respect for diversity;
• promotion of understanding across cultures; and
• empowerment of communities in need.
• 
  

NYFA's mission is to empower artists at critical stages in their creative lives. NYFA is the largest provider of grants, services, and information to artists working in all disciplines in the United States.



Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization for projects that are led by and benefit women and girls. Open Meadows Foundation funds projects that do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age or ability. It offers grants up to $2000 to projects that: * Are designed and implemented by women and girls;
* Reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization;
* Promote building community power;
* Promote racial, social, economic and environmental justice;
* Have limited financial access or have encountered obstacles in their search for
funding. Organizational budget should not exceed $150,000.


The Puffin Foundation Ltd. has sought to
open the doors of artistic expression
by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy.


We seek to promote the well-being of humanity by addressing the root causes of serious problems. We work to expand opportunities for poor or vulnerable people and to help ensure that globalization's benefits are more widely shared. We are one of the few institutions to conduct such work both within the United States and internationally.


We partner with investors, donors, and social enterprises to realize financial transactions that enliven consciousness and enhance quality of life. With our clients, we cultivate environmental, social and financial sustainability, and provide access to capital for organizations committed to fair practices and improving economic conditions.


The Foundation gives cash awards to individual artists and craftspersons, selected by a panel of judges. Our winners have told us that our grants have made a significant impact on their ability to continue their work. We take great pride in the fact that many of our grantees have gone on to receive increased public recognition and appreciation. Some have work in the permanent collections of prestigious museums including the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, winners have had their art displayed in numerous local museums and public spaces across the United States. Some of our artists have earned Fullbright Scholarships to study and teach art abroad.


United States Institute of Peace: The Grant Program, part of the Grant and Fellowship Program, increases the breadth and depth of the Institute's work by supporting peacebuilding projects managed by non-profit organizations including educational institutions, research institutions, and civil society organizations.

In over twenty years of grantmaking, the Grant Program's Annual Grant Competition and Priority Grantmaking Competition have received nearly 10,000 applications and awarded almost 2,000 grants. The Institute has provided funding to grantees located in 46 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and in 81 foreign countries.

The Foundation’s mission is to enable institutions to expand learning and enrichment opportunities for all people. We do this by supporting and sharing effective ideas and practices. To achieve our mission we have three objectives: strengthening education leadership to enhance student achievement; improving after-school learning opportunities; and expanding participation in arts and culture.


List of artist resources built by artists for artists. Part of The Pauper, Starving Artists Online.


Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources.

Winrock matches innovative approaches in agriculture, natural resources management, clean energy, and leadership development with the unique needs of its partners. By linking local individuals and communities with new ideas and technology, Winrock is increasing long-term productivity, equity, and responsible resource management to benefit the poor and disadvantaged of the world.


Women of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America): Women of the ELCA awards grants annually. The organization encourages applications addressing a broad range of issues within rural, urban, and suburban sectors.

Grants, Foundations and Other Great Resources for Artists