Supporting Diverse Arts Spaces
Where We Work
This initiative focuses on the development of innovative and equitable arts spaces in the United States, Mexico and Central America, and the Middle East and North Africa.
We support arts organizations that are models of artistic excellence; engage in the development of their facilities in innovative, equitable ways; and help promote social justice in their communities.
What We Fund
In the United States, arts spaces must meet the following criteria:
- Vision. Serve as a leader in artistic process, form and content; Generate art, in addition to presenting, exhibiting and teaching
- Diversity. Demonstrate commitment to maintaining a diverse staff and board
- Innovation. Explore innovative space design, utilization and partnership opportunities with particular attention paid to creative, equitable community development
- Public Discourse. Provide an active forum for public discourse responsive to critical social issues
- Community Engagement. Demonstrate commitment to community involvement, particularly the participation of historically underserved communities
- Management. Operate under sound management and administration with fiscal transparency
- Impact. Provide local value and significant regional, national and/or global impact
We support three categories of arts spaces:
- Emergent facilities. For their planning, pre-development and early operation phase
- Newly opened facilities. For finishing/enhancement, program launch and operation stabilization
- Established facilities. For renovation, expansion, program enhancement and operational sustainability
Additional Selection Criteria
We do not provide grants for the following: arts education; general operating support for arts organizations; or individual artists or art projects.
Status of Grant Making
The budget for 2012 has already been committed, and we are not accepting unsolicited proposals at this time.
A current opportunity to connect with Ford Foundation resources is through the open call for letters of inquiry, managed by ArtPlace. A collaboration of ten leading national and regional foundations including Ford; eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts; and six of the nation's largest banks, ArtPlace aims to accelerate creative placemaking across the United States and produce a transformative impact on community vibrancy. Key dates:
- September 4, 2012: Letter of inquiry opens
- November 1, 2012: Letter of inquiry closes
- January 2, 2013: Finalists announced, request for full proposals
- February 15, 2013: Full proposals due
- June, 2013: Grants awards announced
To Apply for a Grant
Follow these steps:
- Review the Initiative(s) most relevant to your work.
- Read our Grant Application Guide, which describes our grant-making process.
- If you determine that your work aligns with our priorities, submit a Grant Inquiry. (While we welcome submissions, please keep in mind that our funds are limited in relation to the large number of worthwhile inquiries we receive. In a typical year, less than 1 percent of unsolicited inquiries result in a grant.)
Please Note:
It is important that you use our grant inquiry form—and refrain from contacting program officers directly. Given the volume of inquiries we receive, this allows us to log, track and respond quickly to your application.
Fellowships
The vast majority of foundation grants go to organizations. We provide a very limited number of fellowship opportunities for individuals through the Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships Program, which aims to diversify the faculties of American colleges and universities.
The foundation does not have any other active fellowship opportunities at this time.
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