Lincoln Center For The Performing Arts
In Partnership With The Rockefeller Foundation Announces Second Annual Lincoln Center Cultural Innovation Fund Call For Applications
Arts Nonprofits Serving Central Brooklyn and South Bronx Are Eligible to Apply for Innovative Community-Based Cultural Grants
NEW YORK, NY — Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation, announced today a call for applications for the Lincoln Center Cultural Innovation Fund. This follows an inaugural competitive grant round that supported offerings by nonprofit organizations seeking innovative ways to increase opportunities for cultural engagement in the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn.
The second round of the Cultural Innovation Fund will continue to focus on strategies for building artist participation in these two communities, supporting cultural programming in a variety of disciplines. Accepted projects can either be completely new programs or experiments that apply a fresh approach to an existing effort. The organizations selected will each receive a one-year grant of up to $100,000, in addition to technical support from Lincoln Center.
Applicants are required to submit letters of inquiry describing their project ideas no later than August 1, 2018. On September 7, 2018, finalists will be invited to submit full proposals, which are due October 5, 2018. Grants will be announced in mid-December. Details are available at lincolncenterculturalinnovatio
In the inaugural grant round, each of the twelve grantees received support for a range of initiatives, including an interactive exhibition on the Caribbean Diaspora in Central Brooklyn; a new monthly live event series featuring transgender and gender-nonconforming artists of color performing in restaurants and cafes in the South Bronx; and using the arts and the tenets of environmental and social justice campaigns to bring together residents and workers in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx.
The Rockefeller Foundation selected Lincoln Center to manage the fund based on the institution’s steadfast commitment to building community-based partnerships and its expertise in designing and implementing impactful programs. “The Rockefeller Foundation has made its home in New York City for 105 years, and we’re dedicated to ensuring communities across the city can fully participate and enjoy the cultural and economic benefits New York has to offer,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “The Cultural Innovation Fund with Lincoln Center elevates forward-thinking initiatives in the arts that address or help us better access issues of social justice, race, economic equality, gender, history, and much more. We’re proud to support Lincoln Center.”
“Seeing the impact of artists connecting with audiences by presenting their work in unique spaces or in fresh ways has been invigorating and instructive at a time many cultural organizations are working to deepen their connections with their communities,” said Russell Granet, Acting President of Lincoln Center. “Collaboration and partnership are critical to the success of this program, and there is no better partner than The Rockefeller Foundation.”
The Lincoln Center Cultural Innovation Fund was launched in December 2016 with three overarching goals: to increase arts access and participation in the diverse neighborhoods of the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn; to increase the range of places and platforms where cultural activities are taking place in both boroughs; and to support nonprofit organizations in piloting cultural innovation strategies and programs. Lincoln Center worked collaboratively with advisors, including The Rockefeller Foundation and representatives from Central Brooklyn and the South Bronx, to establish an advisory panel that evaluated applications and recommended the grant award recipients. The fund’s pilot program offered one-year grants in a range of $50,000–$100,000.
***
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts education and community engagement, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenter of more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers a variety of festivals and programs, including American Songbook, Avery Fisher Career Grants and Artist program, David Rubenstein Atrium programming, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Lincoln Center Vera List Art Project, LC Kids, Midsummer Night Swing, Mostly Mozart Festival, White Light Festival, the Emmy Award–winning Live From Lincoln Center , which airs nationally on PBS, and Lincoln Center Education, which is celebrating more than four decades enriching the lives of students, educators, and lifelong learners. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations: The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, School of American Ballet, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Lincoln Center has become a leading force in using new media and technology to reach and inspire a wider and global audience. Reaching audiences where they are—physically and digitally—has become a cornerstone of making the performing arts more accessible to New Yorkers and beyond. For more information, visit LincolnCenter.org.
Lincoln Center is committed to providing and improving accessibility for people with disabilities. For information, contact Accessibility at Lincoln Center at access@lincolncenter.org or 212.875.5375.
About The Rockefeller Foundation
For more than 100 years, The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission has been to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Together with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create unlikely partnerships that span sectors, and take risks others cannot – or will not. For more information, please visit www.
Follow Us