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The Kresge Foundation announces today a new national strategy for its Arts and Culture Program that fosters the long-term financial stability of arts and cultural organizations, supports artists’ services, and helps to integrate arts and culture institutions and activities into effective community building.

“We believe that strong, vibrant communities have well-capitalized cultural institutions, well-resourced artists and have made arts and culture an essential component of their community building efforts,” says Alice L. Carle, director of the Arts and Culture Program. “In this sector, Kresge is extending its historical expertise in the financial management of facility projects to the long-term financial sustainability of whole organizations.”

Grantmaking is focused in three areas: Institutional Capitalization, Artists’ Support Services and Arts and Community Building.

Institutional Capitalization now includes the Arts and Culture Program’s investments in cultural facilities and building reserves funds. Under this new strategy, the Arts and Culture Program will prioritize renovation and repair projects. The Arts and Culture Program will no longer consider traditional facilities-capital challenge grant applications. All requests for cultural facilities funding must be made through the Arts and Culture Program’s Institutional Capitalization focus area.

With this announcement, the Arts and Culture Program is inviting preliminary application e-mails for facility investments and building reserves grants. The deadline for submissions is Monday, May 17, 2010 at midnight Eastern Standard Time. For more information, visit the Institutional Capitalization page in the Arts and Culture section of the Kresge Web site.

In fall 2010, another call will be made for applications for facility investments and building reserves. Deadline dates will be posted as a program update on the front page of the Kresge Web site and also in the Arts and Culture Program section on July 2010.

All other grantmaking opportunities are by invitation only. Unsolicited applications are not accepted.

“Kresge was a critical player in the 20-year cultural facility building boom that swept the arts sector.” Carle continues. “But numerous signs suggest that the building boom is over, halted by a combination of the economic recession and the staggering challenges of running capital campaigns and then covering steadily rising fixed costs. Our new grantmaking strategy is designed to assist organizations in successfully making this transition and positioning themselves for long-term sustainability.”

To learn more, visit the Arts and Culture Program.

If you have questions, e-mail our Grants Inquiry Coordinator or call 248-643-9630.