Arts and Culture
The Kresge Foundation recognizes creative expression as a means to lift the human spirit, spur innovation, and nurture cross-cultural understanding among disparate groups. Artists and arts and cultural activities and organizations are community assets that are central to thriving cities and towns of all sizes across America.
As a sign of its emerging strategic direction, the Arts and Culture Team is prioritizing facility renovation and repair projects over new construction and expansion for its capital-challenge grantmaking. Consideration may be given to extraordinary new construction or expansion projects that have as their centerpiece urban in-fill development, transit-oriented development, or other models of environmental sustainability.
We seek to support arts and cultural activities, organizations and artist support services that foster access and opportunity among community residents, offer culturally relevant programming, develop innovative methods for increasing audience participation, and proactively support creative individuals.
In early 2009, we launched Kresge Community Arts, a new grant opportunity designed to cultivate the use of art and culture as a tool for community engagement in economically distressed cities. Programs are underway in St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; Tucson, Arizona; and Birmingham, Alabama.
Our programmatic approach
We seek to support the facility needs of arts and cultural activities, organizations and artist support services that, through their work in advancing creative expression in their cities and towns, contribute to community development efforts and produce and present high quality, innovative programs that are appropriate and valued in their communities; reach diverse populations; have capable, trusted professional and volunteer leadership; and demonstrate fiscal discipline.
All grant requests are evaluated in terms of our values criteria. While all nine values are particularly relevant to the work we do, the values of creating opportunity, community impact, collaboration, and innovation are essential to our work.
The Arts and Culture team applies the values criteria as follows:
- Creating opportunity – Projects that provide services in an “arts-poor” community; authentic and relevant programs that involve people of all social and economic backgrounds, increase participation of new and non-traditional audiences, and programs that provide meaningful outreach and educational programs, and take a reasoned risk in addressing the tensions of communities in flux
- Community impact – Projects that are an integral part of broader community development efforts, and activities that contribute to a vibrant arts and cultural ecosystem that are high quality and demonstrate excellence
- Innovation – Projects that are innovative for the arts and cultural discipline; re-define an organization’s role in its community; create new business models to strengthen financial stability; support or advance research within the field; and advance sustainable building practices
- Collaboration – Projects that bring multi-party, interdisciplinary approaches to problems that defy solution by a single sector and forge partnerships with other entities that reduce administrative or programmatic expenses.
Funding methods
We award facilities capital challenge grants, giving priority to renovation and repair projects. Consideration will be given to new projects that encompass in-fill or transit-oriented development or models of environmental sustainability.
Organizations interested in applying for facilities capital should visit the Challenge Grant page to learn about our eligibility requirements and, if appropriate, initiate the process with a five-page letter of inquiry as directed.
On a very limited basis, the Arts and Culture Team identifies and initiates projects with organizations already doing important work in the areas outlined above for other types of grant funding as described in the Our Funding Methods section of the Web site.
At this time, we do not offer a mechanism for applying for other types of funding. As our strategies become further defined, we will determine how best to make these funds available. New developments will be announced as program updates on the front page of our Web site.
If you have questions, e-mail the Grants Inquiry Coordinator or call 248-643-9630.
Image credit: Cultural Development Corporation, Washington, D.C.