A Strong Start to 2023
Your generosity this holiday season hasn't gone unnoticed. Together, we successfully raised over $20,000 through the Brooklyn Empower Fund. For the first time this year, BAC will be able to make unrestricted grants to artists. This milestone wouldn't have been possible without your donations. Thank you for valuing the wellbeing of artists and supporting our community. Stay tuned for more information on our 2023 grants cycle.
We are also thrilled to announce an unprecedented regrant award from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the recovery of the nonprofit arts and culture sector. BAC will receive just under $354,000 this year for our Local Arts Support regrant program, a near $200,000 increase from our past NYSCA grants. Following New York State’s historic investment in the arts, NYSCA has awarded $90 million since Spring 2022 to a record number of artists and organizations across the state.
NYSCA Executive Director Mara Manus said, “We are immensely grateful to Governor Hochul and the Legislature for their unprecedented investment of $240 million to support arts organizations across the state. New York State arts organizations such as Brooklyn Arts Council are the cornerstone of our vibrant arts economy. As crucial drivers of our health and vitality, we are grateful to the unwavering dedication of arts workers across the state.
Heal Up! Career Pathways in Creative Wellness
A 2023 Brooklyn Arts Council Creativity and Wellness Professional Development Series
This professional development series explores career pathways and training that offers artists an opportunity to integrate their art and wellness skills.
These workshops feature art and wellness practitioners and welcome participants from all creative industries into a supportive space to learn about the transformational power of the arts. This professional development series will assist creative agents in growing and expanding their craft on practices of wellness. Community development, social engagement, creativity, museum wellness, craft, and indigenous experts will discuss new art and wellness training programs, workshops, and engagements from a variety of cultural practices and educational spaces (formal and informal).
Arts & Wellness Roundtable
January 28 | 11 AM - 12:15 PM | Virtual
*There is a limited capacity of 15 for this event
This roundtable aims to create thought-partnership on ways that artists can embed wellness practices within their work. Discussions will ebb into wellness as a "place to come from", and flow into caring for the person behind the art in a sustainable way. Attendees will leave the session with tangible personal wellness practices as well as ideas around leveraging wellness offerings and practices in their public offerings to the benefit of their followers, clients, and consumers.
This roundtable will consist of a panel of artists and moderated by a respected Health Trainer at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Speakers include: Shola Thompson, Kearra Amaya Gopee, and Ragnhild Bruland (Ragz).
Arts & Wellness Talk with Heather Robles
Photo by Michelle L'Esperance
January 31 | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
After years of integrating discoveries from her birth doula practice, dance teaching, and artistic practice, Heather Robles invites you to a chat about body cycles, womb work, storytelling, lineage, catharsis, and dance. You will leave this talk with unique tools for creative ritual to deepen your own individual wellness practice.
Arts & Wellness Talk with Ebony Nichols
Photo by Maria J Hackett
February 4 | 11 AM - 12:15 PM
Virtual
In this talk, Ebony Nichols will be discussing the healing and transformational power of movement and dance with a specific emphasis on community-based healing applied to mental health, higher education, transformative leadership, and research career trajectories.
Our Grantees' Events
Upcoming events hosted by our board members, grantees, fiscal sponsees, and partner organizations. Keep scrolling for a full, comprehensive list of what's top-of-mind this January.
SONGS FROM THE 74 CORRIDOR
Jean Rohe is a Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee.
January 7 | Doors 7:30 PM | Show 8 PM
The Owl Music Parlor
497 Rogers Ave, Brooklyn
Songs from the 74 Corridor is a new memoir concert by songwriter Jean Rohe. In it, she traces the length of the NJTransit #74 bus line (Paterson to Newark, NJ) with stop-specific songs telling family stories about life in the cities that shaped her and her forebears: a route and a root. Featuring Caroline Davis (saxophone, voice, electronics), Christopher Tordini (bass), and Jason Burger (drums).
The Machine Stops
The Machine Stops. Pictured left to right: Lya Yanne, Uki Pavlovic, Augustus W. Cook II, John Teresi, Rachel Rhea Shannon. Kevin Ray is a Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee. Photo by Jonathan Levin.
January 27 | 7:30 PM
January 28 & 29 | 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM
February 2 & 3 | 7:30 PM
February 4 | 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM
February 5 | 2:30 PM
The Mark O'Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Arts Center
160 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn
Puppetry, Multi-Media, and Sci-Fi Collide in Theatrical Adaptation of E.M. Forster’s 1909 Story “The Machine Stops.”
In an imagined future where everyone lives alone in identical, underground cells, people enjoy a seemingly blissful life – with all their needs provided by a multi-functional, omnipresent machine. Through a combination of live acting, puppetry and video projections, this production uses expressive theatricality to vividly bring Forster’s futuristic allegory to life on stage.
Events, Workshops, & Professional Development
Additional happenings hosted by our grantees and other organizations, collectives, and institutions.
UNFIT & MUNDIAL Montreal APAP Showcase 2023
January 12 | 7 PM - 1 AM
Drom
85 Avenue A, New York
Artist lineup includes Kobo Town, Balkan Paradise Orchestra, Telmary, Nomadic Massive, Battle of Santiago, Zaki Ibrahim & Special Guest. UNFIT Music is a Canadian record label and management company presenting eclectic music from around the world, exploring hybrid and contemporary approaches to the global music space.
Brooklyn Community foundation
Advisory Council RECRUITMENT
Paid Opportunity
Deadline: Rolling
The Brooklyn Community Foundation is currently recruiting for all of their grantmaking councils, especially Brooklyn Elders Fund. Individuals not currently in senior leadership positions at nonprofit organizations, and who are committed to equity for all people are encouraged to apply. Applicants should be able to read and review grant applications written in English and accompany our Programs staff on visits to organizations.
Nonprofit Leadership Collective
Deadline: January 11 at 5 PM
Brooklyn Community Foundation is committed to building the capacity of nonprofits across the borough — and we are thrilled to announce an open application to join our Leadership Collective, which will be led by our partner consultant Brooke Richie-Babbage. Leaders will have access to our bi-weekly group coaching, training library, workshops, and related resources over a period of six months. Priority will be given to BIPOC leaders.
NY4CA 2023 Cultural Convening
January 18 | 4 PM | Zoom
On Wednesday, January 18th at 4pm, New Yorkers for Culture and Arts will host a gathering via zoom for our cultural community and NY City Council Members. This convening will be an opportunity for community members to connect with current city leadership to share issues facing us in the year ahead, and to discuss culture and arts initiatives specific to their district.
BRIC Spring 2023 Exhibitions: Opening Reception
Buzz Slutzky, detail from Manual Power #7, 2015-22.
January 25 | 7 PM - 9 PM
647 Fulton St., Brooklyn
BRIC Contemporary Art invites you to the opening of When I am Empty Please Dispose of Me Properly (BRIC House Gallery) and Buzz Slutzky: For Example (BRIC House Project Room). Come take a first peek at the exhibitions, meet the artists, and enjoy some refreshments. Both exhibitions will be on view at the Gallery at BRIC House January 26 - April 30.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s 2023 State of the Borough Address
January 10 | 6:30 PM
The Theater at City Tech
275 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY
Save the date! Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso will provide an overview of his first year in office and set the stage for the work to come! This event is open to the public, so please feel free to share event details with other residents.
EmergeNYC 2023
March - June
Deadline: February 1
EmergeNYC is an incubator and affinity network for socially engaged artists to develop their creative voice, explore the intersections of art and activism, and connect to a thriving community of BIPOC, migrant, and LGBTQIA+ practitioners who challenge dominant narratives through cultural resistance. Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) will be offering an in-person program at Abrons Arts Center and a virtual program. The programs provide an opportunity to spend an intensive period of training, exchange, mentorship, and challenging conversations with a specific focus on racial justice and cultural transformation.
Funding & Open Calls
Reliable funding opportunities from outside collectives and institutions.
NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship
INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival (Sponsored Project), led by Svea Schneider, INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival, July 2017, Photo Credit: Javier Gamboa.
Four Deadlines: March 31 | June 30 | September 30
NYFA’s Fiscal Sponsorship program supports artists across all disciplines by providing the tools to help you develop creative projects, build organizations, and craft sustainable careers. Fiscal sponsorship allows individual artists and emerging arts organizations raise funds using NYFA’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Many funders only give their financial support to non-profit organizations, and by having NYFA as a fiscal sponsor you are opening up possibilities to access funding and make your work.
The AnkhLave Garden Project Fellowship at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Deadline: January 6
This program selects five BIPOC NYC-based artists to create site-specific work in a public space and a traditional gallery, in partnership with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The artists will receive an honorarium of $1,000 and will be reimbursed up to $1,000 in expenses. One of the five artists will be selected to receive up to $10,000 for the creation of an original treehouse.
The Bandung Residency
Deadline: January 9
The Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) and The Museum of Contemporary Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) are pleased to announce The Bandung Residency, a new program intended to foster solidarity between the Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Black communities. The Bandung Residency is an opportunity designed to uplift the work of organizers, artists, educators, and way-makers whose practice is intended to foster solidarity between Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Black communities.
Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO)
Up to $5,000
Deadline: January 9
Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) provides direct support to individual Bronx artists who create works in the literary, media, visual, and performing arts. BCA awards grants up to $5,000 to Bronx artists each year, based solely on artistic excellence.
ICI’s Curatorial Research Fellowship
$10,000
Deadline: January 15
ICI’s Curatorial Research Fellowships program reflects the organization’s commitment to the advancement of new knowledge and practices. The program supports curators’ research, travel, and the development of their professional networks, promoting experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement in the field. This Curatorial Research Fellowship is specifically intended to support curators of African descent in developing their curatorial practice.
Media Arts Assistance Fund
Up to $7,500
Deadline: January 15
NYSCA in partnership with Wave Farm present 2023 Media Arts Assistance Fund (MAAF). For individual artists, MAAF provides support for the completion and/or public presentation of new works in all genres of sound and moving image art, including emergent technology. Grant awards assist artists in completing new work, reaching public audiences, and advance artistic exploration and public engagement in the media arts.
MAXMachina 2023 Lab
Up to $7,500
Deadline: January 15
Media Art Xploration (MAX) invites storytellers, performers, and creative technologists to submit applications for projects that expand live performance through science and technology. MAX is looking for projects that expand live performance by using science and technology to explore the promise and the peril of our rapidly changing world.
Project: Hatched 2023 Open Call
$30,000 (with at least $15,000 to be allocated for impact)
Deadline: January 17 at 12 PM EST
Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Project: Hatched 2023 supports women and non-binary filmmakers worldwide who have had or will have a confirmed world premiere of a short, medium, or feature-length documentary film between April 2022 and March 2023. Filmmakers must have plans to strategize, build, and launch an impact campaign.
2023 CALL FOR PROPOSALS: BARRICADE ART
$500 Honorarium
Deadline: January 17
Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Dumbo Improvement District are soliciting design proposals for barricade covers to be distributed throughout the Park and neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn. The barricades will be stationed throughout the Park and Dumbo, as placemaking in situ, as well as for street closures, at events, and for other purposes–often sited in highly trafficked areas that serve as iconic photo ops, such as along the waterfront, Washington Street, Jane’s Carousel and more.
West Bay View Foundation Fellowship 2023
Deadline: January 18
Established in 2018, the West Bay View Foundation Fellowship is an immersive, full-time, six-month studio position for a visual artist. Fellows will study with Dieu Donné master papermakers and gain practical experience working in a professional papermaking studio that focuses on artistic collaboration.
National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Program
$5,000 - $20,000
Deadline: January 18
The NEA Big Read—a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest—broadens our understanding of our world, our neighbors, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience. Showcasing a diverse range of themes, voices, and perspectives, the NEA Big Read aims to inspire meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and new discoveries and connections in each community.
Japan Parade Art Contest 2023
Deadline: January 20
Japan Parade invites the public to submit illustrations for our official posters, flyers, and programs. Since 2007, Japan Parade (formerly Japan Day at Central Park) is an annual event celebrating Japanese culture, art, and tradition in Central Park, with three objectives: to promote cultural exchanges between Japan and the U.S., to express appreciation for New York City, and to strengthen the solidarity of the Japanese-American community.
NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship
Sangram Majumdar (Fellow in Painting ’18), Giacometti’s Shadow, 2018, oil on canvas’.
$8,000
Deadline: January 25 at 5 PM EST
The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is a $8,000 unrestricted cash grant available to artists living in New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located therein. This grant is awarded in 15 different disciplines over a three-year period (five categories a year). The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is not a project grant, but is intended to fund an artist’s vision or voice, at all levels of their artistic development.
En Foco Media Arts Fund: Work in Progress Initiative 2023
$2,000
Deadline: January 27
En Foco’s Media Arts Fund: Work in Progress (WIP) Initiative, in collaboration with BronxNet, is a grant to support New York City based, early-career artists of color who engage with digital media technologies in their art-making processes. These awards will focus on applicants needing support for the completion of a quality work in progress, as determined by a panel of professionals.
NYC DOT's 2023 Open Streets Application
Deadline to launch on or before June 30: January 31
Deadline to launch on or after July 1: April 14
New York City's Open Streets program transforms streets into public space open to all. These transformations allow for a range of activities that promote economic development, support schools, and provide new ways for New Yorkers to enjoy cultural programming and build community.
DOT Art Asphalt Art Activations 2023
Rice Terraces by Dasic Fernandez on Doyers Street, Manhattan.
Up to $20,000
Deadline: February 1
NYC DOT Art collaborates with artists to transform ordinary asphalt pedestrian spaces into canvases for art. Artists are invited to submit qualifications to be considered for installation of dynamic murals within pedestrianized street segments throughout the five boroughs. Selected artists may receive up to $20,000 depending on scale of project site and will be called to implement between spring and fall 2023.
DUMBO Open Studios 2023 OPEN CALL
Deadline: January 31
April 22 & 23 | 1 PM - 6 PM
DUMBO Open Studios is a project presented by Art in DUMBO, a resource for art events, happenings, galleries, and residency programs. DUMBO and Vinegar Hill artists and galleries are invited to submit their Participation Form before January 31, 2023.
Cranberry Lake Biological Station Indigenous Writer in Residency
Deadline: February 1
Cranberry Lake Biological Station is located in the heart of the Adirondack Park, on the ancestral lands of the Mohawk Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and has been in use as a living classroom for 105 years. CLBS provides seclusion for research, teaching, contemplation, and creative endeavors.
Three, three−week residencies are available each year, with some flexibility based on the writer's schedule. Housing, meals and a workspace will be provided, in addition to a $500 travel stipend. The resident will also have access to all facilities and the ability to join classes if desired.
Wellness and Recovery Fund Action Grants
Up to $5,000
Deadline: Rolling
Made possible with the support of a generous anonymous donor, Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Action Grants will provide up to $5,000 for Brooklyn-based programs working with people with a history of substance misuse, mental illness and/or homelessness focused on narrative shifting that destigmatizes substance abuse/misuse; addiction and harm reduction services; organizing and advocacy actions; and training for and the distribution of harm reduction supplies such as fentanyl strips and overdose prevention kits.
Resources
BAC Wellness Studio Resources
BAC Wellness Studio Resources page is a platform for art, resources, and training at the intersection of wellness and creativity. Listed on this page are grants, training opportunities, creative art projects, and programs centered on Brooklyn’s wellness-focused creative community.
National Arts Education Status Report 2019
The Arts Education Data Project (AEDP) provides the first-ever look at the status and condition of arts education in the U.S. using actual student participation data reported by school districts to their state education departments. The AEDP created the National Arts Education Status Report 2019 as a comprehensive look at access to and participation in arts education in the United States.
The status report determined that quality arts education programs continue to be limited or not available in many schools, despite arts education programs thriving in some communities.
NYFA Immigrant Artist Resource Center
Lily & Honglei, “The Stereotype” in Flushing Chinatown, NY, 2022. Photo by Korea Art Forum.
Founded to serve as a hub where immigrant artists can access resources, exchange ideas, collaborate, and amplify their voices in the American cultural landscape. Programming centers on helping immigrant artists with the development and presentation of their works and fostering communities and a sense of belonging while providing support for their overall well-being.
What We're Reading
Have you encountered an inspiring or engaging read related to the COVID-19 era lately? Tell us about it at webmaster@brooklynartscouncil.org.
Ella Braidwood. “‘We bring something fresh’: the theatre companies exploding myths about disability,” The Guardian, December 2022.
Read
Julia Jacobs. “Tanks and Teddy Bears: Ukrainian Children Paint the War,” New York Times, January 2023.
Read
Cait Kelly. “Australian artists accuse popular AI imaging app of stealing content, call for stricter copyright laws,” The Guardian, December 2022.
Read
Rachel Sherman. “Farewell to ‘Stomp,’ a Show at the Beating Heart of New York,” New York Times, January 2023.
Read
Staff. “New Brooklyn Bridge Art Pays Homage to the ‘King of New York’,” BK Reader, December 2022.
Read
Cover Image: Pearl Primus Wedding Warriors of Something Positive Inc., 2022 Creative Equations Fund grantee. Photo by Marcia Wilson.
Empowering Artists. Empowering Communities.
The arts are a lifeline to sustain wonder, inspiration, healing, and a sense of community in our lives. Please join Brooklyn Arts Council in our mission to empower Brooklyn artists and arts organizations that bring life and joy into our home borough.