Meet Our 2023 Grantees & Awardees!
In case you missed it, we announced our 2023 Community Arts Grants, Creative Equations Fund, new Brooklyn Empower Fund grantees as well as SU-CASA awardees. A total of $1,657,000 will be allocated to 280 Brooklyn-based artists and cultural organizations. We thank the 66 grants and SU-CASA panelists for joining us in reviewing applications and participating in the selection processes for these funds.
Visit BAC’s Cultural Heritage Archive
Center for Brooklyn History | Brooklyn Public Library
128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn
BAC’s Cultural Heritage Archive is available for viewing at the Center for Brooklyn History (CBH) in partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library. The archive includes program materials from 1986-2013 created to celebrate, document, and educate the public about arts and culture traditions in Brooklyn. Program files include event planning materials, promotional items, budget information, research materials, and artist files. The collection includes extensive audiovisual documentation of events, artist submissions, and oral history interviews. Items dated 1900-1985 collected for submissions and research are also included.
This collection is stored offsite and at least two weeks advance notice is required. Contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org to schedule your visit.
BAC Coaching Session:
Arts Writing with Daniela Fifi, Ed.D
May 13 | 11am - 12pm
Virtual
Image 1: DreamboxXx presented by Death by Audio Arcade (DBAA) & Dreamhouse. DBAA is a Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee. Photo by Walter Wlodarczyk / Gothamist, 2018.
Critical writing is a vital component of the creative art ecosystem and is evolving rapidly. This coaching session with Daniela Fifi, Ed.D will introduce you to professional, creative, and critical art writing and publishing. In relation to art and creative industries, you will explore a variety of writing and publishing styles. Consideration will be given to writing and publishing in an increasingly interdisciplinary art-based context, including engagement with catalog essays, artists’ statements, journal papers, and online articles. In addition, participants will work independently and collaboratively to develop advanced reading, writing, and editing skills.
Consider Culture:
Art and the Public Space with Allison Glenn
May 26 | 5pm
Virtual
In Episode 3 of Consider Culture, we are introduced to the work of curator Allison Glenn. We will explore how art and public spaces intersect, and how Allison’s work is making an impact on the way we view and interact with public spaces. We will also discuss her approach to curating exhibitions, as well as her views on the importance of understanding the history of a space before creating something new.
BAC’s Spring Party Returns!
June 5 | 6pm - 10pm
Industry City, 5-2-A
33 35th St., 2nd Floor, Brooklyn
HONORING:
Derrick Adams | Visual Artist, Performance Artist, & Educator
Alireza Esmaeilzadeh | Senior Vice President of Development, Brookfield Properties
Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham | Co-founder & Executive Director, Museum Hue
Toni Yuille Williams | BAC Board Chair & Media Host, Brooklyn Savvy & ArtMovez
Join Brooklyn Arts Council for a festival-inspired night complete with a moveable feast, cocktails, silent auction, performances, and a dance party with music by DJ SPINNA!
Funds raised through BAC's 2023 Spring Party will provide crucial support to the independent artists and grassroots arts programs that fill our communities with joy and vibrancy. Your donation advances us towards a more equitable Brooklyn: where every corner of the borough has access to the arts.
Grantee Events
Upcoming events hosted by our grantees, fiscal sponsees, and partner organizations.
Continuum Culture & Arts presents:
SOUP & SOUND with Earl Howard Trio, Ayako Kanda, & Marco Capelli
May 7 | 6:30pm
292 Lefferts Ave., Brooklyn
Continuum Culture & Arts presents Soup & Sound, a house concert featuring three groups: Earl Howard Trio, Ayako Kanda/Yuma Uesaka/Andrew Drury, and Marco Capelli’s Bach/Monk solo guitar project. Each Soup & Sound event is accompanied with a big pot of homemade soup (or similar food).
Earl Howard. Soup & Sound is a program by Continuum Culture & Arts, Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee.
CreativeStudy Live Q&A:
Protecting Your Storytelling Power: Strategies for Black Artists
CreativeStudy is a Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee.
May 8 | 5pm - 6pm
Virtual
Join Amani Olu, founder of Olu & Company for this live Q&A on Protecting Your Storytelling Power: Strategies for Black Artists. More than ever, contemporary art galleries, museums, and other cultural venues are rushing to associate themselves with the work of Black artists. In his video on CreativeStudy, Amani Olu introduces initial steps for Black artists to safeguard their stories, beginning with identifying core values.
ART YARD BKLYN & Iviva Olenick present:
Earth Mother/Mother Earth
Photo by Meridith McNeal, Co-founder and Director, AYB. ART YARD BKLYN & Iviva Olenick are Local Arts Support grantees.
Mondays | May 8, 15, & 22; June 5 & 12 | 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Virtual | Email frida@artyardbklyn.org for link
Tuesdays | May 9, 16, 23, & 30; June 6 & 13 | 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC)
481 Van Brunt St., Door 7A, Brooklyn
ART YARD BKLYN (AYB) provides free intensive art-making sessions led by professional artists and teaching artists through its Advanced Studio program. This special series of Earth Mother/Mother Earth focuses on themes of nurturance, renewal, and care for all living creatures, women/people with wombs, and the planet. Sessions range in media, processes and referential artworks, and are open to everyone ages 12 and up.
Iviva Olenick presents: Stitchcraft
Iviva Olenick is a Charlene Victor & Ella J. Weiss Cultural Entrpreneur Fund grantee.
May 9 | 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Virtual
Stitchcraft is a virtual embroidery and handcraft meetup as part of an ongoing series open to the public. Stitchcraft is a place to bring your craft projects in process, to meet new friends, get inspired, learn a few new embroidery techniques, and be in community with others who believe crafting is tied to health and wellness. Sessions often begin with a brief embroidery demo, followed by participants sharing their various projects for feedback and support. Underlying themes include environmental and reproductive justice, craft circle revival, and cultural preservation.
Steph Costello presents: A Place To Live
Steph Costello is a Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee. Image courtesy of Steph Costello.
May 13 | 12pm - 5pm
Corner of Lafayette & South Portland
89 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn (outdoors)
Join artist Steph Costello for A Place to Live, a drawing marathon where participants create large-scale drawings that describe the city as a real estate obstacle course, with drawn, written, and collaged elements. The final drawings will be exhibited in local storefronts in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. A Place to Live is part of the annual ART360 event hosted by the FABFulton Business District.
The Bushwick Starr presents: demons.
¡Oye! Group is a Local Arts Support & Creative Equations Fund grantee.
Tuesdays - Saturdays | May 16 - June 3
7pm - 8:30pm
Connelly Theater
220 E 4th St., New York
The Bushwick Starr is partnering with JAG Productions and ¡Oye Group! to present demons., a new Afro-Surrealist play written and directed by award-winning playwright Keelay Gipson. When the death of their patriarch draws family members home, they must reckon with grief and the haunting realities that death often brings to the surface. A surreal dark comedy, demons. is a meditation on the reality of getting older, of losing a parent, and that ever-elusive quest to exorcize the trauma a family passes down through the generations.
The Brooklyn Nomads Live in Concert
The Brooklyn Nomads are Brooklyn Arts Fund grantees.
May 20 | 9:30pm
Joe's Pub
425 Lafayette St., New York
The Brooklyn Nomads are proud to perform at Joe's Pub. This dynamic performance features a cross-cultural ensemble of talented musicians, playing music rooted in Arabic music traditions, and collaborating with exceptional performers from diverse musical backgrounds. Join The Brooklyn Nomads for a memorable night of music from the Arab world!
Stand4 Gallery Exhibition:
Bay Ridge through an Ecological Lens
Stand4 Gallery is a Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee.
On view through June 17
Hours: Saturdays, 12pm - 3pm & by appointment
Stand4 Gallery
414 78th St., Brooklyn
Stand4 Gallery hosts community project, Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens, curated by Jennifer McGregor in collaboration with ecoartspace. This interactive art exhibition will feature artists from the New York area and consists of nature walks and community interventions in various locations to highlight environmental issues that are relevant to Bay Ridge.
Public programs for the exhibition will also take place on May 6, May 13, May 21, June 8, and June 17.
Events, Workshops, & Professional Development
Additional happenings hosted by our grantees and other organizations, collectives, and institutions.
The Arts Center at Governors Island season Opening
May 6
Exhibitions at The Arts Center explore a range of ideas and media with an emphasis on site-specific projects that take the Art Center’s unique location into consideration. Special events take place throughout the Summer in conjunction with each of three annual exhibitions, including artist talks, workshops, and The Take Care Series.
Arts-in-Education Job Fair
May 8 | 4pm - 7pm
Borough of Manhattan Community College, Richard Harris Terrace
199 Chambers Street, New York
The Arts-In-Education Job Fair brings together numerous arts-education and cultural organizations from across NYC to engage arts administrators, teaching artists, interns, and students looking to break into the arts-in-education field. Interested individuals will have the opportunity to learn about organizations and speak with their representatives.
Presented by the Community-Word Project, New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, and the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Art House Productions presents:
2023 iNKubator: New Play Festival
May 8 - 10 & May 15 - 17 | 7:30pm
Over the past year, the 2023 INKubator Cohort has been meeting with program director Alex Tobey to share new work, receive feedback, and develop a first draft of a new play. INKubator Cohort will present their new plays for the first time this May. Audiences who attend the festival will have the opportunity to participate in conversations with the writers, directors, and actors following each performance.
Teaching Artist Project 2023 Summer Institute
Deadline: May 8
Summer Institute 2023 is a three-day intensive workshop series for teaching artists of all disciplines. Through artmaking and discussion, this workshop will explore the question, “How can artivism create a new world?” During this in-person three day intensive, teaching artists across the country will work with Teaching Artist Project (TAP) staff in NYC to develop skills to help support their students and bring artivism into learning spaces.
It’s Time for Culture 2023
May 9-21
May marks the unofficial start of the New York City summer cultural season, making it the best time to discover special offerings from iconic cultural spots across the five boroughs. From May 9-21, explore NYC museums, galleries and performing arts centers for limited-time concerts, tours, family-friendly programs and more. Don't wait—book now to experience the City’s vibrant cultural landscape.
Museum of Failure NYC
On view through May 14
Industry City
900 Third Ave., Brooklyn
(between 33rd St. & 34th St.)
The world-renowned Museum of Failure exhibit has opened at Industry City in Brooklyn. Presented by SEE Attractions, JB Contemporary and Global Art Exhibitions NY, the Museum of Failure shines a light on some of history’s epic fails by some of the world’s best-known companies, like Colgate, Pepsi, and Google. The experience is geared towards visitors of all ages. Guests can look forward to classic catastrophes like the marketing disappointment that was New Coke or the over-hyped 1958 Ford Edsel, along with artifacts spanning from the 17th century right up to the present day.
Thrive in Place!
May 17 | 6pm - 7:30pm | Virtual
ArtBuilt and the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund) are partnering to present Thrive in Place, a workshop to help creative sector workers understand the relationship between housing choices and their financial wellbeing. Focused on affordable housing, homeownership, and building knowledge to improve personal finances, this class uses artist-centric tools and straightforward language to help artists of all disciplines navigate their financial life with creativity, clarity and strength.
Festive Art and Design Afternoon at COPE NYC
May 20 | 1pm - 5pm
COPE NYC, Old Pfizer Building – Acumen
630 Flushing Ave., Brooklyn
In honor of OUI Design, COPE NYC and NYCXDesign invite you to a festive afternoon of group exhibitions with local and international designers, artists, art students, and the community. Join the event for a celebration of public art and gallery exhibitions that bring together local and international creativity with music and food from local vendors. Festive Art and Design Afternoon is presented in partnership with Villa Albertine, Valerie Goodman Gallery, Parsons The New School, and Brandon Haw Architecture.
NYSCA PANELIST OPEN CALL
Deadline: June 2
Each year, more than 150 artists, nonprofit leaders, and arts administrators from all over New York State make NYSCA grantmaking possible as our panelists. With their individual experiences and perspectives, they are responsible for reviewing each grant application and are essential to the evaluation process. Panelists’ expertise spans a range of artistic practices as well as many facets of non-profit management. Advisory panelists must demonstrate expertise in at least one of NYSCA’s evaluation criteria, which are Creativity, Public Service and Managerial & Financial.
NYC Arts in Education Roundtable:
Black Women's Wellness Retreat 2023
Deadline: June 5 at 7pm EST
Retreat Dates: September 22 - 24
The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable is proud to host its third annual Black Women’s Wellness Retreat (BWWR) at the Omega Institute in the Hudson Valley. The BWWR was created in response to recent events in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and its effect specifically to the Black Women community. The retreat is FREE and attendees will have the opportunity to get away together for a weekend of connection, healing, and growth.
bric celebrate brooklyn!
Opening Night: June 7 | 6pm
Additional Dates: June 24, July 1, August 10, & August 22 - 24
Lena Horne Bandshell
141 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! is a free, summer-long experience allowing New Yorkers to appreciate and discover new genres, acclaimed artists, and world cultures each night of the Festival. During its over 40-year run, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! has presented celebrated global music icons, legendary jazz artists, chart-topping indie bands, gravity-defying dance troupes, large-scale film projects and even a virtual reality performance, becoming one of the city's foremost cultural attractions and a beloved summer tradition.
national dance institute (ndi) collaborative:
teacher training workshops
Level Two Intensive Training | June 5 - 10 | In-person
NDI & The Art of Teaching Fundamentals | July 17 - 20 | Virtual
Level One Intensive Training | July 31 - August 11 | In-person
A professional development program for teaching artists, dance educators, musicians, and organizations worldwide. All trainings are experiential and include joyful dance classes, mentored teaching opportunities, stimulating group discussions, and live music. Teachers from all different dance backgrounds find the NDI Method enhances their practice and that our trainings equip them with new teaching strategies to motivate, engage, and inspire diverse learners.
Artist Opportunities
Reliable funding opportunities from outside collectives and institutions.
Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers Fellowship
$5,000
Deadline: May 7
The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum (NCPD@JANM) is thrilled to announce the Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers Fellowship. The Fellowship recognizes that writers of color have knowledge and experiences that differ from dominant Eurocentric ones, and that their perspectives can give art produced by marginalized communities the depth of attention and consideration it deserves. This year’s inaugural fellowship provides two $5,000 unrestricted awards to promising writers of color who are focused on art criticism and/or reporting about the visual, performing, or media arts.
BRIClab Residency
$2,500 Stipend
Deadline: May 8
BRIClab is a multi-disciplinary residency program created to advance opportunities for visual artists, performers, and media makers. The residency aims to build a stronger and more diverse artistic community in Brooklyn. BRIClab offers emerging to mid-career artists essential support and opportunities to share their work. The program's four tracks are Contemporary Art, Film + TV, Performing Arts, and Video Art. Each track offers unique resources and opportunities designed to meet the needs of varied artistic practices.
DCLA: Cultural Development Fund (CDF)
Deadline: May 9 at 5pm EST
The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is pleased to launch the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) Cultural Development Fund (CDF) grant application for New York City nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. CDF is DCLA’s competitive, peer-evaluated grant process that supports a broad, multidisciplinary group of diverse NYC-based nonprofit organizations for their arts and cultural services.
Triangle Residency
Deadline: May 11 at 11:59pm EST
Triangle offers spacious studios and a dynamic artistic community to support the development of new artwork. Triangle's founding concept and current programs de-emphasize professionalization and specific outcomes, instead allowing artists space and time to focus on their ideas and process. The Triangle residency focuses on building community. Residency gatherings and visits from curators occur several times a month as well as a seasonal open studio.
Velvet Park Visual Artist Residency
Deadline: May 12
Velvetpark Residency is a project based work-studio, open to LGBTQ+ writers and visual artists to complete a proposed project. For almost two decades Velvetpark has recognized queer people in the arts, academia and activism, by featuring stories on, by, or about these individuals in the pages of the print magazine and online. It is in the same spirit that our residency program has been launched and expanded to include imaginative and enterprising LGBT+ creators, who need space to support and cultivate their work.
Art in Odd Places (AiOP) 2023: DRESS
Deadline: May 14
Exhibition Dates: October 13 - 15
AiOP 2023: DRESS, curated by Gretchen Vitamvas, invites proposals for its annual outdoor public visual and performance art festival taking place on select blocks each day along 14th Street, Manhattan. Artists who are using dress as a medium, and interested in rethinking 14th street as a runway to present, walk, and pose may apply. Works may take the form of garments, textile, fashion design, costume, performance, sculpture and installation.
New York Public Library Dance Research Fellowship
$10,000 Stipend
Deadline: May 15
An icon and a radical artist of catalyzing force, Martha Graham transformed the landscape of American dance in her seven decades long career during which she created 181 unique works. The Jerome Robbins Dance Division, which houses the Martha Graham archive, invites applications from dance scholars and practitioners interested in exploring the legacy of Martha Graham and her choreography.
Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant
$15,000 - $50,000
Deadline: May 17
The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art in three categories—articles, books, and short-form writing. The grants support projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews for magazines and newspapers to in-depth scholarly studies. The program also supports art writing that engages criticism through interdisciplinary methods and experiments with literary styles.
Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
Robert Rauschenberg in front of his Vydock series photographed in Rauschenberg’s Laika Lane studio, Captiva, FL, 1995, Photo Credit: Ed Chappell, Copyright: Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
Up to $5,000
Deadline: May 19 at 5pm EST
This program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies to artists in financial need who are creating in the visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography. Only generative artists are eligible—artists creating their own, independent work, with recent and ongoing opportunities for the public to experience that work.
Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence
Deadline: May 22
The Studio Museum in Harlem recognition for its catalytic role in advancing the work of visual artists of African and Afro-Latinx descent. Every year, the Museum offers an 11-month residency for three local, national, or international artists working in any media. Individuals selected for the residency receive institutional guidance, professional development, research support, studio space, and a stipend. Artists also participate in Museum public programs and educational studio visits with community partners. The residency culminates with a group exhibition.
Request for Proposals:
Culinary Arts or Digital Media Programs for NYC Teens
Up to $750,000
Deadline: June 1
The Hollyhock Foundation supports high school students to identify and explore their interests as they imagine their future after graduation. The Hollyhock Foundation will consider multi-year grants of up to $750,000/year to fund culinary arts or digital media programs for teens. Grants will support staff, equipment, and facility costs for NYC-based programming delivered by organizations and entrepreneurs interested in providing inspiring teen programs in a new space.
NYSCA/NYFA Artists with Disabilities Grant
$1,000
Deadline: June 6 at 5pm EST
The NYSCA/NYFA Artists with Disabilities Grant program will distribute one-time cash grants of $1,000 to artists with a disability who have experienced financial hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis to cover art related expenses. The grant will be open to visual, media, music, performing, literary, and multidisciplinary artists who live in New York State.
Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Design
$50,000
Deadline: June 12
The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise support emerging to mid-career immigrant professionals who have demonstrated exceptional achievements early in their careers. Eligible categories include digital design, graphic design, product design, and social design. Applicants must be born outside the United States to non-American parents; under 38 years old; and have 5 years of professional experience in design and possess a strong track record of creative and high-caliber work.
The JGS Fellowship for Photography
Penelope Umbrico (NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Photography ’10); 6, 063, 750 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 8/26/09, 2007-09, C-Print
$7,000
Deadline: June 14 at 5pm EST
The JGS Fellowship for Photography is a $7,000 cash grant open to New York State photography artists living and working outside of New York City. The Fellowship is awarded to five artists working in traditional and experimental photography or any form in which photographic techniques are pivotal. The support for this funding is provided by The Joy of Giving Something (JGS).
CUE Art Foundation:
Open Call for solo exhibitions + curatorial projects
Deadline: June 30 at 11:59pm EST
CUE is a small nonprofit organization that aims to present new and exceptionally strong work by under-recognized and emerging artists based in the United States. CUE’s annual open call provides emerging and underrepresented artists and curators the opportunity and necessary resources to realize an exhibition at CUE’s storefront gallery space on West 25th Street in Manhattan, New York City.
Resources
citywide participatory budgeting process:
The people’s money
In 2022, Mayor Adams and the Civic Engagement Commission announced the launch of “The People's Money” — New York City's first-ever citywide participatory budgeting process. All New Yorkers age 11 and up, regardless of immigration status, can decide how to spend $5 million of the city's budget on projects to address local community needs in their borough and/or neighborhood.
You will be able to cast your vote for projects starting early May 10. Stay tuned for more information on how to vote, including online or in-person. Let's make sure Brooklyn creatives are involved!
NYSCA 2023 COVID Impact Survey Report
NYSCA’s 2023 COVID Impact Survey provides insight into the state of New York’s non-profit arts and culture recovery. While signs of improvement are indicated, the sector is still in active recovery mode and experiencing operational and programmatic paradigm shifts.
Americans for the Arts: Disability Justice Virtual Resources
The 2023 Disability Justice Virtual Resource series is part of an ongoing effort by Americans for the Arts (AFTA) and Mid Atlantic Arts to provide resources to support individuals and organizations in the mid-Atlantic region engaging in the essential work of accessibility and disability justice in their communities. The pre-recorded videos and live conversations focus on intersectionality, accountability, and budgeting through a disability justice lens.
Intersectionality & Disability Justice
Get Ready for the NYC Primaries in JUNE
A busy election season is about to start in NYC, with primaries this June. Find out what you need to know to make your voice heard! Every City Council seat is up for exlection due to redistricting. The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island will have elections for District Attorneys.
Key PRIMARY dates in 2023:
June 12: Deadline to request your absentee ballot (online or by mail)
June 17: Deadline to register to vote or to update your address, for the June primary
June 26: Deadline to request your absentee ballot in-person from a city Board of Elections office
June 27: Primary Day & deadline to return or postmark your absentee ballot
Learn more in this informative article from The City.
What We're Reading
Neelam Bohra & Wendy Lu. “As Presenters Cut Back on Streams, Some Disabled Arts Lovers Feel Left Out,” New York Times.
Read
Colleen Dilenschnieder. “What Do America’s Wealthiest Donors Consider Before Making a Gift Over One Million Dollars?” Know Your Own Bone.
Read
Richard Whiddington. “How Should NFTs Be Taxed? The IRS Is Asking the Public to Weigh In,” Artnet News.
Read
Zachary Whittenburg. “Raja Feather Kelly is ‘Delightfully Scared’ About the New Musical White Girl in Danger,” Dance Magazine. Raja Feather Kelly is a Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee.
Read
Stephi Wild. “The Neighbors Awarded $5k Local Arts Support Grant from Brooklyn Arts Council,” Broadway World. What Will the Neighbors Say? is a Local Arts Support grantee.
Read
Cover Image: Megumi Saruhashi, 2023 Brooklyn Arts Fund grantee. Photo by Hirofumi Tanaka, 2022.
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.