Immerse Yourself in Brooklyn’s Cultural Heritage with BAC’s New Blog Series, Consider Culture
A Conversation with Clarivel Ruiz: Artist, Educator & Founder of Dominicans Love Haitians
by Attia Taylor
Meet Clarivel Ruiz—the inspiring artist, educator, and activist behind the Dominicans Love Haitians Movement, an arts-based nonprofit breaking down barriers and promoting tolerance, belonging, and dignity for all. During their interview, Clarivel and Attia discuss the origin of Dominicans Love Haitians, its roots in Brooklyn, and how their film festival supports Dominicans and Haitians in NYC and beyond.
Learn more about Clarivel's visionary work and the upcoming Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival happening October 9-12.
Clarivel Ruiz, Artist, Educator and Founder of Dominicans Love Haitians Movement, 2024 BAC Grantee & CHAG Member. Photo: Michael Foster, 2010.
2025 Grants Cycle Now Open
Treya Lam, 2024 BAC Grantee. Photo: Jess X Snow.
Brooklyn Arts Fund (BAF) & the Charlene Victor & Ella J. Weiss Cultural Entrepreneur Fund are supported by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the NYC Council, and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.
Creative Equations Fund (CEF) is supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and NYSCA.
Local Arts Support (LAS) is supported by the Statewide Community Regrants (SCR) Program of NYSCA with the support of the Office of the New York State Governor, and the New York State Legislature.
Grants Deadline: November 8, 2024 at 11:59pm
Apply now for awards through our Brooklyn Arts Fund, Charlene Victor & Ella J. Weiss Cultural Entrepreneur Fund, Creative Equations Fund, Local Arts Support, and Social Innovation Fellowship programs. Grants range from $2,500 - $10,000, depending on the program. Fellows receive a participation stipend of $1,500. Additional information, guidelines, and applications can be found here. Please review the guidelines for each opportunity thoroughly to ensure you are eligible.
Please note: BAC will be hiring Teaching Artists for SU-CASA programming in Brooklyn Older Adult Centers starting in November 2024. Please look out for more details in the coming weeks.
Become a BAC Grant Panelist
Panelist Deadline: October 21, 2024 at 11:59pm
Want to become involved with BAC's grantmaking efforts? BAC uses a panel selection process to review proposals and determine awards. We welcome you to apply to become a panelist for our 2025 grants cycle.
Grants Info Sessions
U Street Music Fest presented by Urbano Street, 2024 BAC Grantee. Photo by Oscar from Uno Star.
Join us for an upcoming Grants Info Session where we’ll be giving tips on how to write a successful proposal and win a BAC Grant. Time will also be dedicated to Q&A. Don't miss this opportunity to clarify any questions before the November 8 deadline. We highly recommend that you attend.
October 8 | 5 - 6:30pm | Youth Design Center
October 15 | 5 - 6:30pm | Brooklyn Public Library - Sunset Park Branch
October 23 | 5 - 6:30pm | Bklyn Combine
Co-hosted by Brooklyn FAM
*Can’t make it? We’ve also made recorded sessions available. — Watch On-Demand
Watch the Recording:
Fiscal Sponsorship Match-Making Event
Circus Amok, 2024 BAC Grantee. Photo: John Bell.
Couldn’t make our Fiscal Sponsorship Match-Making event? Watch the recording now!
Featuring representatives from The Field and Bailey's Cafe, this session was designed for artists, creatives, and non-profit leaders looking to understand what fiscal sponsorship is and how it works. Hear from experts and explore which fiscal sponsorship options might be the best fit for your project or organization.
BAC Grantee & Partner Events
The Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival (NOU)
Clarivel Ruiz, founder of the Dominicans Love Haitians Movement, is a BAC Cultural Heritage Advisory Group member.
October 9-12 | St. Francis College, Brooklyn
Dominicans Love Haitians Movement hosts its second annual Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji (We Heart We Synergy) Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival in downtown Brooklyn, October 9-12, on the campus of St. Francis College. Partnering for the second year with St. Francis College and its Haitian Studies Association, the festival continues to center Dominicans Love Haitians Movement’s enduring mission of promoting solidarity and awareness between the Haitian and Dominican communities, both at home and within the diaspora.
Program Highlights:
October 9 at 5:30pm - Opening Festival Art Exhibit: “The Right to Have Rights”
October 9 at 6:30pm - Screening of “Mountains”
October 11 at 6pm - Special screening of “Parsley,” with guest speaker Edwidge Danticat
Niceli Portugal: Walking Feelings
October 12 | 12-6pm | Til Death
Niceli Portugal is a 2024 BAC Grantee.
Walking Feelings is a visual art project that brings communities together to create participatory murals inspired by Monet's Water Lilies. This project is centered in the artist's journey of creating art rather than just the final product. Since the summer of 2021, Walking Feelings has created over 20 murals, including works with rural schools in Colombia and immigrants in transition in Athens. Walking Feelings encourages communities to explore their emotions and thoughts, fostering a deeper connection with themselves and their community. Join in Walking Feelings and be part of a transformative experience where art meets healing, and communities come together to create something beautiful.
The Six foot platform
The Six Foot Platform is presented by Dumbo BID in partnership with BAC.
October 12 & 19 | Saturdays, 12-6pm | Washington St. & Water St., Brooklyn
The Six Foot Platform, presented by Dumbo BID in partnership with BAC, is an experimental art and performance program inviting Brooklyn-based artists to activate a 6’x6’ platform at the intersection of Washington and Water Streets.
October 12 - Sarah E. Brook: ReSounding
October 19 - Eiko Nishina: Bark Tarot [Rescheduled from September 14]
CAZORLA + SALEME: “Magical Encounters at Adams St. Library”
CAZORLA + SALEME is a 2024 BAC Grantee.
October 12 & 19 | 11am - 1pm | Brooklyn Public Library - 9 Adams St., Brooklyn
Free bilingual (English/Spanish) art workshops for all ages led by the local artist duo CAZORLA + SALEME. Explore the enchanted colors of Brooklyn Bridge Park in autumn while learning about caring for the planet and ourselves. Let’s cultivate a love for nature together! All materials and snacks are included. Registration is highly recommended.
October 12 - Clay Modeling & Painting (Part 2)
October 19 - Create your own Pumpkin October 26 Workshop Exhibition & Celebration
SAVE THE DATE! Music & Dance Workshop with TAMBACUM
October 17 | 6-7:30pm | Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, 1561 Bedford Ave, 2nd Floor
Join Us for a Special Afro-Colombian Music and Dance Workshop with TAMBACUM! Experience the vibrant rhythms of Colombia's northern Pacific coast for the first time in North America. Renowned Afro-Colombian traditional music group TAMBACUM is hosting a one-of-a-kind dance workshop, bringing the powerful beats of Tamborito directly to Brooklyn.
This workshop is a unique chance to immerse yourself in the sounds and movements of the African diaspora, as TAMBACUM tours the U.S. until October 18. In collaboration with Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, Brooklyn Arts Council, Afro-Latino Festival of New York, Afrolatin@ Project, Rueda de Oro and Liber Arte we invite you to learn from the rich traditions passed down through generations of Afro-Colombian cultural heritage practitioners. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with the vibrant Afro-Latino community and celebrate the power of music and dance!
More information and RSVP link coming soon.
Brooklyn FAM 2024
Brooklyn FAM is a 2024 BAC Grantee. Graphic Design: Casey Grenier & Laila Guzman Griffin.
October 20 | 11am-5pm | Prospect Park Boathouse
Don’t miss Brooklyn FAM's 4th annual flagship festival! Join folks from across the borough for an incredible celebration of Latinx and Afro-Latinx voices: Haitian, Afro-Dominican, Colombian, Afro-Colombian, Garifuna, Afro-Panamanian, Mexican, and Guatemalan. This FREE, family-friendly event embraces Brooklyn FAM's year-long theme of home, identity, and belonging across puppet theater, music, dance, dance workshops, spoken word, craft stations, a collaborative public art project, children's author visits, and a panel discussion. Culturally aligned food from Brooklyn eateries will be available for purchase, including vegan and kosher options.
The Neurodivergent New Play Series: “Whitehare”
The Neurodivergent New Play Series is a 2024 BAC Grantee.
October 20 | 2pm | A.R.T/New York South Oxford Space
The Neurodivergent New Play Series continues on October 20th with a reading of "Whitehare" - written by Adin Lenahan & directed by Em Hausmann. Presented the 3rd Sunday of each month at 2pm, the Neurodivergent New Play Series is dedicated to promoting the work of rising neurodivergent writers who identify as having autism, ADHD, OCD, dyslexia, Tourette syndrome, etc.
Lena Bloch & Feathery: “A World Without Fear”
Lena Bloch & Feathery is a 2024 BAC Grantee.
October 23 | 7:30pm | Scholes Street Studio
Feathery Quartet is bringing together Eastern and Western impressions and cultural influences in this world, creating poems in sound where East and West embrace. The suite of original compositions, linked together by the theme of longing for peace for humanity, for living on this planet without fear of the Other, of aggression, of war, of loss of loved ones.
Events, Workshops, & Professional Development
Brooklyn Pop
Open Now | Wednesdays-Sundays, 12-6pm | Industry City, 220 36th St, Building 2
Brooklyn Pop, created, written & directed by Mr. Kaves, explores Brooklyn’s profound influence on popular culture. Housed in an 11,000 square foot space, visitors will journey through a narrative that is at once a play, a movie & an art installation, with every element meticulously crafted to immerse the audience in the spirit of Brooklyn. Through powerful storytelling & innovative visual displays, participants explore the borough’s role as a cultural epicenter that has shaped music, art, film & beyond.
The Field: Fiscal Sponsorship for Social Justice Arts Practitioners Application Info Session
October 8 | 6pm | Virtual
The Field’s Fiscal Sponsorship for Social Justice Arts Practitioners Program is a subsidized fiscal sponsorship membership with special benefits for individual artists and art collectives or organizations who identify as members of a historically underrepresented or marginalized group and whose creative work puts into practice and furthers values of social justice, equity, and inclusion in their communities.
Triumph of the Human Spirit Day
October 10 | 10:30am - 1pm | Manhattan's Foley Square
join Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo and Dr. Lorenzo Pace for Triumph of the Human Spirit Day, marking the 24th anniversary of Dr. Pace’s monumental public artwork commissioned through the NYC Percent for Art program.Triumph of the Human Spirit is the world’s largest site-specific installation dedicated to the discourse of African enslavement and human freedom.
This event is FREE and open to the public. RSVP is encouraged but not required: rsvp@culture.nyc.gov.
Writing for Your Community: How to Ensure Your Messaging is Effective
October 15 | 10-11:30am | Virtual
Join Katie Test Davis, Founder of Forthright Advising, and Niki Juhasz, Director of Forthright Advising, and learn how to simplify your messaging and why simplifying your messaging is not only kind but more inclusive. You'll learn the questions and tips to help you easily simplify your messaging, how you can use the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test (one of the most popular ways to test if your messaging is easy to understand), and how to break down readability scores and what they mean.
Thrive in Place Fall Workshop
October 17 | 6pm | Virtual
A guide to affordable housing options for NYC creatives, jointly presented three times per year by ArtBuilt and the Entertainment Community fund. Learn about rent stabilization, city housing lotteries, affordable home-ownership opportunities, and how to qualify for these programs. (Note: These workshops require an account registration with the Entertainment Community Fund.)
52 Studio Arts x Bailey’s Cafe: Work Play
Open House: October 18 | Bailey’s Cafe
Join 52 Studio Arts for a new season of discounted music classes and performances at Bailey Cafe in Brooklyn. Register online today for beginner classes in violin, cello, guitar, and/or piano. Group classes are currently discounted to $35 per session. Instruments are provided on-site. Want to learn more? 52 Studio Arts is hosting a FREE Open House on October 18 at Bailey’s Cafe.
BRIC JazzFest 10th Anniversary
October 17-19 | BRIC House
Set across two stages and three nights at BRIC House in Downtown Brooklyn, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of discovering new sounds, pushing boundaries, and redefining what jazz is. With performances from icons like Reggie Workman and Terri Lyne Carringon to the ever-expanding artistry of Brandee Younger and Makaya McCraven, and so many more, experience a world of jazz right here in Brooklyn.
DxD call for proposals: Corpus, Bodies of Data
Data Through Design (DxD) is a 2023 BAC Grantee.
Deadline: October 21 | Stipend: $900
DxD presents work in a wide range of media and formats such as digital, analog, physical, performance, sound works, walks, installations, creative coding, participatory mapping, drawings, etc. Artists are expected to reference or use at least one NYC Open Data dataset in their project. Other data, including data derived from novel and experimental collection systems, are welcome (in conjunction with the use of NYC Open Data data). We’re interested in participatory data collection; in radical and cognitive mapping; in data that is represented or experienced through time, sound, and other senses.
NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program for Visual and Multidisciplinary Artists 2025
Image: 2024 IAP "In/Between" exhibition, Image Credit: Santiago Felipe
Deadline: October 21
Are you an immigrant artist working in the Visual or Multidisciplinary Arts? Do you live in NYC or within commuting distance to NYC? If yes, consider joining NYFA's growing immigrant artist community and apply to be part of the Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. It's provided free of charge to accepted participants. Many of the mentors are immigrant artists themselves and understand the challenges of sustaining one’s art practice while navigating different cultural perspectives in the art world.
The Field: Get Going with Grants
October 29 | 6pm | Virtual
Many artists feel ill-equipped when it comes to writing a grant proposal or tackling a complicated application. And no matter how skilled you are with language, communicating through descriptions and budgets to funders is not an easy or straightforward task. It takes time, organization, and finesse! Join The Field's Deputy Director Shawn René Graham for tips and tools on what artists need to present a clear, polished grant application and some common elements you should have on hand and ready to go year-round.
How to run your creative business like a machine
November 21 | 1pm | Virtual
Usually, most of us go into business to solve a problem or fill a need. We never anticipated we’d also have to be our own accountant, bookkeeper, human resources, insurance specialist, and personal assistant too! This workshop will help you set up your business to run like a machine. We’ll go deep on topics around taxes, business structure, bank accounts, etc. You know, the fun stuff!
“to hold a we”
Now - December 22 | BRIC House Gallery & Project Room
Honoring the many interconnected relationships that facilitate making and being, to hold a we features newly commissioned and recent work by fourteen emerging and early-career disabled artists and collectives from the BRIClab residency program. Across drawing, text, sculpture, video, photography, installation, and performance, the artists continually turn to memory, intimacy, grief, and the archive as both a source of inspiration and a means of connection.
APAP|NYC conference
January 10-14, 2025 | New York Hilton Midtown
APAP|NYC is the world's premier gathering of the performing arts presenting, booking, and touring industry and the annual members conference of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals—including many dance-focused sessions and showcases. Join their community of more than 3,000 professionals for five days of performance showcases, networking, learning, discovery, community building, and the largest EXPO hall in the performing arts.
Funding Opportunities
The Laundromat Project 2025 Create Change Residency
Deadline: October 10
The Artists in Residence (AiRs) Program selects emerging or mid-career artists, activists, and cultural organizers for a year-long residency focused on community engagement and project-based learning. AiRs develop and execute detailed art projects that address relevant issues and engage the community. AiRs receive an honorarium of $18,000, a $10,000 production budget, and access to in-depth resources, including specialized materials, and advanced professional networks.
Art Omni Residencies
Deadline: October 15
Art Omi has five distinct residency programs (Architecture, Artists, Dance, Music, and Writers). Through a competitive jury process, residents are chosen, invited to attend at no cost to themselves, except travel. Abundant, catered meals and comfortable, beautiful lodgings are provided in a scenic location in Columbia County, New York.
NYC Winter Film Awards International Film Festival
Deadline: October 18, 2024
New York City's Winter Film Festival (WFF) is a volunteer-run and operated celebration of the diversity of local and international film-making. Our mission is to promote diversity, bridge the opportunity divide and provide a platform for under-represented artists and a variety of genres, viewpoints and approaches. Works of all genres, forms, and lengths are considered.
2025 MIXMASTER Juried Show
Opens: October 21
Deadline: November 18
MIXMASTER is an annual juried exhibition that seeks to discover and recognize the talents of the Mattatuck Museum’s artist members working in New England and the Tri-State region. All artists who are over the age of 18 and residents of New England, New York, and New Jersey are welcome to apply. Selected works will be featured in a group show at the Mattatuck Museum in January, and the winner of the show will receive $500 plus a solo exhibition in the fall. Please note that membership is required to apply.
Squeaky Wheel’s Workspace Residency
Deadline: October 25
The program supports artists and researchers working on media arts projects. The short-term residency is open to applicants from New York and across the U.S. who are seeking resources, time, and support for ongoing projects or the creation of new work.
Rbhu Engineering: Rbhu Gives Back Grants
Deadline: October 28
At Rbhu, we believe that art plays a key role in lifting the human spirit; it ignites our imagination with possibilities, helps us process and express our feelings, and brings people together for a collective cause. The Rbhu Gives Back Grants offer $12,000 worth of free engineering services to artists in need. Any art piece that needs engineering services is eligible.
apexart 2024–25 Open Call
Deadline: October 31
apexart's Open Calls are opportunities for artists, curators, and other professionals to turn their curatorial idea into an apexart exhibition, combined with inviting apexart’s international community to collectively determine our programming through an online jury process. Winning proposals become part of apexart’s next exhibition season and receive funding and staff support.
Call for Submissions: 4th Annual Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale
Deadline: October 31
The organizers and collaborators for the 4th Annual Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale invite scholars, researchers, artists, organizations, institutions, and community members to submit proposals for the upcoming Symposium. Proposal topics may include any of the listed topics or engage this year’s theme in other creative ways.
MONO NO AWARE: Call for submissions
Deadline: October 31
MONO NO AWARE exhibits the work of film makers and artists of the moving image who incorporate s8mm, 16mm, 35mm and altered light projections as part of an expanded cinema performance, installation or sculpture. This open call is for performance installation and sculpture which incorporates the moving image on film. It is FREE to submit your work for consideration.
Mesa Refuge Residency
Deadline: November 1
This residency supports writers, activists, and artists whose ideas are “on the edge,” taking on the pressing issues of our time including (but not limited to): nature, environment and climate crisis; economic, racial and gender equity; social justice and restorative justice; immigration; health care access; housing; and more.
2025–2026 A.I.R. FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: November 3 at 11:59pm ET
The A.I.R. Fellowship Program has awarded more than 120 artists the opportunity to have their first solo exhibition in New York City with the support of the A.I.R. community. The program encourages artistic experimentation and rigor by providing a space where feminist historical legacy and intergenerational dialogue are at the forefront. Essential to this process are a series of professional development workshops, close collaboration with an A.I.R. artist-mentor, and scheduled studio visits throughout the year, including one with a selection panelist.
VIA Art Fund: Artist Production Grant
LOI Deadline: November 4
The grant awards individual artists, nonprofit organizations, and institutions $25K-$100K in support of new artistic commissions that take place outside museum or gallery walls, within the public realm, or in nontraditional exhibition environments. Project must have a confirmed exhibition venue. Currently accepting letters of inquiry (LOIs).
Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) Grants
Deadline: November 8
The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) offers funding to support community-centered arts and culture projects and to recognize outstanding local artists. Applications are accepted from individual artists, artist collectives, and non-profit arts and community organizations for projects in a wide variety of disciplines, including dance, film/video/media, folk arts, interdisciplinary arts, literary arts, multi-disciplinary projects, music, opera, theater, visual arts/crafts, and others.
NYFA: Queens Arts Fund (QAF)
Deadline: November 19
Queens Arts Fund (QAF) offers project-based grants to Queens-based artists, artist collectives, and small non-profit organizations to support the local production of artwork and cultural programs that highlight, engage, and bolster the diverse communities of the Queens borough.
KUNSTRAUM EXHIBITION PROGRAM SPRING 2025
Deadline: December 31
Emerging and mid-career artists are invited to submit their work for consideration in KUNSTRAUM’s group exhibition in the spring, curated by our 2025-2026 Curator-in-Residence. KUNSTRAUM is a community for artists by artists, aiming to redefine the way artists and curators collaborate. Their program seeks to explore the relationships between artists and curators by opening our gallery space to those interested in exploring unconventional, engaging ideas and taking risks.
NYSCA: fy25 Capital Projects Fund
Deadline: January 14, 2025
Small and Midsized Capital Improvement Grants for Arts and Culture: Funds projects initiated by nonprofit arts and culture organizations of any size that prioritize accessibility, artistry, cultural development, sustainability, health and safety, and structural and historical improvements.
Large Capital Improvement Grants for Arts and Culture: Supports arts and cultural nonprofits across the state that are undertaking impactful, large-scale capital improvements.
Capital Design Grants for Arts and Culture: Supports the development of mid-stage and advanced design documents for arts and culture nonprofits with operating budgets of $10 million or less across the state that are planning eligible capital improvements and are currently in the early stages of design.
Resources
Dance/USA Surveys National Dance Ecosystem
Photo: Bob Perkoski. Courtesy of Dance/USA
Dance/USA is conducting a survey of the national dance ecosystem. The survey is open to those living and/or working in the U.S. dance field—dance artists, administrators, presenters, technical teams, educators, archivists, and more. The purpose of the survey is to learn about the individuals and organizations, beyond the Dance/USA member community, who make up the U.S. dance sector and understand how Dance/USA can serve and support them.
The survey should only take 5-10 minutes to complete. Five survey respondents will be randomly selected to win a $100 American Express gift card.
What We're Reading
“Brooklyn Museum at 200 Celebrates Beauty and Art’s Hidden History”
by Holland Cotter | New York Times
“Immersive exhibit captures ‘Dream of Brooklyn’ and its global influence on popular culture”
by Adam Daly | Brooklyn Paper
“Nathaniel Mary Quinn Reflects on His Favorite Films at the Metrograph”
by Erin Ikeuchi | Hypebeast
“Did Art History Predict the Rise of Moo Deng?”
by Isabella Segalovich | Hyperallergic
“‘A temple of liberation’: behind the unwavering rise of the National Black Theatre”
by David Smith | The Guardian
Cover Image: “Más que un Pétalo” performance by Salomé Egas, 2024 BAC Grantee. Photo: Walter Wlodarczyk, 2024.
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.