Posted on December 10, 2007

Rockefeller Foundation Announces First NYC Cultural Innovation Fund Grants

The New York City-based Rockefeller Foundation has announced the first recipients of grants made through its $2.6 million New York City Cultural Innovation Fund.

Sixteen organizations in the city will receive two-year grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 for initiatives that demonstrate innovation, creative engagement, and cultural vitality, with initiatives falling into one or more of the following categories: programming and premieres of new work in the visual, performing, and media arts; creative engagement with the issues shaping New York City's future cultural and civic agenda; partnerships that bring cultural and community-based institutions together with universities and the private sector; and fresh approaches and solutions to expand cultural opportunities in the city.

The recipients include the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which will work with the Asia Society to produce Illuminating Islam, a ten-day arts festival highlighting the range and scope of global Muslim culture; the Museum of Chinese in America for The Chinese American Experience, an interactive exhibition that marks the debut of the museum's new facility in Chinatown; and the Architectural League of New York, which will use the funds to launch Urban Omnibus: A Broadband Channel for Architecture, Infrastructure, and Environment in New York City.

"The sixteen organizations selected to receive grants...embody the excitement, diversity, and dynamism of the city's creative wellspring," said Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin. "We're delighted that these creative pioneers — through their performances, festivals, community events and other visionary projects — will energize the cultural vitality of the city that has been the Rockefeller Foundation's home for nearly one hundred years."

For a complete list of the grantees and their projects, visit the Rockefeller Foundation Web site.