Posted on October 16, 2009

Rockefeller Foundation Awards $2.7 Million to New York City Arts Organizations

The Rockefeller Foundation has announced grants totaling $2.7 million through its New York City Cultural Innovation Fund to eighteen New York City-based arts organizations.

Launched in 2007, the fund awards two-year grants of between $50,000 and $250,000 to support groundbreaking initiatives that enrich New York City's cultural life and help ensure the continued economic strength and diversity of the city's creative sector. The fund's advisors include Museum of Arts & Design curator Lowery Stokes Sims, Institute for State Effectiveness director of innovation David Thorpe, and Z + Partners founder Andrew Zolli.

This year's recipients include the Alliance for the Arts, which will use the funds to develop open-source Web applications for the New York City cultural community; BRIC Arts and Media, to inaugurate a creative laboratory and residency linking the visual, media, and performing arts; New York City Ballet, to commission new ballets for a set designed by architect Santiago Calatrava; and Teatro Círculo, to grow Latino audiences by training micro-entrepreneurs to become sales agents for cultural events.

"The Rockefeller Foundation is pleased to continue our support of art and creativity right here in our hometown of New York City," said Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin. "In today's economy, our artists and communities need support to continue to build an innovative creative sector that provokes us to react, question, and learn."

For a complete list of 2009 New York City Cultural Innovation Fund recipients, visit the Rockefeller Foundation Web site.