Mellon welcomes inquiries from organizations whose work aligns with our current strategies

Theaster Gates, shown here, wants local Memphian hero Tom Lee to be remembered as “a human who saw other human lives as equally valuable, if not more valuable, than his own.”

A Black man identified as the artist Theaster Gates wearing a white shirt and dark pants sits on a stool covered with a tarp

An “Anti-Monument” Explores History by Asking for Dialogue

This Rocky Mountain soul brings a sense of peace and love and harmony and respect for all people everywhere—and I think that’s what they’re going to experience.

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance is Rocky Mountain Region hub for global cultural education and dance representing the African diaspora. Photo courtesy of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance

A group of female Black ballet dancers practices in a dance studio

Expanding Access to Dance at Historic Denver Site

What happens when you try something outside of what is supposed to be business or nonprofit work? I think crossing those imaginary boundaries can lead to something generative.

​​​​​​​​​For the sake of the neighborhood, the W.O.W. Project is blurring the lines between storefront and arts center in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Performer Tuxedo Masc stands outside Wing on Wo.

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The Hard-Won Beauty of Staying Put 

How does Wikipedia work?

How do you look at the perspectives of other people who … are not represented in the current article? That’s what this project is really about.

All images from Wikipedia / Creative Commons 

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Look It Up: Humanities Students are Filling Wikipedia’s Content Gaps

Acclaimed filmmakers, singers, writers and others who have made their mark on American culture were awarded the prestigious National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals.

Media AP

Mellon Foundation Receives National Humanities Medal 

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Building Borderland Resources with Each Other in Mind

Incorporating innovative teaching methods to build new bridges between a traditional liberal arts education and the career-oriented focus that students and parents are expecting of higher ed. 

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Op-Ed | The humanities are vital to a CUNY education

This is an opportunity for libraries to start curating a local collection of items, outside of book materials, based on the local needs of the community.

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While books still top the list of borrowed items, most libraries have expanded their offerings to include everything from musical instruments, baking pans, and science kits.

Ten Unexpected Things to Check Out at Public Libraries

Archiving goes personal: Preservation of personal media collections is a growing need as older formats deteriorate and AV equipment becomes harder to find, to own, and to operate. Public libraries support patrons in digitizing a range of home movies, photos, and family collections.  

A brown wooden desk and bookshelf containing various items such as books, records, and vintage posters

From Appalachia to the American Southwest, local libraries are saving personal histories one public memory lab at a time.

At the Library, in the Lab, Saving History

The Mellon Foundation recently launched its Frontera Culture Fund, a $25 million investment to support the work of artists and cultural leaders living and working along the U.S.-Mexico border region. 

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Mellon Foundation Counters Dark Border Narratives with New Fund

In the summer of 2020, CUNY received a historic gift of $10 million from the Mellon Foundation to drive change across 25 colleges and schools to advance social and racial justice.

Media Forbes

CUNY’s Stand For Race And Ethnic Studies In Challenging Times

An Atlanta, Georgia–based nonprofit is launching a program to assist artists in various disciplines who were hit hard by Hurricanes Helene and Milton this fall.

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U.S. Artists Hard-Hit by Hurricanes Can Now Apply for Emergency Grants

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The Ford Foundation and the Mellon Foundation announced the 2024 recipients of the Disability Futures Fellowship, an initiative dedicated to amplifying disabled creative practitioners.

Mellon and Flamboyan Foundations Announce the 2024 Letras Boricuas Fellows 

Next Jazz Legacy was launched in 2021 with major funding from the Mellon Foundation which has now confirmed support for another three-year cycle.

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Mellon Foundation Awards $1.25m To New Music USA's Next Jazz Legacy

Mellon makes grants to support communities through the power of the arts and humanities

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Ripple Effect: Four visionaries explore the risks we take in order to connect

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The arts and humanities are evolving tools that allow us to better see and hear each other. Four visionaries reflect on risks they took and how we can connect with others.

Ripple Effect

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Artists as Catalysts

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Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

Ripple Effect

Mellon makes grants to support communities through the power of the arts and humanities

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An “Anti-Monument” Explores History by Asking for Dialogue