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

“El Portal del Yunque: Presence and Lichen” by Ivelisse Jiménez is part of the NATURA exhibition placed along the Science and Conservation Trail of El Portal visitor center in the El Yunque National Forest. The artwork brings lichen to enormous scale using acrylic sheeting and paint.

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Natural Selections

Kootéeyaa Deiyí Totem Pole Project 

Two totem poles dot the shoreline and point visitors to Kootéeyaa Deiyí, the Totem Pole Trail, in Juneau, Alaska.

Gif of an intricately painted totem pole in red and green set in front of a harbor with four cruise ships anchored in it

Explore Kootéeyaa Deiyí, the growing totem trail on Alaska’s waterfront

We are able to collectively get all this history together and make context out of it, but we rely on our community for its history.

In centering voices that have often been sidelined and silenced, we challenge the status quo.

The Legacy of Black Life on the North Shore

Father and Son Banquet at the Emerson YMCA, circa 1917. Photo: courtesy of Helen Cromer Cooper

A gathering of African American men and boys seated at a formal dinner in the early 20th century

The Nation’s First Municipal Reparations Program, Grounded in Black History

A low rectangular building with a window sits in front of a deep blue painted wall with a door and security camera on it

Building Borderland Resources with Each Other in Mind

Creativity and Cultures in the Borderlands

Illustration: Dror Cohen for Mellon Foundation

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Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander led a discussion with guests whose mission-driven work connects us to the Borderlands.

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The Mellon Foundation announced the Frontera Culture Fund, a $25 million commitment to support the work of artists and cultural leaders in the U.S.- Mexico border region and tribal communities.  

Mellon Announces the Frontera Culture Fund

“Red Flag/Bandera Roja,” 2013, by Veronica Duarte. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

An extra long Mexican flag hanging from a holder on a white wall inside of a gallery space

A Moveable Feast That’s Transforming Boundaries 

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. 

Media InsidePhilanthropy (1)

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.

Media artnet

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

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. 

Media amNY

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

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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Photo: Camila Falquez for Mellon Foundation 

An aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Borderlands Cultures

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

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

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" 

What are the cultural, creative, and historical narratives found in the US-Mexico border region?

Borderlands: Places of Radical Imagination

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