Arts and Culture

Three interconnected strategies guide Mellon’s Arts and Culture grantmaking.  

Supporting visionary artists and practitioners and the participatory roles they play across institutions and communities 

Artists reveal our shared humanity and connect us all. We invest in visionary artists and arts leaders whose practices extend beyond their studios or workspaces to catalyze change in our world. We celebrate artist-driven, cross-sector collaborations and acknowledge the dimensional nature of an artist’s work and place in society. 

Supporting exceptional organizations and artists that have been historically under-resourced, including the creation, conservation, and preservation of their artwork, histories, collections, and traditions 

Mellon seeks to engender an understanding of broader histories, narratives, and aesthetic traditions through multi-year support of artists and communities historically subject to disinvestment. Grants seek to ensure the legacies of many instead of few.

Creating scaffolding for experiments with new economic paradigms and institutional models that center equity and justice and creative problem-solving in arts and culture  

Mellon seeds experiments that center and embolden artists to imagine new structures and organizational models that reflect their holistic approach to social change. Mellon provides support for projects that pilot new operating and funding models for individual artists and organizations that foster a more inclusive, nimble, and cooperative sector.

How to apply

In our Arts and Culture program, Mellon makes grants to institutions and organizations in support of communities and individual artists. Mellon does not make grants directly to individuals, although we do support regranting programs that benefit individuals. All grants result from invitations issued by Mellon to institutions with which staff have engaged in preliminary exchanges. While we are unable to consider uninvited proposals, qualifying organizations are welcome to submit inquiries via our Grants Portal.

Please do not send inquiries about possibilities for support to more than one Mellon grantmaking area. If you already have an account on Fluxx, please contact program staff directly.