Funding Ambitious Community-Centric Visual Art Projects
Image Credit: Sunny Dayz Mural Festival, photo taken by Photographer, Steph Montelongo, 2021.
What are
Thrive Grants?
The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) is thrilled to be invited to participate in The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Regional Regranting Program to further support artists’ innovation throughout Oklahoma. This opportunity builds upon our existing dedication to support artist-led initiatives and our belief in the power of artists to create a positive impact in our communities. This new Thrive Grants program encourages artists to take risks and engage audiences in new ways. We believe artists throughout Oklahoma have the creativity and potential to push the boundaries of our state’s visual culture, and this fund will offer them the opportunity to thrive in ways not previously possible.
Thrive Grants will provide funding up to $10,000 for artist-led, collaborative projects, and programs from across the state of Oklahoma that are open and accessible to the public. The funded projects must be ambitious, impactful, and experimental with a central focus on the VISUAL ARTS. As COVID-19 is limiting in-person events, this public-facing program may also be accessed digitally via a live stream, digital meeting, website, or another virtually accessible platform. The grants will prioritize artist projects that create new collaborations, connections, and partnerships. This cross-disciplinary approach strengthens outcomes and fuels creativity.
In accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, the mission of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is the advancement of the visual arts. The Foundation manages an innovative and flexible grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy through creative and responsible licensing policies and extensive scholarly research for ongoing catalogue raisonné projects. To date, the Foundation has given over $200 million in cash grants to over 1,000 arts organizations in 49 states and abroad and has donated 52,786 works of art to 322 institutions worldwide.
The Regional Regranting Program was established in 2007 to recognize and support the movement of independently organized, public-facing, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes but that lies beyond the reach of traditional funding sources. The program is administered by non-profit visual art centers across the United States that work in partnership with the Foundation to fund artists’ experimental projects and collaborative undertakings.
The 32 regranting programs provide grants of up to $10,000 for the creation and presentation of new work. Programs are developed and facilitated by organizations in Alabama, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Knoxville, New Orleans, Newark, Oklahoma, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix & Tucson (AZ), Portland (OR), Portland (ME), Providence, Raleigh & Greensboro (NC), Saint Louis, San Francisco, San Juan (PR), Seattle, and Washington D.C.