We’ve been fortunate to receive two inaugural grants over the past month from exciting new foundations, both of whom are championing arts communities in innovative ways. These two cohorts of grantees provide crucial infrastructure to their arts communities, and we're honored to be counted alongside them and to be recognized for our work in supporting curatorial practice.
In its inaugural grantmaking cycle, the midwest-based Ruth Foundation for the Arts supported 78 arts organizations around the country with a total of $1.25 million in funding through its bequest from the late Ruth DeYoung Kohler II. Ruth Arts seeks to explore new possibilities in arts philanthropy that safeguard creativity and take a people-centric approach; the initial round of grants was determined through an artist-driven nomination process, where a group of artists were asked to propose organizations they felt deeply connected with their own processes and engagement with art. This partnership helps deepen our commitment to the Midwest region and enhance our operational strength. In addition to its grantmaking, Ruth Arts also plans to pilot several important partnerships in the coming years, including establishing an artist advisory committee, a Visiting Artists program for art schools, a fellowship program for artists, and research grants for cultural workers.
Teiger Foundation supports contemporary visual arts with a primary focus on curators. It honors the vision of founder David Teiger through their commitment to supporting experimentation and creativity in programs; widely varied, innovative curatorial research and partnerships; and new perspectives on community-building and positive structural change within the field of visual art. Their support of ICI goes toward our programming, in particular the Curatorial Intensive in Kampala, Uganda, 2022 Curatorial Assembly, and upcoming Curatorial Forum at EXPO Chicago. In their upcoming call for proposals, Teiger Foundation seeks to support small exhibition spaces, programming at smaller organizations, and individual curatorial research projects.
