Spaces that inspire creative interactions and environments for art technology and its communities have an opportunity for funding through the MetLife Foundation Innovative Spaces program. Projects funded by this grantmaker focus on diverse areas including interchanges between technology, artistic expression and performance in the visual arts, audiovisual, performance-based arts, publishing and print media. Criteria for the Foundation's awards highlight art technology projects that invite collaboration among artists and community members and share ideas along with best practices via a web-based inventory of projects and programs. Grantees are additionally sought that have a commitment to inspiring and informing community stakeholders on the positive impact and role of the arts and art spaces in communities.
MetLife Foundation Innovative Spaces
237 West 35th Street, Suite 1202
New York, NY 10001
(646) 731 3275
lincnet.net/open-call-entries-2010-metlife-foundation-innovative-space-awards
Created by the founder of Norton Utilities software, the Foundation's grantmaking focuses chiefly on the provision of funds in the contemporary visual arts through its Monthly Grants and its innovative Curator's Grant awards. The Foundation, for example, contributed funding in 2009 to the 3LD Art and Technology Center immersive video exhibit for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Given the Foundation's origins in computer technology, it is noteworthy that the Foundation keeps a low profile on its grant activities and does not maintain a website.
The Peter Norton Family Foundation
225 Arizona, Ste. 350
Santa Monica, CA 90401-1244
(310) 576-7700
dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/ffindershow.cgi?id=NORT161
With funding for arts and cultural organizations diminishing under pressures due to economic distress, the Ford Foundation continues to announce new grant programs for assisting the creative work of artists during difficult economic times. The Ford Foundation seeks projects that exhibit fresh thinking and offer inspiration for innovative people and organizations. Exemplary projects focus on incubating and producing creative work. For example, the Centre for Media and Alternative Communication (India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) received a Foundation grant for the purposes of archiving, exhibiting and disseminating information gathered on the legacy of women artists during the 78 RPM era. Additionally, the grant supported innovation and development of interfaces linking artistic performance, cultural pluralism and technology.
Ford Foundation
320 East 43rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10017 USA
(212) 573-5000
http://www.fordfound.org/grants