As part of the nonprofit Sundance Institute's continued commitment to supporting artists from historically excluded communities, the Institute announced TODAY its latest grantees for both the Uprise Grant Fund and Arts Organization Grants. The Uprise Grant Fund supports BIPOC artists whose careers and creative development have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-eight U.S.-based artists of color have been selected for Uprise Grants that will enable them to sustain their creative practice, ensuring that these critical stories and voices are not erased. Unrestricted grants total $184,000, with individual amounts ranging up to $5,000 based on stated need. Eighty percent of Uprise artist grantees work in traditional film disciplines, and 20% work primarily in emerging media or theater disciplines. Recipients were selected via a robust review process by a culturally abundant group of external reviewers and panelists.
The Institute also announced $240,000 in Arts Organization Grants to 18 U.S.-based BIPOC-led arts organizations and collectives. Each of these organizations work in film, theater, or emerging media, and will receive a grant between $5,000 and $20,000, with levels determined based on the organization's demonstrated track record of impact within their priority communities, and the stated need and the operating budget of the organization. Funding will be used to strengthen the organizations themselves in their ongoing work and/or be directly regranted to artists. The selected organizations all applied following a field-wide nomination process by trusted and long-standing partners, including peer arts organizations, foundations, and Sundance Institute alumni artists.
"The mission of the Uprise Grant Fund is a direct manifestation of the values of the Outreach & Inclusion Program and Sundance Institute as a whole. Since the pandemic began, among our top priorities has been to move unrestricted resources into those communities of artists that have been so disproportionately harmed, in order to combat the erasure of these powerful voices from our culture," said Karim Ahmad, Sundance Institute Director of Outreach & Inclusion. "Our Arts Organizations Grant is similarly a commitment to economic justice in the arts by supporting these mighty BIPOC-led arts organizations whose continued existence and impact are deeply necessary to uplift and sustain those artists that are most marginalized in the field."
The funding of other organizations is a continuation of the organizational granting that began last year as part of Sundance Institute's Respond and Reimagine Plan, affirming the Institute's commitment and belief in the urgency of a strong, vibrant ecosystem of organizations dedicated to serving BIPOC artist communities.
The Uprise Grant Fund will continue next year supporting artist sustainability for BIPOC storytellers with the upcoming cycle opening applications in the spring.
