Creative Capital Expands Prestigious Award; Kicks Off 20th Anniversary

In recognition of its 20th anniversary, the renowned arts philanthropy Creative Capital is pleased to announce that it will be moving to an annual cycle of awards and retreats from its previous, more irregular cycle. This phenomenal milestone will allow the organization to provide steady, consistent support for artists, whenever they need it most. Awardees will each continue to receive $50,000 in project funding, supplemented by an additional $50,000 in career development services, for a total value of $100,000.

For two decades, Creative Capital has helped to make possible some of the most powerful and enduring works of art produced in the United States. The Creative Capital Award has provided not only monetary assistance, but a wide-ranging and holistic program to help artists of all disciplines develop sustainable practices-a long-term investment in the culture, the power of art, and the importance of dialogue and exploration. And as the needs of those artists continue to evolve, with changing artistic practices and economic realities, Creative Capital will change to meet them.

This year's artist retreat marked the beginning of the organization's 20th anniversary celebrations, and took place on June 13 - 16 at Bard College in Annandale-On-Hudson, NY. Bringing together cultural leaders, book editors, museum curators, art gallerists, theater and film producers, and more to provide important networking and collaboration-building opportunities for Creative Capital Awardees, the retreat continued to expand the nationwide artistic community that Creative Capital endeavors to build and sustain.

The new award cycle is a natural extension of Creative Capital's mission to support artists who explore and push boundaries. An annual award cycle will allow prospective awardees more clarity and flexibility in the application process, and ensure that Creative Capital support is available for cutting-edge projects when that assistance is most critical.

In recognition of the increasingly blurred boundaries between genres, the awards will also continue the new practice, begun in the 2018 award cycle, of accepting all applications without regard to discipline, and engaging a multidisciplinary panel of esteemed practitioners and experts from a wide range of fields to select awardees.

"Annual awards, open to projects of all disciplines, will ensure that we're accessible to artists when they need us most," says Suzy Delvalle, President and Executive Director of Creative Capital. "The new award cycle reflects both our mission to amplify the full spectrum of the country's artistic voices, and our commitment to growing and strengthening Creative Capital itself."

Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has supported 561 projects representing 700 artists with over $45 million in funding; professional development opportunities; legal, financial, and other consulting; artist retreats and gatherings; and more, with the aim of fostering and developing artistic exchange and a thriving cultural commons across the United States.

Over the past two decades, Creative Capital has supported the realization of some of the most powerful and innovative films, visual art, performances, and literature to be produced in the United States. The twelve classes of Creative Capital Awardees, dating back to the year 2000, include Janine Antoni , Edgar Arceneaux, Sanford Biggers, Nick Cave, Rachel Chavkin, Mel Chin, Julia Christensen, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Ramona S. Diaz, Chris Doyle, Faye Driscoll, Yance Ford, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Theaster Gates, Jeffrey Gibson, Ken Gonzalez-Day, Barbara Hammer, Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, Vijay Iyer, Miranda July, Lisa Kron, Suzanne Lacy, Young Jean Lee, Lynn Hershmann Leeson, Simone Leigh, Ralph Lemon, Taylor Mac, Eileen Myles, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Maggie Nelson, Narcissister, Lorraine O'Grady, Postcommodity, Alex Rivera, Penny Lane, Jae Rhim Lee, Daniel Bernard Romain, Paul Rucker, Dread Scott, Wu Tsang, Basil Twist, Reggie Watts, and many, many more.

Image: From Wu Tsang's A Day in the Life of Bliss. Courtesy of Creative Capital.