New ‘Art Works’ program will grant $3 million to emerging Philly artists and community arts groups

Forman Arts Initiative, a new organization aimed at supporting artists and nonprofit arts groups, has joined with the Philadelphia Foundation to launch Art Works, a $3 million grant program focusing on community-based organizations and emerging artists in the Philadelphia region, the foundation announced Thursday.

Art Works will work with Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and other underserved communities to administer the multiyear program, the first from the initiative, foundation officials said.

Under the program, four organizations will receive two-year, unrestricted grants of up to $200,000 per year. Four emerging artists working in the visual and performing arts will receive two-year grants of $10,000 per year.

“Our goal in creating the Forman Arts Initiative is to stimulate our region’s creative and arts communities through ongoing programming and advocacy,” Michael Forman said in a statement. “Through FAI’s first initiative, developed in partnership with the Philadelphia Foundation, we expect to invest in artists and arts organizations that actively work with communities to make greater Philadelphia a better place at a time when the region needs them most. When their work is further supported, the result for communities can be impactful — and we would like to offer our help in that process.”

Forman, an investment manager, and his wife, Jennifer Rice, cofounded the initiative.

Pedro Ramos, head of the foundation, said the organization was seeking “to create long-term partnerships with artists and arts organizations whose work reflects the region’s diversity.”

“Art can be the lens through which people view equity within the world,” Ramos said in a statement. “We hope that this program gives grantees an opportunity to develop works that help others challenge their own perspectives.”

Foundation officials said that organizations should be prepared to demonstrate how they are using the arts as an engine to transform their communities and create spaces for active civic participation.

Grantees will be selected by a nine-member committee composed of community advisers and the initiative, plus Philadelphia Foundation principals and staff. Local groups with budgets between $500,000 and $5 million, relatively small as arts groups go, are eligible to apply. They must demonstrate a track record of working with BIPOC and other underserved communities.

Individual applicants should be visual or performing artists with less than 10 years of professional experience. All applicants should be able to demonstrate a commitment to incorporating community perspectives into their work.

Applications are available at philafound.org/artworks. Submissions are due April 23.