This column is written and sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.
Recognizing the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on arts and culture organizations throughout the region, the Greater Washington Community Foundation and The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation have joined with seven other funders to launch the $1 million Arts Forward Fund to support arts and culture organizations in the D.C. region as they make essential shifts needed to continue their work during the COVID-19 pandemic and respond to the nationwide movement for racial justice.
Arts Forward Fund will make grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 to support short-term capacity-building, training, and innovation.
Arts Forward Fund will prioritize organizations that serve Black, Indigenous and other communities of color, and organizations with limited access to philanthropic capital. It will also prioritize requests that address longstanding racial inequities in organizations, in the arts and culture field, and in the broader community.
Arts and culture organizations with annual revenue of less than $10 million in their most recently completed fiscal year are eligible to apply, provided they serve the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, and Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax in Virginia.
Informational webinars will take place on August 14 and 20, in advance of the deadline for application. The application deadline is August 27, and grant decisions will be made on or before September 21. More details and the call for applications are available here.
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