AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

from Franklin Furnace

First open call for grant applications under the Art and Social Justice initiative

Application deadline: November 1, 2015

www.sdrubin.org

The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation is pleased to announce the first open call for grants under the Foundation's new Art and Social Justice initiative for organizations serving the five boroughs of New York City. Grant applications for 2016 are now being accepted through November 1, 2015 on the newly launched Foundation website. Applicants will be notified of the Foundation's decision in January 2016.

Founded in 1995, the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation has a long history of supporting access to art and culture as well as social justice organizations. Launched in early 2015, the Foundation's Art and Social Justice initiative further focuses its commitment to art and culture with the belief that art is a cornerstone of cohesive, resilient and engaged communities. Through Art and Social Justice, the Foundation will provide crucial funding and programmatic support to organizations promoting art as a mechanism for positive social change with an emphasis on the Foundation's headquarters, New York City.

The Foundation's grantmaking embraces organizations that catalyze collective action, promote equality, contribute to advocacy and policy change, and develop capacity for greater civic engagement and public discourse. In addition to supporting organizations in the arts, the Foundation is also interested in supporting nonprofit organizations outside the arts whose programs seek to engage communities through cultural activities.

Funding specifically encourages organizational and institutional engagement with pressing social and cultural issues. Potential grantees should provide one or more of the following to audiences in New York city: arts education, public art, art in community and service centers, artistic activism, community-based museums, expanded access to art, art in the service of social justice or change, and the promotion of under-recognized artistic practice.

Past grants have ranged from 2,500 to 100,000 USD, and the Foundation invites applications for funding on a variety of scales. Further information, including application instructions and application forms, is available here.

In tandem with its grants program, the Foundation organizes exhibitions and programming under its Art and Social Justice initiative at The 8th Floor, an exhibition and programming space founded by Shelley and Donald Rubin located at 17 West 17th Street, New York City. Through grants, exhibitions, and events, Art and Social Justice supports ethical artistic practice, facilitates dialogue, encourages diversity, promotes education, and nurtures and empowers communities across New York City.

About The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation

The Foundation believes in art as a cornerstone of cohesive, resilient communities and greater participation in civic life. In its mission to make art available to the broader public, in particular to underserved communities, the Foundation provides direct support to, and facilitates partnerships between, cultural organizations and advocates of social justice across the public and private sectors. Through grantmaking, the Foundation supports cross-disciplinary work connecting art with social justice via experimental collaborations, as well as extending cultural resources to organizations and areas of New York City in need.

Media contacts

For further information, please contact:

Andy Ptaschinski or Newlin Tillotson, Blue Medium Inc.

T +1 212 675 1800 / andy@bluemedium.com / newlin@bluemedium.com

George Bolster, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation

T +1 646 738 3971 / gbolster@sdrubin.org