We are writing with news regarding MAP’s national Grant Program.
The MAP Fund is supported by foundations, government agencies, and individuals. Following its founding by The Rockefeller Foundation in the 1980s, the MAP Fund’s deepest partnerships have been with Doris Duke Foundation and Mellon Foundation. Since 2008, Doris Duke Foundation has been the primary funder in MAP, investing $21.8 million; since 2010, Mellon Foundation has invested $6.8 million in MAP. Because of these generous pillars of support, MAP has maintained a national grantmaking program for artists creating radical, bold, and experimental performance work. Together we have promoted an incredible legacy of artists and ideas that has enriched our collective cultural life for decades.
Doris Duke Foundation and Mellon Foundation are concluding their funding for regranting through MAP. As a result, after 35 years, MAP is retiring its national grant program and shifting focus to providing holistic coaching and peer gatherings to artists through the Scaffolding for Practicing Artists (SPA) program. MAP’s final grantee cohort was announced in August 2024. There will be no changes to the services provided to our current cohort of grantees and SPA participants.
Since 1989, MAP Fund has awarded nearly $40 million to artist grantees, supporting more than 2,500 individual artists and ensembles through 1,614 funded projects. We are so proud of MAP’s impact over the last four decades, and in awe of the endless talent and commitment from grantees, applicants, reviewers, partners, and staff. Our recent grant cycle received a record 2,378 requests for support, emphasizing artists’ need for flexible funding to create new work. We grieve the loss of MAP’s national grantmaking, and the critical support our open call grants provided to artists at every stage of their careers. As the national funding landscape shifts, the performance arts ecosystem is facing cuts across the board, and we are one of several regranting organizations navigating this change.
MAP will continue to support artists via our Scaffolding for Practicing Artists (SPA) program, providing artists with one-on-one coaching sessions and peer artist gatherings to help them thoughtfully address their artistic identities, goals, and challenges. In the face of mounting economic, ecological, and political upheaval, SPA creates the conditions for artists to devise solutions tailored to their specific values, practices, and ambitions. We are working to expand SPA’s services, partnering with arts organizations to provide SPA as a resource for fellows, residents, and grantees in their respective programs.
We will continue to share updates on MAP’s next steps. Thank you to all the mentors, team members, and supporters who have made MAP’s legacy what it is today; and thank you to Doris Duke Foundation and Mellon Foundation for the important work their funding activated for so many years. Above all, we thank and honor the artists MAP has had the joy of supporting for 35 years.
To the community, we welcome your thoughts via this feedback survey. You can also read our official press release here.
With heart and thanks,
David Blasher
MAP Fund Executive Director
Staff:
Kamyar Atabai, Director of Development
Ron Ragin, Director of Programs
Kim Savarino, Senior Development Manager
Maya Quetzali Gonzalez, Grants Manager
Sarah Raven, Operations Manager
Hannah Rubenstein, Communications Assistant
Board of Directors:
Meital Waibsnaider, President
Craig Peterson, Treasurer
Kim Chan, Secretary
Dejha Carrington
Adriana Gallego
Sixto Wagan
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
