Announcing the 2019 Grantees!

Announcing the 2019 Grantees!
06/18/2019 MAPstaff

New York, NY — Tuesday, June 18, 2019

In celebration of its 30th anniversary of grantmaking, the MAP Fund is thrilled to present the 2019 MAP grantees: 42 original, live performance projects will receive funding, totaling $1.3 million in direct support for development and production.

This exceptional group of grantees is grappling with the most difficult and joyous aspects of creating and living in the United States today. At a time of deep division, the grantees seek to interrogate marginalizing structures in the United States while asserting new possibilities for thriving interdependence.

Each approach is distinctive. Some will employ performance practices like processions as a strategy for transforming spaces with racist histories, such as contentious borders, waterways, or landmarks. Others will consider collective and individual rebuilding by generating shared rituals, dances, and songs in celebration of life. From exploring the mental health of firefighters in Detroit, a city with the highest vacancy and arson rates in the country, to surfacing larger psychological ramifications of border politics for immigrants, each grantee asks: What does meaningful care for people and the environment look like?

The MAP Fund Executive Director, Moira Brennan, says: “As a whole, this extraordinarily diverse group of artists sends a resounding message of determination and hope. We are honored to support their efforts and can’t wait to watch their visions unfold.”  

In the spirit of radical collaboration, this year the MAP Fund moved to a highly decentralized grant selection process carried out by a cohort of 59 peer reviewers from across the United States. “We are experimenting with designing a review structure that distributes the power to decide where arts and culture funding dollars go much more widely. Rather than limit the voting to a small panelist cohort, many more artists and arts administrators at every career level have the opportunity to experience proposals and weigh in,” notes Lauren Slone, MAP’s Director of Grants & Research.

Please join us in celebrating the following projects:

More information about the full pool of MAP applications and how it compares with data from the funded cohort is available in the 2019 Applicant Pool Summary and the new summary Addendum. Through current and future data tracking, MAP is excited to continue brainstorming about what it means to create a robust national program that acknowledges and addresses gaps in access.


The MAP Fund is primarily supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support comes from the Jerome Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. MAP invests in artistic production as the critical foundation of imagining — and ultimately creating — a more equitable and vibrant society.

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