Howard Gilman Foundation

Creative Unrestricted

Administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Who can apply: Applicants must be Manhattan-based individual artists, artist collectives, or small to mid-sized arts organizations with annual operating budgets under $250,000. Work must be in the performing arts, including dance, music, theater, or multidisciplinary performance. Applicants working exclusively in visual arts, media/new media, or literary arts are not eligible.

Deadline: Applications open September 8, 2026; deadline November 12, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. EST.

Creative Engagement (Manhattan Arts Grants)

Administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Who can apply: Applicants must be Manhattan-based individual artists, collectives, or nonprofit organizations working across artistic disciplines. Proposed public-facing projects must take place in Manhattan between January and December 2027. Funding is intended for applicants that cannot apply directly to DCLA, NYSCA, or other listed funders; projects must be specific, public-facing, and generally involve new or meaningfully reinterpreted work.

Deadline: Applications open September 8, 2026; deadline November 12, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. EST.

GO Queens Grant

Administered by Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts

Who can apply: Applicants must be Queens-based performing arts organizations, or multidisciplinary organizations with performing arts central to their mission; have a Queens mailing address; have existed and been active for at least one year; have an annual operating budget of $250,000 or less; have nonprofit status or an eligible fiscal sponsor; and demonstrate community impact in Queens and New York City. Fiscal sponsors may be NYC-based, but the applying organization must be Queens-based. First-time applicants must attend or watch an information session before applying.

Deadline: Applications open September 14, 2026. The general 2027 grants deadline is December 1, 2026 at 5:00 PM. Award notification is scheduled for March 2027. Grants are paid as $10,000 after decisions and $10,000 in January 2028.

General Operating Support (Annual Grantee Roster)

Who can apply: Current grantee status (existing roster) or organizations advanced through the New Applicant process; organization meets foundation eligibility and reporting requirements.

Deadline: The Foundation conducts three funding cycles per calendar year for grants to current grantees. Specific cycle dates announced via the portal/dates page.

New Applicant General Operating Support (Interest Form)

Who can apply: Organizations must be a 501(c)(3) or fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3). 501(c)(3)s must be incorporated in New York State and based in New York City. Fiscally sponsored organizations must be based in New York City. Applicants must have three years of operating budgets over $250,000, be able to provide an audit, CPA review report, and/or 990, and cannot be current recipients of Gilman-funded regranting programs. The foundation is not currently adding visual arts museums/galleries, botanical gardens/community gardens/parks/zoos, tuition-based schools or pre-professional training, in-school or after-school arts education, productions/projects by youth or teens, literary arts or film/television organizations, or social service programming in hospitals, senior centers, prisons, or shelters.

Deadline: Interest Forms accepted once per calendar year. 2026 cycle: March 31-May 20 interest forms; June 30 advance/decline notifications; July 29 applications due for advancing organizations; August-October proposal meetings and grant review; early December funding decisions.