Artist Communities Alliance

About Artist Communities Alliance

Artist Communities Alliance centers its funding on artist residencies and the organizations that run them, pairing direct support for artists with grantmaking that helps residency programs operate. A clear example is the 2025 grant of $70,018 to Dancing in the Streets Inc in New York for a large-scale award, alongside $31,000 to Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and $31,000 to The Anderson Center. The foundation’s activity also reaches beyond single awards into field-building work through fellowships, regranting, and partnerships administered by ACA. That mix reflects a funder focused on the infrastructure around artistic practice as much as on individual creators. Its portfolio includes support for creative practice development, professional development, advocacy, and research and resources for artists. Through programs such as the Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund, the Artist Response Fund, and the 3Arts Residency Program, ACA connects artists to time-limited residency support, emergency relief, and fellowship-based opportunities. The recent grants list shows recurring support for residency sites across the country, suggesting a funding model that combines partner-administered programs with grants to residency organizations and artist-serving nonprofits.

What Artist Communities Alliance Funds

Residency support is the most visible thread in ACA’s grantmaking. In 2025, it gave $20,000 to Headlands Center for the Arts for a residency award and $19,000 to Art Omi for the same purpose. Another residency award went to Crosstown Arts for $18,000, showing support for host sites that provide time and space for artists. ACA also funds artist-facing fellowships and emergency assistance. The Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund offers up to three $30,000 fellowships each year for Rhode Island-based creators, while the Artist Response Fund provides $1,500 in emergency relief for artists in crisis during or within 12 months of an ACA member residency. Field capacity is another area of support. Through consortia and regranting initiatives, ACA channels funder resources to residency organizations and other nonprofit partners, and it administers partnerships such as the Diversity + Leadership Fellowship for emerging residency leaders of color and emerging residency leaders with disabilities.

How Artist Communities Alliance Gives