Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
ActiveArts, Culture & HumanitiesFunds Individuals
About Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation concentrates its giving on arts and cultural organizations in New York, with substantial, targeted gifts that support artist services and community arts education. Major support goes to artist-focused infrastructure (notably medical and general operating support for artists) and to neighborhood cultural centers serving Hispanic/Latinx communities. The foundation makes a small number of large grants rather than many small awards, indicating a preference for deep investments in a few mission-aligned organizations.
Focus Areas
Artist emergency and medical support / general operating support for artists (e.g., NYFA programs)Community cultural centers serving Hispanic/Latinx communities (Clemente Soto Vélez)Neighborhood arts education and community programming in New York City
Who They Fund
individual artists (including dancers and choreographers)dance organizations and rehearsal-space providersBlack and Indigenous communities and cultural institutionsarts publishers and small arts organizationscommunity arts centers and cultural complexes
About Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
A defining part of Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s grantmaking is its direct support for artists in financial crisis. Through NYFA, the foundation has made repeated seven-figure awards for medical expense support and emergency aid, alongside a separate stream for dancer emergency grants. That artist-relief work sits next to broader support for socially engaged arts organizations and community-based cultural institutions. The foundation’s recent grants show a clear pattern of concentrated investments rather than a wide scatter of small awards. NYFA received multiple large grants across 2023 and 2025, including support tied to medical expenses for artists and emergency grant activity. Another major recipient is Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center Inc., which received general operating support in both 2024 and 2025. Those awards point to a funder that backs artist infrastructure, emergency response, and organizations embedded in cultural communities. Its portfolio also includes support for artists’ access to rehearsal space, archival research, and exhibition-related activity. The foundation funds both organizations and programs, and it has a stated philanthropic program for small to mid-size arts and socially engaged organizations working toward equity, sustainability, and experimental practice.
What Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Funds
Artist emergency support is a central theme. In 2025, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation gave $1,008,000 to NYFA for general operating support tied to medical expenses for artists, and in 2023 it gave $327,000 to NYFA for Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants. The foundation also backs neighborhood arts and cultural infrastructure. It awarded $750,000 in 2025 to Clemente Solo Velez Cultural and Educational Center Inc for general operating support, and had already granted $400,000 to the same center in 2024. Another area is artist services and working conditions. Movement Research received $70,000 in 2023 for free and subsidized rehearsal space for dancers and choreographers. Lower Manhattan Cultural Center also received $70,000 in 2023 for general operations in support of the River to River festivals. These grants show support for both artist-facing services and public-facing arts programming.
How Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Gives
Typical grant size is modest relative to the largest awards, with a p25 of $5,000, median of $10,000, and p75 of $40,000. The recent-gift record also includes repeated larger operating and program awards, suggesting a small number of deeper commitments alongside many smaller grants. Recipients recur across years: NYFA appears in both 2023 and 2025, and Clemente Soto Vélez appears in 2024 and 2025. The foundation is a regular funder, not a DAF, and it funds individuals as well as organizations. Several grant lines indicate operating support, emergency support, fiscal sponsorship, and board- or council-directed awards.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$4.5M
Total Assets
$521.7M
Total Revenue
$40.3M
Total Expenses
$16.2M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $5K and $40K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$40K
Geographic Reach
National29 states funded
About 56% of grants go to recipients in NY.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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