Kentucky Foundation for Women
/OVERVIEW: The Kentucky Foundation for Women prioritizes feminist artists and writers in Kentucky.
IP TAKE: This is a competitive, but accessible and approachable regional funder that provides funding, as well as residencies and retreats, for women artists in Kentucky. Those with a local or regional connection to their work will likely be the most successful.
PROFILE: Established in 1985, the Kentucky Foundation for Women was founded by poet, novelist, and playwright, Sallie Bingham. It seeks to “promote positive social change by supporting varied feminist expression in the arts.” Bingham also founded the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at Duke University which works to preserve “published and unpublished materials that reflect the public and private lives of women throughout history.” Even though Bingham is a writer and primarily interested in literature, the foundation makes grants to women artists in Kentucky across all artistic disciplines. It funds Kentucky artists through grantmaking programs, residencies and retreats.
Grants for Women and Girls, Visual Arts, Music, Dance, Theater, Film, and Writing
The Artist Enrichment grant program seeks to fund “opportunities for feminist artists and arts organizations to further their artistic development to create art for positive social change.” Funds can be used for artistic development, artist residencies, the exploration of new areas or techniques, or to build a body of work. Grants typically range from $1,000 to $7,000.
The Art Meets Activism grant “supports feminist artists and organizations in Kentucky to engage individuals and communities in artmaking that directly advances positive change.” These grants typically range from $1,500 to $5,000 although they can reach as high as $7,000 on occasion.
The foundation also offers One-time Grants that fall outside its regular grantmaking to focus on select topics. These are for limited duration and are usually non-repeating.
The foundation also offers retreats and residencies to support female artists and groups. The Retreat program funds six days free of cost at Hopscotch House, a renovated farmhouse on ten acres of land owned by the foundation. The Summer Residency program provides five grantees with a fully funded week at Hopscotch House and $1,000 artist fee.
Important Grant Details:
Grant amounts vary by program and award. In order to get a better idea of what the foundation looks for in its grantmaking, new grant seekers should look at its recent blog posts. New grantseekers can subscribe to the newsletter here and apply via the application portal here.
PEOPLE:
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