What Foundation for Contemporary Arts does

Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) institution founded in 1963 by Jasper Johns and John Cage to provide financial support and recognition to contemporary artists working in experimental disciplines. The organization originally emerged from a 1962 fundraising effort by Johns, Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and others to support Merce Cunningham's dance company, and was structured on the principle that visual artists could underwrite performing artists. Today FCA operates from a single office in New York City (820 Greenwich Street) with a small staff and serves innovative artists across dance, music/sound, performance art/theater, poetry, and visual arts.

FCA's core offerings are grant programs rather than products: Grants to Artists (unrestricted $45,000 awards by anonymous peer nomination), Emergency Grants (rolling $500–$3,000 awards via Submittable for urgent opportunities), Creative Research Grants (by-invitation $10,000 grants for exploration/development), and the Ellsworth Kelly Award (a $45,000 by-invitation grant supporting a solo museum exhibition). The foundation also operates a Works for Sale e-commerce marketplace of over 1,000 donated artworks, with proceeds flowing back into grant programs. Since inception FCA has awarded more than $31.5 million through 8,000+ grants, including ~$2.5 million distributed in 2025 across 492-plus recipient artists.

FCA's business model is charitable rather than commercial: revenue derives from individual donations, foundation grants (Jerome Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, Margo Leavin Estate, Amphion, Avery, Copland, Cowles, Mertz Gilmore, Goldsmith, Sarofim/Brown, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and a prior MacKenzie Scott gift), special events (e.g., 60th Anniversary Gala), and Works for Sale proceeds. Distribution is hybrid — by-nomination, by-application, and by-invitation — and selection is peer-driven through anonymous nominators and multidisciplinary panels. The organization has no parent company, no subsidiaries, no venture or private equity backing, and is governed independently as a 501(c)(3).

Name

Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Legal name

Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Website

https://foundationforcontemporaryarts.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts is a New York-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1963 that awards unrestricted grants, emergency funding, research grants, and the Ellsworth Kelly Award to experimental contemporary artists in dance, music/sound, performance art/theater, poetry, and visual arts, while also selling donated artworks to fund its programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts Grants & Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs (BPAGAHAH), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Artist grant funding
• Contemporary arts grants
• Emergency arts funding
• Nonprofit arts foundation
• Artist financial support

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: Financial contributions from individuals and foundations significantly enhance FCA's ability to support innovative work in the arts. FCA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization; donations are tax-deductible.
2. Works for Sale: Since its founding in 1963, over 1,000 visual artists have donated works to FCA for exhibition and sale. Proceeds from the sale of these works benefit the Foundation's grant programs for individual artists.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Foundation for Contemporary Arts is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts foundation that provides financial grants and recognition awards to individual contemporary artists working in dance, music/sound, performance art/theater, poetry, and visual arts. The foundation administers multiple grant programs — unrestricted Grants to Artists ($45,000), Emergency Grants ($500–$3,000), Creative Research Grants ($10,000), and the Ellsworth Kelly Award ($45,000) — and operates a Works for Sale program that sells donated artworks to fund its grantmaking.

Product overview

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that operates as a grants-giving institution rather than a technology company. Its core offerings consist of multiple grant programs: Grants to Artists (unrestricted $45,000 awards by nomination), Emergency Grants (urgent $500-$3,000 project-based funding), Creative Research Grants ($10,000 for artistic exploration), and the Ellsworth Kelly Award ($45,000 for museum exhibitions). Additionally, FCA operates a Works for Sale marketplace where donated artworks are sold to support grant programs. The organization has awarded over $31.5 million to artists through more than 8,000 grants since 1963.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grants to Artists Unrestricted $45,000 grants awarded by confidential peer nomination to innovative artists working in dance, music/sound, performance art/theater, poetry, and visual arts. Awarded to 23-24 artists annually.
• Emergency Grants Urgent funding ranging from $500 to $3,000 for visual and performing artists and poets with sudden, unanticipated opportunities or unexpected expenses for projects close to completion. Applications accepted year-round through Submittable on a rolling basis and reviewed monthly. For artists living and working in the United States.
• Creative Research Grants $10,000 grants supporting artistic exploration and development of experimental artists for activities including research, collaboration, material exploration, and travel. Awarded by invitation to artists who received Emergency Grants in the prior year.
• Ellsworth Kelly Award $45,000 annual award to create a solo exhibition opportunity for a contemporary visual artist at a U.S. art museum or university/college art gallery. Awarded annually to one regional institution by invitation, alternating between regions east and west of the Missouri River.
• Works for Sale Collection of donated artworks from over 1,000 visual artists available for purchase through FCA's online store. Proceeds from sales support FCA's grant programs. Available mediums include paintings, mixed media, works on paper, sculptures, photography, prints, posters, and video.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $31.5 million awarded to artists since 1963 through more than 8,000 grants
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Artist Relief CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2020FCA joined a coalition of national arts grantmakers including Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, MAP Fund, YoungArts, and United States Artists to form Artist Relief, an emergency initiative offering financial and informational resources to artists. From April 2020 through June 23, 2021, Artist Relief distributed $24.3 million in emergency grants of $5,000 each to artists.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Creative Capital: Provides unrestricted grants and career support to innovative artists across multiple disciplines. Closely mirrors FCA's model of supporting individual experimental artists through project-based funding.
• United States Artists: Awards fellowships to US-based artists across disciplines including dance, music, and visual arts. Directly comparable peer with similar unrestricted grantmaking model and individual artist focus.
• MAP Fund: Supports live performance and daring contemporary work through project-based grants to individual artists and ensembles. Overlaps directly with FCA's performing arts grantmaking, particularly in dance and music/sound.
• Artadia: Awards unrestricted grants to visual artists in select US cities. Direct peer in the visual arts grantmaking space with a similar artist-centric, non-project-restricted funding model.
• Joan Mitchell Foundation: Provides grants and fellowships to individual visual artists and sculptors, including the Joan Mitchell Painting & Sculpture Grants. Strong peer in individual artist support with legacy endowment structure similar to FCA's endowed programs.
• Jerome Foundation: Funds experimental artists in dance, music, theater, and visual arts, with a focus on early-career creators. Directly comparable peer; also an active financial partner of FCA, supporting the Cancellation Funds program.
• New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA): Provides grants, fiscal sponsorship, and resources to individual artists across disciplines in New York State. Direct peer in individual artist grantmaking with overlapping funding streams and audience.
• National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts): Identifies and supports emerging artists ages 15-38 across disciplines through grants, residencies, and awards. Peer in artist-development grantmaking and coalition partner through the Artist Relief initiative during COVID.
• Herb Alpert Award in the Arts: Annual unrestricted awards to mid-career artists working in dance, music, theater, visual arts, and film. Closely mirrors FCA's unrestricted $45,000 Grants to Artists in scope, structure, and artist profile.

Broad incumbents

• The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: The largest US private foundation supporting the arts, with broad funding across arts and culture, higher education, and humanities. Functions as a broader incumbent funder whose grants shape the ecosystem in which FCA operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Foundation-for-Contemporary-Arts/276311952399670
• Instagraminstagram.com/foundationforcontemporaryarts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Foundation for Contemporary Arts