Art for Justice Fund
Funding Amount
$100,000 - $7,500,000
Deadline
Rolling / Open
Grant Type
Foundation
Deadline history & next window
- Cycle
- One-time opportunity
- Tracked since
- April 2026
Source: the cycle recorded on this listing. Confirm dates with the funder.
Overview
An innovative fund launched in 2017 that uses proceeds from artwork sales to address mass incarceration and criminal justice reform in the United States.
Background: Established with a $100 million donation from philanthropist Agnes Gund, the Art for Justice Fund is a partnership between the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The fund was announced at the Museum of Modern Art and has generated significant interest from donors and collectors.
Focus Areas:
- Criminal justice reform
- Reducing jail and prison populations
- Strengthening education and employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals
- Humanizing people affected by the criminal justice system
- Advocacy efforts to reform the criminal justice system
Geographic Scope: United States, with funding programs in several target states
Program Duration: Projected five-year lifespan
Funding Mechanism: Uses artwork sales from donor collections to fund grants
First Grant Round: November 2017 announcement of $22 million awarded to 30 innovative programs, with awards ranging from $100,000 to $7.5 million
Support Provided by RPA:
- Operational support throughout the program's lifespan
- Fiscal sponsorship
- Creation of publications and programs
Key Partners:
- Ford Foundation
- Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
- Agnes Gund (Founder)
- Dorothy Lichtenstein (Supporter - $100,000 contribution)
What Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc actually gave
Source: IRS Form 990, 2024
- Grants in 2024
- 1,186
- Total given
- $292.78M
- Median grant
- $100K
- Range
- $5,024–$9.21M
- By dollars: New York 22%, District of Columbia 15%, California 15%. Top recipient cities: Washington, DC; New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA.
- <1% of grants with a stated purpose were for general or operating support.
- 45% of recipients were new grantees, not repeat recipients.
Example grants
Invest in Our Land LLC · Dover, DE
Agriculture & food, civil rights, social action & advocacy, community improvement &…
$9.21M
Omega Institute · Rhinebeck, NY
Education, human services
$6.5M
Church World Service Inc · New York, NY
Agriculture & food, civil rights, social action & advocacy, human services, religion
$5.05M
International Rescue Committee Inc · New York, NY
Human services, science & technology
$4.85M
World Resources Institute · Washington, DC
Social science, environment, science & technology, environment, science & technology,…
$4.32M
Focus Areas & Funding Uses
Fields of Work
- Criminal justice
- Released prisoners
- Workforce development
- Social justice
- Nonprofits
- Foundation
Categories
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