Creation & Development Fund Grant

The Creation & Development Fund, administered by the National Performance Network, supports the creation and mobility of artistic works that promote racial and cultural justice. It fosters collaboration between artists and communities through financial support, enabling artists to develop meaningful relationships and present their work. The fund emphasizes equity, access, and the importance of public engagement, ensuring that diverse voices are represented while addressing systemic injustices in the arts.

The Creation & Development Fund supports the creation, development and mobility of new artistic work that advances racial and cultural justice and results in live experiential exchange between artists and community.
The fund provides a framework for relationships to develop, over time, among diverse artists, arts organizations, and communities. Through the investment of commissioning funds from arts organizations and NPN direct subsidies, each project is eligible for multi-level support.
Vision & Purpose
The Creation Fund supports artists creating a new work in its earliest stages, fostering relationships between artists, presenters, and communities. It provides a minimum of $15,000 in unrestricted funding to support the process and labor that goes into creating a new artistic work. Projects are eligible to receive multi-level support through co- commissioners and direct NPN subsidies.
The Creation Fund:
Fosters Equity: Promotes racial and cultural justice within the arts.Supports Artist Development: Provides comprehensive support for the entire creative process.Expands Access: Increases access to commissioning opportunities, ensures equitable funding distribution, and addresses geographic disparities.Cultivates Meaningful Partnerships: Encourages long-term relationships and fosters new, authentic collaborations between artists, communities, and commissioners.Strengthens Organizations: Builds the capacity of organizations to develop artistic work.Maximizes Impact: Leverages additional funding, presentation opportunities, and national recognition to amplify the impact of supported projects
Phase II - Development Fund
Additional Development Funds are earmarked for every Creation Fund Project. NPN invites artists who have received Creation Fund support to apply for development support through the Development Fund.
Phase III—Mobility
Once a work is developed, co-commissioners support artists through a public engagement of the new work, focused on an in-person, virtual, or hybrid exchange between artists and communities. NPN offers access to, but does not guarantee, Artist Engagement Funds for NPN Partners to support artist fees for Phase III. NPN remains flexible with the definition of public engagement.

Eligibility

Who can access the Creation Fund?NPN National Partners collaborate with an artist or artist company and at least one other commissioner to apply for a Creation Fund grant.Artist Eligibility:Artists/companies may be based in the United States and its territories, or Mexico.Commissioner Eligibility:NPN National Partners may only participate as the Lead Commissioner on one project per Creation Fund round, however they can participate as a Co- commissioner on any number of projects.Although projects need to be led by an NPN National Partner, other co- commissioners can come from outside of the Network.Co-commissioners can be any type of presenting or exhibiting organization, such as a theater, arts center, museum, gallery, community organization, producing artist company, university department, etc.There is no limit to the number of Co-commissioners - projects may have an unlimited number of additional Co-commissioners.If the artist is a company member or staff member of one of the Co- commissioning organizations, a minimum of three co-commissioners (instead of two) must be identified.Project RequirementsArtistic projects must be in the early stages of creation, to be presented in time frame specified on website. We recognize timelines may shift.Projects must authentically advance racial and/or cultural justice.Projects must culminate in an in-person, virtual, or hybrid exchange between the Creation Fund artist and each co-commissioner’s community.In alignment with fostering an arts sector rooted in justice, NPN is committed to ensuring spaces, structures, and processes free of racism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, misogyny, classism, or other bias. Our expectation is that all artists and co-commissioners receiving NPN support will honor this ethic.Artists and co-commissioners must credit NPN and co-commissioners for the life of the work in all marketing and promotional materials.Commissioner RequirementsOne NPN National Partner must serve as the Lead Commissioner on each Creation Fund project.A minimum of two Commissioners (one Lead Commissioner + one Co- commissioner) must be confirmed at the time of application.Each co-commissioner must have the capacity to meet the co-commissioner requirements:Pay a co-commissioning fee of $2,000–$3,000 to NPN by date on website. (Cash Match)Present the work, through a paid public engagement, within three years.Artist fees for this presentation are the full responsibility of the Co- commissioner and should be paid to the artist in addition to co- commissioning fees.Use of FundsFunds are unrestricted and can be used for a variety of needs, such as: artist, company member, and collaborator fees, basic life needs such as housing and food, research and development, materials, technical support, and/or anything else an artist may need to create a work.

Ineligibility

Funds cannot be used to present the work once it is complete. Presentation fees are the responsibility of the co-commissioners.Artists/companies are ineligible if they have received a Creation Fund after May 1, 2022 and/or have another Creation Fund project in progress.Co-commissioners cannot be individuals.Co-commissioner matches cannot be in-kind,