MAP Fund Grant Program

The MAP Fund's national grantmaking program for individual artists has been retired.

Historical Overview (1989-2024):
For over 35 years, it was one of the longest-running private funding sources for new performance works in the United States and territories, awarding more than $40 million to thousands of artists.

Geographic Scope

• Open to: Artists and organizations across the entire United States and territories
• National presence: Committed to welcoming applications from every state and region

Focus Areas

• New works of live performance
• Formal innovation in performance practices
• Projects that interrogate presumptive cultural norms and challenge entrenched ideologies
• Cross-cultural exploration
• Work centered on racial justice and cultural equity

Core Program Features

• Open submission policy: Welcome applications from artists and organizations across the US
• Peer-adjudicated: Panelists are artists and arts professionals who demonstrated excellence of craft, leadership, and generosity
• Focus on creative process: Application centers on the artist's personally written statement of purpose, biography, and work samples
• Process-oriented allowable costs: Residency costs, research and development expenses, workshop performances, artist travel, and commissioning fees
• Annual funding: Approximately $1 million distributed to approximately 40 projects per year

Funder Support (Historical)

• Primarily supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• Additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• NEA funding (terminated in May 2025)
• Support from The Rockefeller Foundation (at founding)

Eligibility

• Individual artists
• Performance-based organizations
• All applicants regardless of age, economic means, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities, race, sexual orientation or other identity elements

Organization Values

• Racial justice and rights of all persons to be free of harm and exclusion
• Radical inclusion: Welcoming of any individual regardless of identity
• Mutual respect among staff, applicants, grantees and stakeholders
• Care for individuals in all interactions
• Support for Indigenous artists and Indigenous artistic practices
• Commitment to resisting colonialism

Background

• Established: 1989 by The Rockefeller Foundation
• From 2001-2016: Fiscally sponsored affiliate of Creative Capital Foundation
• 2016: Transitioned to independent organization with own governing board
• Staff: 5 full-time, 2 part-time
• Member of ArtsPool Cooperative
• Subject of three external evaluations (1999, 2007, 2014) that confirmed MAP's critical role in the field

Contact

Location: New York, NY (office situated on Lenape island of Manhahtaan/Mannahatta)