Thriving Communities Grants: Arts, Culture & Historic Preservation

The Thriving Communities Grants support arts and culture projects that promote diversity, enhance public engagement, and foster historic preservation in New York City. Targeting underrepresented artists and smaller-budget organizations, these grants aim to build capacity and improve access to arts education. Eligible projects include collaborations that integrate arts into public schools and initiatives that strengthen advocacy for the arts. The program prioritizes funding for projects in non-Manhattan areas and communities of color.

We make grants to groups that protect and create affordable housing, promote equity in the arts, improve civic engagement, and protect our environment. We support agencies working on these issues at the neighborhood level, as well as government and nonprofit institutions developing strategies. We also support efforts to improve the functioning of nonprofits and government.
Focus Area: Arts and Culture
Program goals:

• Promote diversity in the arts, and expand access for artists and audiences.
• Strengthen the management of arts groups serving communities in the five boroughs.
• Develop talented young historically underrepresented artists and improve arts education in the public schools.
• Strengthen arts advocacy.

Support preservation in low-income communities, communities of color, and the boroughs outside of Manhattan, and restore historic places that represent significant and overlooked aspects of city history.
Increase access to high-quality, sequential arts education in the public schools.
Help arts organizations improve or expand programming taking place during the school day and within the public school system.
Grants are made to projects and programs that:

• Help arts organizations attract broader audiences and provide opportunities for artists from diverse backgrounds.

Build the capacity of smaller-budget arts groups: priority is given to non-Manhattan and culturally explicit groups, and to groups with annual budgets of $250,000 to $1 million.Help cultural groups integrate arts into the curriculum of under-resourced public schools, especially those working outside of Manhattan, and begin programs in schools that lack arts.
Help arts organizations improve or expand programming taking place during the school day and within the public school system.
Advance arts and arts education advocacy on critical policy and funding issues.
Support the professional development of historically underrepresented young artists pre- and post-college through grants to arts organizations that identify, train, and support young people. (An RFP is issued for this grant program annually.).
Foster collaborations between preservation organizations and community groups representing a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and identities.
Incorporate preservation efforts into neighborhood revitalization initiatives and increase the preservation expertise of community organizations.
Promote the adaptive use of historic buildings for social, cultural, and civic purposes.
Help groups develop alternative sources of financial support for capital, maintenance, and repairs.

Eligibility

Most of our competitive grants go to public charities, or groups sponsored by one. Grantees (or fiscal agents) should have a board of directors with at least four members, and no more than one paid board member. We fund programs that promote change in policy or systems, build capacity of organizations, and expand and/or improve direct service Arts service and umbrella organizations are eligible for grants to help small groups.

Ineligibility

We do not generally make grants:To organizations with annual operating budgets below $250,000.For particular presentations, such as plays, exhibits, films/videos, and festivals.For more than one project at a time from an organization.For maintenance or capital projects. (However, The Trust has established a modest fund with the New York Landmarks Conservancy for emergency structural repairs for nonprofits that own and operate landmark buildings in New York City.)We do not make grants to individuals, or for general operating support, capital and building campaigns, endowments, equipment, deficit financing, or religious purposes.