Creative Research Grants

Overview

In 2024, FCA launched Creative Research Grants to fund the artistic exploration and development of experimental artists. Grants of $10,000 are awarded to artists for activities that inform and enhance artistic practice, encourage new creative directions, realize cultural exchanges, initiate or deepen collaborations, and/or facilitate the learning of artistic forms and traditions—whether related to or independent of any defined outcome or planned public presentation. The program values and supports critical exploratory phases of the artistic process.

This third cohort of 41 experimental artists and collectives each received a $10,000 grant to support their artistic exploration and development over a period of 18-months. Activities proposed by the grantees include archival research and field work, collaboration across disciplines and cultures, focused study and studio time, material exploration and experimentation, and travel across the United States and to 22 countries and territories. Read our recent announcement.

Lead support for the 2024-2028 Creative Research Grants program was provided by a generous bequest from the estate of Margo Leavin. Additional support from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and from the Wattis family, with a grant from Paul L. Wattis Foundation, has expanded the program’s grantmaking in 2026.

Gi (Ginny) Huo, on the way to Lāʻie, 2025. Digital color print on self-adhesive film, single channel video, 16mm film, color, 1 min 55 sec on loop. 23 x 36 x 6.5 ft. Photo by Euirock Lee, Courtesy of DOOSAN Art Center.

Samar Haddad King, performance still from Gathering: New York City at The Shed, New York, New York, 2024. Photo by Heather Cromartie.

Chloe Alexandra Thompson, installation view of Untitling (field relations), 2026 at ONX Onassis, New York, NY. Photo by Ryan Muir.

Suneil Sanzgiri, installation view of An Impossible Address at The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 2025. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Aaliyah Christina/PRAISE MOTHER SQUAD performance still from VOIR DIRE at Steppenwolf 1700, Chicago, IL, 2025. Photo by Michelle Reid.

Cyle Warner, installation view of we came together to watch the breeze, 2023. Heirloom fabric, cotton twine, cotton rope, 82 x 82 x 2 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Tiresias, performance still from cryptochrome at Joe’s Pub, New York, NY, 2026. Photo by SIDEWALKKILLA.

Paloma Izquierdo, Only Glass Could Lie Like That, 2025, Handmade glass borosilicate chain link (individually wrapped coils), square clear acrylic frame, aluminum zip ties, 37 x 56 x 1 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.