The Open Fund in collaboration with The Poor Farm with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Re-granting Program and The Ruth Foundation for the Arts Wisconsin Artist Grant is pleased to announce fourteen Artist Project grants have been awarded this month. Ten of the projects received $10,000 and four projects $5,000 in this round of funding. We would like to thank all the artists who applied. We received more than double the amount of eligible applications as last year, and recognize there were more exceptional projects than we were able to fund. This is a testament to the abundance of collective-thinking art practitioners in our many diverse communities of visual artists in Milwaukee County. We are also excited to announce that in the fall, with support from our sponsoring foundations, we plan to expand our Artist Project Grant eligibility to state-wide. “We hope that this move will reach artists across Wisconsin who are doing critical work in their communities to support other artists and who are under acknowledged and underfunded” said Open Fund administrator and artist John Riepenhoff, adding “we envision a state of visual artists that are diverse and united in support of their peers.”
"Being based in another Midwest art city, it is encouraging to see what kind of work is being produced in the region. I found the breadth of projects from the Milwaukee art scene to be really impressive—touching on food, identity, environment, mutual aid, and education.” commented juror Candice Davis of Minneapolis. “It’s exciting to see evidence of the many ways a community can engage with each other and with the visual arts. I look forward to seeing how projects from this cycle will grow with additional support."
Collectively, the awarded projects this cycle represent a group of 49 collaborating artists. Support for their projects will reach additional artists through collaborative platforms designed by each artist group.
| The next cycle of The Open Fund will be announced later this year. |
| About The Open: The Open began in 2016 in Riverwest, Milwaukee, as a utility to support ephemeral art-makers and social platforms. It hosts a range of artist-operated venues. This project is an experiment in durational cultural investment, foregrounding the importance of place and alternative economic exchanges. About The Poor Farm: The Poor Farm is an art experiment founded in 2008 at the former Waupaca County Poor Farm (built in 1876) in Little Wolf, Wisconsin. It is a not-for-profit project space and residency that supports artists and their ideas. |