Announcing the 2023 Creative Capital Awards
Creative Capital is pleased to announce the 2023 Creative Capital “Wild Futures: Art, Culture, Impact” Awards, which will fund the creation of experimental, risk-taking projects that push boundaries formally and thematically, venturing into wild, out-there, never-before-seen concepts, and future universes real or imagined.
Creative Capital awarded 50 groundbreaking projects—comprising 66 individual artists—focused on Technology, Performing Arts, and Literature, as well as Multidisciplinary and Socially Engaged forms. Awardees will receive varying amounts up to $50,000 in direct funding to help finance their projects and build thriving artistic careers. The award provides a range of grant services from industry connections and financial planning to peer mentorship and community-building opportunities. Grant funding is unrestricted and may be used for any purpose to advance the project, including, but not limited to, studio space, housing, groceries, staffing, childcare, equipment, computers, and travel. The combined value of the 2023 Creative Capital Awards totals more than $2.5 million in artist support.
“The 2023 Creative Capital cohort reaffirms the unpredictable and radical range of ideas alive in the arts today—from artists working in Burkina Faso to Cambodia and across the United States. We continue to see our democratic, open-call grantmaking process catalyze visionary projects that will influence our communities, our culture, and our environment.” —Christine Kuan, President & Executive Director
“The 2023 projects creatively, innovatively, and poetically deal with urgent issues shaping our world today, with a particular focus on the health of our bodies and the planet—from carbon offsetting and the sound of climate crisis, to calls for reparations and repair for Native communities, to robots and the pathos of automation, to insomnia, pharmaceutical intervention, and the interconnectedness of AIDS, COVID-19, and other pandemics.” —Aliza Shvarts, Director of Artist Initiatives
The Creative Capital grant is administered through a national open call, a democratic process involving external review of thousands of applications by international industry experts, arts administrators, curators, scholars, and artists. The 2023 grantee cohort comprises 75% BIPOC artists, representing Asian, Black or African American, Latinx, Native American or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern-identified artists; 10% of artists identify as having a disability; and 59% of artists identify as women, gender nonconforming, or nonbinary. The cohort includes emerging, mid-career, and established artists between the ages of 25 and 69. The artists are affiliated with all regions of the United States and its territories, as well as artists based in Cambodia, Burkina Faso, Germany, and Japan.
Creative Capital recognizes the important role artists play in influencing our future society. As part of this “Wild Futures: Art, Culture, Impact” grant cycle, we also invited the awardees to indicate if their project is tied to any of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Creative Capital embraces an expansive definition of “sustainability” reaching far beyond climate change and the environmental challenges we face—including good health and wellbeing, affordable and clean energy, reduced inequalities, life on land, peace, justice, and strong institutions. Projects related to any of the United Nations SGDs will be indicated on their project web pages if the grantee has elected to attach the UN SDG icon.
2023 Creative Capital Grantees
TECHNOLOGY
Paula Gaetano Adi
Indira Allegra
Katherine Behar
Caitlin Berrigan
Cézanne Charles & John Marshall
Bang Geul Han
Brian House
Kite
Sam Lavigne & Tega Brain
Eto Otitigbe, Michael DiCarlo, & Amanda Kerdahi
PERFORMING ARTS
Theater & Multidisciplinary
Ron Athey
Liz Ferrer & Bow Ty
Ain Gordon
Samar Haddad King
Xandra Ibarra
Aaron Landsman
Ethan Lipton
Kimi Maeda
Julie Atlas Muz & Mat Fraser
Joan Osato & Sunhui Chang
Heather Raffo
Hilari Scarl
Dance
Solo Badolo & Jacob Bamogo
Stefanie Batten Bland
Sidra Bell & Immanuel Wilkins
Yanira Castro
Ximena Garnica & Shige Moriya
Laurel Lawson & Sydney Skybetter
Yvonne Meier
Rashaun Mitchell & Silas Riener
Prumsodun Ok
Jasmine Orpilla
Mariana Valencia
Jazz & Music
Jaimeo Brown, Frumiesha Brown, Jaleel Shaw, & Chris Sholar
Terri Lyne Carrington
Brent Michael Davids
Sister Engineering
Terry Jenoure
Kassa Overall
LITERATURE
Brea Baker
Emily Bass
Kelli Jo Ford
Kristin Leong
Trisha Low
heidi andrea restrepo rhodes & Tala Khanmalek
Laurie Sheck
Pamela Sneed
Meredith Talusan
Joe Whittle
Anicka Yi
About Creative Capital
Founded in 1999, Creative Capital is a nonprofit organization with the mission to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work, to amplify the impact of their work, and to foster sustainable artistic careers. Creative Capital pioneered a transformative grantmaking model that marries direct funding to individual artists with infrastructure and scaffolding support through professional development services, advisory services, community-building, and mentorship. The Creative Capital philanthropic model has impacted not just artists, but the arts ecosystem as a whole—inspiring countless other nonprofits to invest in the long-term, sustainable careers of artists. To date, Creative Capital has awarded millions to 901 artists to create adventurous, ambitious projects to advance artistic freedom of expression. Our awardees are internationally renowned presenting at the Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Broadway, and beyond. Grantees have also received prestigious honors and other accolades, including: 138 Guggenheim Fellowships, 19 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships, and 3 Academy Awards and 14 nominations.
2023 Creative Capital “Wild Futures: Art, Culture, Impact” Awards, programs, and operations are supported by generous donations from our Board of Directors, National Advisory Council, and other individuals, and with major support from founding donor, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, in addition to Tamara Bates, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Jane Brown and Neil Didriksen, Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, Reginald M. Browne, Isa Catto and Daniel Shaw, Catto Shaw Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Linda Genereux and Timur Galen Family Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Barbara and Amos Hostetter, Wanda Kownacki, Lyda Kuth, Lambent Foundation Fund, a fund of Tides Foundation, Melony and Adam Lewis Advised Fund at Aspen Community Foundation, Joseph V. Melillo, Mellon Foundation, Matthew Moore and Carrie Marill, National Endowment for the Arts, Nemacolin, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Stephen Reily and Emily Bingham, The Scherman Foundation, Margaret Silva, Skoll Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Gretchen Wagner, Walder Foundation, and Paige West.
See the 2023 Creative Capital Awards and download the press release. The next application for the Creative Capital Awards opens starting March 1, 2023. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest updates.