About Us
We uplift innovative artists with unrestricted project grants, professional development, and community-building services to foster thriving careers.
Support Our Mission
Gia Kuan and Advisory Council Member JiaJia Fei at the inaugural 2022 Artist Benefit + Banquet at Hutong New York. BFA/Madison McGaw.
Rebecca Snedeker, Annie Han, and Alejandro Durán at Carnival 2022. Photo by Deonté Lee/BFA.
Nicole Fleetwood, Erin Gilbert, Legacy Russell at the 2023 Artist Benefit + Banquet. BFA/ Deonté Lee.
Martha Redbone, Eisa Davis, and Angela Mattox at Carnival 2024. Matt Borkowski/BFA.com.
Bow Ty and Liz Ferrer (2023 Creative Capital Awardees) with Brian Fernandes-Halloran and Carles Garcia O'Dowd at Carnival 2023. Deonté Lee/BFA.com
Christine Kuan, Anicka Yi (2023 Literature Awardee), and Sherrill Roland (2021 Visual Arts Awardee) at the 2023 Artist Benefit + Banquet. BFA/ Deonté Lee.
We build vibrant community with artists, patrons, and industry professionals to build lasting bonds.
Christine Kuan
President & Executive Director
“Creative Capital champions artistic freedom at a grassroots level across the nation by uplifting groundbreaking artists realizing bold, new work.“
Christine Kuan
President & Executive Director
Christine Kuan
President & Executive Director
$ $ 55M
Grants & Services
Grants & Services
We fundraise every dollar to provide critical grants and services for the creation of innovative new works in the visual arts, performing arts, film, technology, literature, and multidisciplinary and socially engaged forms.
We fundraise every dollar to provide critical grants and services for the creation of innovative new works in the visual arts, performing arts, film, technology, literature, and multidisciplinary and socially engaged forms.
1010
Artists Awarded
Artists Awarded
We have supported artists of all backgrounds, across all regions, and at every career stage to realize risk-taking, experimental, and groundbreaking new works.
We have supported artists of all backgrounds, across all regions, and at every career stage to realize risk-taking, experimental, and groundbreaking new works.
275K
Artists Served
Artists Served
We serve hundreds of thousands of artists in the United States and beyond with freely accessible educational programs and resources to help all artists build sustainable practices.
We serve hundreds of thousands of artists in the United States and beyond with freely accessible educational programs and resources to help all artists build sustainable practices.
Since 1999
Since 1999
Our Story
Our Story
Founded in 1999, after the U.S. Congress pressured the National Endowment for the Arts to discontinue grants to individual artists, Creative Capital defends freedom of expression by funding individual artists seeking to create new work.
See our StoryOur Impact
A Transformative Artist Support Model
Creative Capital provides a transformative grantmaking model that offers three areas of artist support: unrestricted project grants, bespoke professional services, and community-building opportunities. The Creative Capital philanthropic model has impacted not just artists, but the arts ecosystem as a whole—inspiring countless other nonprofits and individuals to invest in the careers of artists in a holistic way.
Groundbreaking Artists
The Creative Capital Award is recognized for funding boundary-pushing artists working across an array of disciplines, and for identifying and supporting talent at catalytic moments in artists’ lives. Our Awardees have received prestigious honors and other accolades, including: 169 Guggenheim Fellowships, 21 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships, 6 Pulitzer Prizes, and 3 Academy Awards and 15 nominations.
Explore AwardeesCreative Capital Award
The Creative Capital Award is the only national open call grant program dedicated to funding artists creating new work in every discipline, including visual arts, performing arts, film, literature, technology, multidisciplinary, and socially engaged forms. Creative Capital’s unrestricted project grants are purposefully made through an open, national, multidisciplinary, external review process for proposals for new artistic works.
Since 2020, Creative Capital receives thousands of proposals each year, demonstrating the urgent and widespread need for project support.
Learn moreState of the Art Prize
In honor of the Creative Capital Award’s 25th Anniversary, Creative Capital launched the State of the Art Prize in 2025. This new initiative offers an unrestricted grant to one artist in each U.S. state and territory, expanding support for regional and rural artists, investing in grassroots creative economies, and fostering a vibrant cultural landscape across America.
Learn more