Why Is the Warhol Foundation Upping Its Arts Giving in Miami?

The Andy Warhol Foundation of Visual Arts believes that part of growing the community of innovative artists means supporting vibrant, under-the-radar artistic activity in diverse regions across the country.  To date, the Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program has supported more than 150 projects spearheaded by non-incorporated artist collectives in Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Portland and San Francisco. Now the foundation is expanding its support to Miami-based artists with new series of grants called WaveMaker Grants.   

Launched in conjunction with Cannonball, a Miami-based non-profit arts organization that is also part of the Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program, WaveMaker Grants support artists, unincorporated artist-run spaces, and artist-centric projects that engage diverse audiences and contribute to the contemporary art community in Miami-Dade County.

“The Warhol Foundation is excited to add Cannonball to its growing network of regional re-granting organizations around the country,” said Rachel Bers, the Foundation’s Program Director. “We are confident that the burgeoning community of self-organized artists in Miami will be well served by the thoughtful approach Cannonball is taking to the WaveMaker program and that many great projects will be realized with its support.”

So how does the program work? Well, it’s simple. The Andy Warhol Foundation will award 10-15 WaveMaker Grants that range from $2,000 to $5,000 to Miami-based artists and artist-centric projects. The projects can range from solo and group exhibitions to public performances, workshops, and lectures, but all must be based in Miami-Dade County and “must have a public component, engage diverse audiences, and contribute to contemporary art discourse in the city.”  

Grantees will be selected by an independent panel of artists and arts professionals from within and outside of the region and a steering committee consisting of local artists and arts professionals will be assembled to help advise the program’s focus, development, and promotion. The Warhol Foundation has also committed to two years of the re-granting program, with the potential for continued support.

“Miami is in a perpetual state of becoming—a flux of identities, cultures, geographies, and built environs,” said Christopher Cook, Executive Director of Cannonball. “Artists and their projects—exhibitions, spaces, performances, collaborations, interventions, etc.—deserve more direct support and attention, which is why Cannonball is bringing WaveMaker Grants to Miami.”

Cannonball joins five established Warhol Foundation re-granting programs in San Francisco (Southern Exposure); Kansas City, MO (Charlotte Street Foundation and Spencer Museum of Art); Chicago (Threewalls and Gallery 400); Houston (Diverse Works, Aurora Picture Show, and Project Row Houses), and Portland, OR (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art).

Full application details and granting guidelines will be available in July, with the first round of awards being announced in February 2015.