Arts & Creativity

Arts and creativity are essential for vibrant, vital, and engaged communities.

Isidro Fagundes

Elevating the arts and enabling creative expression to engage and inspire a dynamic, thriving Massachusetts.

Arts and creativity have the power to transform how we understand and connect with our world and each other. They help us rise above the way things are to discover new ideas and imagine new futures. They bring joy and beauty into our lives.

The overarching goal of Barr’s Arts & Creativity Program is to elevate the arts and enable creative expression to engage and inspire a dynamic, thriving Massachusetts, where communities have access to arts and creative expression that reflect the full range of cultures, traditions, and voices in those communities.

Our Strategies

We pursue our goal through three strategies:

  1. Building capacity in the arts field for organizations to adapt, take risks, and engage changing audiences in new ways.
  2. Fostering opportunities to connect the arts to other disciplines and sectors.
  3. Activating public support for the arts.

Across these strategies, we work to strengthen necessary field infrastructure, and we focus our investments in two areas we believe hold power to spur large-scale change: visionary leaders and arts organizations using leading-edge practices to advance equitable outcomes for communities. We work with an explicit focus on racial equity.

To achieve our goal and these strategies, we believe a central focus on racial equity is required. Read more about the evolution of Barr’s Arts & Creativity program and how we see the link to racial equity in this blog post by Director San San Wong.

Learn more about strategies below:
Arts & Creativity Strategies

Grantmaking Through Partnerships

To pursue these strategies, Barr works closely with a variety of intermediaries able to re-grants Barr funds and/or provide supports on specific initiatives. Our intermediary partners bring expertise in their fields and are trusted by their stakeholders. These partnerships aim to reach and deepen work in particular parts of the arts field, geographies, and strategies; to instigate new models and practices; and to bring new support services, knowledge, financial resources, and networks to the arts. Our partnerships help to bring new donors into the field, strengthen public policies and funding for the arts, raise visibility of artists and the creative sector, and create more connections across Massachusetts and nationally. Often our intermediary partners use an open application process which enables broader access to grants and supports.

To see all recent Arts & Creativity grantmaking activity, visit our grants database.

Following are some of our intermediary partnerships:

Support for Individual Artists

As a private foundation, Barr is prohibited from making grants to individuals. By working with intermediary partners, Barr funds can reach artists, unincorporated groups, and arts organizations with small budgets.

Barr has long invested in initiatives to support individual artists including:

Our Team

Arts & Creativity Program Grantmaking Process and Inquiries

The majority of grants awarded by the Barr Foundation are initiated by our staff. Additionally, given the value we place on long-term partnerships, many grants are renewals for current grantees. However, we also welcome those who feel their work aligns with our priorities to introduce themselves through an open inquiry process.

Please note that we rarely fund: projects or productions, films, festivals, arts education, event sponsorships, history and humanities focused organizations, or organizations based outside of Massachusetts, For project or production support, please visit the intermediary partners noted above to learn about current opportunities. For arts education activities based in Boston, please visit EdVestors and the Boston Public Schools Arts Expansion Initiative.

To submit an inquiry to the Barr Foundation’s Arts & Creativity Program, please assemble your responses and requested materials outlined in our inquiry form below and submit them via email to arts@barrfoundation.org.

Download our Inquiry Form

Grantee Characteristics

As we consider new funding opportunities, we look for grantee and intermediary partners who:

  • Are presenting and/or providing financial and technical support for artistically excellent and relevant work;
  • Have a strong, nuanced understanding of their challenges, and approach challenges in bold ways—ready to experiment, take risks, and appropriately pivot and change;
  • Maximize their assets by being well informed about and deeply connected with their communities and artistic fields, and demonstrate curiosity and a rigorous, inclusive inquiry process; and
  • Demonstrate field and civic leadership, including work to center racial equity and advance anti-racism within their organizations, communities, and artistic fields.

Recent Arts & Creativity Blogs

More Arts & Creativity Posts