OVERVIEW: The Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation supports visual arts journalists, writers, and critics.
IP TAKE: The Rabkin Prize is awarded by nomination from experts from throughout the art world. Grantseekers will want to network for this one.
PROFILE: The Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation is an artist-endowed foundation established in 1999 to “preserve and share the work of Leo Rabkin and administer grant programs in visual arts,” and “promote the visual arts through exhibitions, publications, and other means of dissemination of information.” Leo Rabkin worked in and exhibited his work in New York City for 60 years. In 2015, Rabkin died at the age of 95. The foundation launched its grant program in 2017, which supports visual arts journalists and their contributions to United States culture. The program also invests in art criticism, artists, and writers.
Grants for Visual Arts and Journalism
The Rabkin Foundation awards grants to visual arts journalists, because “the intellectual and creative contributions of visual arts journalists help sustain and shape artists’ careers.” Its definition of arts journalist is expansive and includes “reviews, articles, blogs, narrative videos and other forms of critical writing.” It gives awards by nomination by “a panel of art world experts.”
In September of 2020, the foundation announced that it had given grants of $20,000 to nine nonprofit visual arts journals. While the foundation typically limits its grantmaking to individual journalists, it decided to expand its support to journals because “writers require a venue and a platform for their work as well as a community of other active writers and editors.” Whether these awards signal a permanent addition to Rabkin’s grantmaking, or whether they are a temporary measure to help the hard-hit arts community survive the COVID-19 pandemic is unclear.
Click here to learn more about Rabkin’s recent visual arts journalist grantees.
Important Grant Details:
Grantees are considered for an award by nomination only and a jury decides on the final list of winners. The prize amount is $50,000.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
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