2017 -18 Idea Fund Updates
Round Ten Application Open
Deadline: MONDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2017
What types of projects will be funded?
The Idea Fund is committed to new, risk-taking forms that help to define new practices in contemporary art. The Idea Fund favors projects that exemplify unconventional, participatory or social practice, conceptual, innovative or entrepreneurial, or activist artistic practices that occur outside of the traditional frameworks of support. Works that are eligible for conventional sources of funding are highly unlikely to be awarded.
A panel of professionals will select between 12-14 projects submitted by individual artists, curators, performers, collectives or collaboratives that must be completed by December 31, 2018.
Who can apply?
The Idea Fund supports individual artists, curators, collectives, collaboratives or partnerships. If applying as a group, the artistic group can be long-standing or created specifically for this project; however, the lead member of the group must be living and working in the greater Houston area.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any questions that are not addressed below, please email info@theideafund.org or contact Rachel Cook, TIF Administrator, at 713.223.8346.
Join us for our upcoming Information Session!
Tuesday, October 30, 6:00pm-8:00pm
MECA Houston
1900 Kane St., Houston, TX 77007 Directions
Come join us to learn more about the application process, grant requirements, and have your project-specific questions answered!
The Idea Fund Grant Recipient Showcase
The GENDER Book(let)
The GENDER Book(let) was a Round 3 (2011) project created by Boston Bostian, Mel Reif Hill, and Jay Mays. A colorful, highly-illustrated resource, short in length and with detailed real-life experiences, "the GENDER book(let)" serves as a starter manual that presents the beautiful diversity of gender. The book is available for FREE download on the project's website.
Plantation Remix
Progress Theater founder Cristal Chanelle Truscott's Round 8 (2016) project, "Plantation Remix" is a NeoSpiritual and a capella musical that will be performed at historical plantations in the United States in order to revisit, raze, rework, reimagine and remix the separatist genre of “traditional” antebellum reenactments through multi-perspective narratives of both the enslaved and the slave owners and their descendants.
DAMN GXRL
Round 9 (2017) project "DAMN GXRL" is a quarterly zine by and for Houston-area women, queer and non-binary folks showcasing their achievements within visual art, music, activism, and other spheres in which these groups are historically marginalized and underrepresented. Intentionally broad in focus, "DAMN GXRL" aims to be a publication that fosters cross-pollination between different artistic and social practices.
The Idea Fund
The Idea Fund is a re-granting program administered by a partnership of DiverseWorks, Aurora Picture Show and Project Row Houses and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The Idea Fund supports individual artists, curators, collectives, collaboratives or partnerships in the greater Houston area. Grant recipients receive funding for projects that exemplify unconventional, participatory or social practice, conceptual, innovative or entrepreneurial, or activist artistic practices. Grants are competitive and awarded by a panel consisting of arts professionals from around the country and a past Idea Fund grant recipient.
