The Thriving Cultures program is based on a belief that communities with robust arts and culture are more cohesive and prosperous, and benefit from the diversity of their residents. We know that artists and cultural organizations can help us explore shared values and spark innovation, imagination and advancement for our communities.

Too often, however, arts and culture is undervalued as a catalyst for creating just and sustainable communities, which is a key priority for the Surdna Foundation.

The Thriving Cultures Program seeks to create just and sustainable communities in four ways:

• Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement

  We support artistic training programs that help teens explore their cultural identity and equip them with the life-enhancing skills they need to achieve their educational and career goals.

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• Community Engaged Design

  We support efforts to involve artists, architects and designers in community-engaged problem solving and development efforts.

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• Artists and Economic Development

  We support efforts that provide artists with business training and financial resources that enable them to be, and create, valuable economic assets for their communities.

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• Artists Engaging in Social Change

  We support the potential of artists to be catalysts for social change and to promote the cultural traditions of their communities.

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We seek organizations that:

• Embrace artistic and design excellence;
• Find innovative ways to use arts and culture to make communities more just and sustainable;
• Prioritize the needs of low-income communities and people of color in their work;
• Maintain sound financial practices and management; and
• Demonstrate a capacity and willingness to share best practices and knowledge with their colleagues and others in the field.

We also believe that the Foundation’s three programs are strongly interrelated and necessary to create just and sustainable communities. We therefore encourage cross-cutting proposals that connect to the work of the Foundation’s Strong Local Economies and Sustainable Environments programs.

The Surdna Foundation is committed to continuous learning through our grantmaking. We view grant guidelines as living documents and will update them periodically to better target resources and increase our impact

Generally, the Thriving Cultures program does not fund:

• Individuals, academic fellowships or for-profit entities;
• Capital campaigns or endowments;
• In-school art programs.