Rauschenberg Emergency Grants
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), in partnership with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, offer two grant programs for artists in emergency situations: the Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants and Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program.
**UPDATE**
Due to the extraordinary destruction and devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, NYFA will provide grant deadline extensions for eligible artists in the affected areas*.
Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants Cycle 26
The deadline of 5:00 PM ET October 1 is extended through 5:00 PM ET October 25. Eligible applicants may apply for funds for emergency mental health, medical or dental treatment, whether related to the impacts of Hurricanes Helene or Milton or not.
Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants Cycle 15
The deadline of 5:00 PM October 8 will be extended through 5:00 PM ET November 4. Eligible applicants who have lost work due to circumstances outside of their control, including the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, may apply for funds for essential expenses.
*Artists residing in any county which has received a FEMA Emergency or Disaster Declaration related to Hurricane Helene or Hurrican Milton are eligible. This is a pilot extension. If you have experienced another recent Presidentially-declared disaster that prevented you from applying by our deadline, please contact us at [email protected] or 212.366.6900 x 239.
NYFA is pleased to announce that the Rauschenberg Emergency Grants will continue to be offered through at least June 2025. The dates for the next three cycles are published on each program’s webpage. Subscribe to NYFA News, our bi-weekly e-newsletter, to get updates about future funding opportunities. These national emergency grant programs reflect Robert Rauschenberg’s concern for the well-being of fellow creative practitioners and were created in the tradition of Change, Inc., a non-profit foundation established in 1970 by Robert Rauschenberg to assist professional artists of all disciplines in need.
THE PROGRAMS
Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants
• Provides one-time grants of up to $3,000 to professional dancers in need who have a dire financial emergency as a result of a loss or lack of current live performance work, because of circumstances beyond your control.
• Provides up to three months of essential expenses.
• You must demonstrate an urgent and critical need for emergency support in order to apply.
Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
• Provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies.
• Open to artists in financial need who are practicing in the visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography.
• Period covered: Related, eligible expenses incurred for up to 12 months from the date of the emergency.
FOR FULL DETAILS
Please visit the Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants and Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants pages for further eligibility guidelines, application requirements, and answers to FAQs. These two programs primarily serve different artistic fields and fund different types of expenses, so most artists will only be eligible to apply for one or the other. However, dance artists who are both actively dancing and choreographing may find they can apply to both. Here’s where the programs overlap:
NYFA also maintains a list of other artist emergency resources, which you can explore here.
Questions: Please email [email protected] or call 212-366-6900 ext. 239.
Top Image Detail: Robert Rauschenberg in front of “Phoenix” (Scale) and “Reserve” (Spread), both 1978; resting on “July Phosphorus” (Scale), 1978; Photo: Unattributed; Photograph Collection, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives, New York
Middle Image Details (L to R): Robert Rauschenberg, “Untitled [Cunningham dancers],” 1961, Copyright: Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; and Robert Rauschenberg in front of his Vydock series photographed in Rauschenberg’s Laika Lane studio, Captiva, FL, 1995, Photo Credit: Ed Chappell, Copyright: Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
