The Luminary Announces 2023 Futures Fund
The Luminary Announces 2023 Futures Fund
02.23.2023
The Luminary is pleased to announce that Futures Fund is now open for applications for its 2023 cycle! Futures Fund is a regranting initiative organized by The Luminary and funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in order to support innovative, experimental and forward-focused artistic projects throughout the St. Louis region. Futures Fund was founded in 2019 to provide essential support to creative projects that exemplify the unique possibilities of St. Louis, deeply engage its past, present and possible futures, and model new ways of working within our region. The fund exists as one of the few opportunities for direct project support for artists in St. Louis.
For the 2023 Futures Fund cycle, we are invested in supporting projects based in collaboration that envision more sustainable models of artistic production and accessible modes of engagement. Sustainability can be considered both in terms of the physical environment and towards the welfare of participating artists as well as the communities they inhabit. Accessibility concerns the capacity of work to reach audiences across continuums of disability, geography, education, and taste.
In view of both temporary and permanent closures of artist spaces over the last several years and the lack of direct project funding currently available for artists in our region, the Futures Fund is meant to spur communal thinking and experimentation. While projects may ultimately end up with a social benefit or be deeply engaged with particular causes, they should be rooted in visual art, and led by a visual artist. Similarly, proposals for projects rooted in social practice and public art projects are welcome, but are not necessarily given preference. Collaborative projects are highly encouraged; the project lead should identify as a visual artist with a demonstrated practice in visual arts.