The performing arts thrive on the haunches of cultivated talent. Maestros emerge from various nooks and corners of society, enthralling crowds with music and dance. And yet, visibility is only brought by patronage and opportunity and while patrons exist, the credible opportunities created by grants that allow for creative enhancement are some of the world’s best kept secrets:
1. Nothing says Indian arts like our very own artists, from Hindustani masters to Kathak exponents, Carnatic vidwans to Bharatanatyam extroardinaires. Some of the best talent lives right here in our cultural epicenter. For those looking to allow your art to grow and infuse it with new life, the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is ready to assist you in all your forms of cultural expression. It’s only an application away.
http://www.indiaifa.org/progra
2. In light of festivals such as Darbar and Milaap, celebrating Indian art forms in Europe, the Asia-Europe Foundation serves to promote cultural cooperation between the two countries. Have dreams of performing in Royal Albert Hall or simply filling the alleyways of Switzerland with cultural vibrancy? This foundation offers a multitude of grants for budding artists with voices to be heard.
http://asef.org/projects/theme
3. The Asian Cultural Council was perhaps one of the first organizations to bolster the arts with grants and funding over 50 years ago. With multiple grants that aid in cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S., the ACC has supported 4,000 individual artists – a number that continues to grow with each year of the grants’ issuances. Perhaps, your dreams aren’t too far away after all!
http://www.asianculturalcounci
4. Do you live in one of the world’s cultural capitals? New York City teems with a cultural vivacity that is hardly matched by other cities. Featuring some of the most innovative enterprises in Indian music and dance, it houses a plethora of talent waiting to be discovered—until, that is, you discover the Asian American Arts Alliance. Offering multiple grants for young budding talent, the organization has just what it takes to push you, an NYC find, to the next level:
http://aaartsalliance.org/page
5. California’s arts and culture infrastructure is only one of its many assets. The Living Cultures Grants Program, offering $5000 grants to residents of the State of California, serves to promote indigenous art forms that have begun to flourish in the community of California.
http://www.actaonline.org/content/living-cultures-grants-program