Support the state's premier cultural institutions as they advance their artistic vision and deliver innovative, aspirational programming.

The nonprofit arts and cultural sector is facing major structural changes brought on by technological advances, demographic changes and shifting consumer behaviors. The Artistic Innovation Fund (AIF) is designed to enable organizations to respond to these environmental changes by seeding innovative ideas, projects and directions that will constitute significant advancements for the organization, as well as potential leadership opportunities. AIF focuses on funding innovations in three priority areas: artistic capacity, constituency engagement and organizational management. This encourages organizations to:

• Create new work, experiment with new aesthetics or develop new programming
• Reach into their community to broaden, deepen or diversify audiences
• Lead effectively through innovative organizational management, board and staffing structures
• Build valuable knowledge for the arts and culture sector

For the purposes of AIF, Irvine defines innovation as instances of organizational change that, to a recognizable degree:

• Provide new pathways to fulfilling the mission
• Are not an extension of "business of usual"
• Result from a shift in underlying organizational assumptions

Innovations may be achieved in an organization's products (what is does), its processes (how it does things), or its structures (how it is organized), as well as in combinations of these areas. By focusing on a specific innovation, and reflecting on the learning that comes from advancing these kinds of changes, organizations both exercise and further develop their adaptive capacity. We define adaptive capacity as an organization’s ability to initiate and implement purposeful change in response to shifts in its operating environment.

Grant amounts in this category represent a major investment by Irvine. Accordingly, there are a relatively small number of grantees each year. Funding through this initiative is one-time in nature and does not imply ongoing support.

Review criteria

Competitive organizations in this initiative will:

• Have an annual operating budget of $7.5 million or more
• Offer a compelling artistic vision and a clear case statement for how grant funds will further the institution's artistic aspiration,
  risk-taking and innovation, or recontextualize and advance its current level of excellence to another level
• Demonstrate a track record of artistic achievement
• Demonstrate significant administrative and managerial capacity, thoughtful organizational planning and a proven record of capable execution

While we accept unsolicited inquiries from grantseekers, we are able to fund very few of them. Please click here if you would like to learn more about submitting a letter of inquiry. Full proposals are accepted by invitation only.

Profile of an illustrative grant:

The following grantee profile is illustrative of the type of work the Arts program seeks to fund through its Arts Leadership priority:

• Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County