Art & Practice

Art + Practice (A+P) is a private operating 501(c)(3) foundation, not a traditional grantmaker with an open application cycle. This is the single most important fact for any prospective partner to internalize before investing time in outreach. Founded around 2012–2013 by celebrated contemporary artist Mark Bradford and arts philanthropist Eileen Harris Norton, A+P occupies approximately 20,000 square feet in the Leimert Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles — one of the country's most historically significant Black arts districts. The foundation simultaneously operates an exhibition gallery, a public programs venue, and a residential and social services hub. Because A+P is an operating foundation, its grants function as contracts with service partners who extend A+P's own programs, not as awards to independent organizations pursuing separate missions.

The pattern in A+P's grantee list is clear and instructive: every funded entity is a direct operational partner. First Place for Youth runs the A+P Scholars Program on A+P's campus. Nest Global and PILAGlobal (Pedagogical Institute of Los Angeles) deliver early childhood education through A+P's global outreach infrastructure. The Gordon Parks Foundation is funded to preserve Black artistic legacy and train the next generation of social-justice artists — directly aligned with A+P's curatorial identity. Waco Theater Center is supported to develop artistic works for and by young people — an extension of A+P's youth engagement mission.

For first-time prospective partners, the fundamental question is not 'Do we qualify for a grant?' but rather 'Can our organization serve as an operational partner within an existing or emerging A+P program?' Cold applications are structurally unlikely to succeed. A+P's application instructions publicly state only 'Please contact organization for more details,' reflecting an invitation-based model. The strongest entry points are: (1) a mission tightly aligned with foster youth services, transitional housing, or global early childhood education; (2) a track record in African American cultural preservation or social-justice contemporary art; or (3) existing relationships with A+P's institutional partners, particularly the California African American Museum. Initial outreach should go to office@artandpractice.org. Attending free public exhibitions and events at 3401 W. 43rd Place (Tues–Sat, 11am–5pm) before any formal contact is strongly advisable.

Art + Practice's external grant-making is deliberately modest relative to its asset base. With $22–27 million in total assets across fiscal years 2019–2023, A+P made external grants ranging from $100,000 (FY2019) to $474,750 (FY2022), averaging approximately $245,000 per year in grants paid externally. These figures are distinct from A+P's total giving, which includes substantial internal program expenditures: $1,836,332 in FY2023, $1,671,864 in FY2022, $1,123,830 in FY2021. The difference confirms that the majority of A+P's charitable spending flows through its own operating programs — exhibition production ($421,866 in program expenses), foster youth support ($187,943), and general governance ($271,859) — rather than via external grants.

Across the 15 externally recorded grants totaling $1,488,000, the average grant size is $99,200. Individual grants vary substantially. The largest single relationship is First Place for Youth at $486,800 across four grants (average $121,700 per grant), reflecting its status as A+P's deepest on-campus operational partner. PILAGlobal received $319,500 across two grants ($159,750 each). Nest Global received a single grant of $251,700. The Gordon Parks Foundation and Waco Theater Center each received $200,000 across two grants ($100,000 each). Community Partners (supporting the California African American Museum) and The Contemporary Austin each received $15,000 across two grants — relational, relationship-maintenance grants rather than programmatic awards.

Geographically, 11 of 15 grants went to California-based organizations, 2 to New York (Gordon Parks Foundation, The Contemporary Austin), and 2 to Texas. Thematically, grants cluster around three domains: foster youth and transitional services (~33% of total grant dollars), global early childhood education for underserved children (~38%), and Black artistic legacy and social-justice arts (~26%). Smaller relational grants make up the remaining ~3%. Total giving has grown nearly three-fold since FY2015 ($634,132), reaching $1,836,332 in FY2023, driven primarily by investment income ($297,506 in FY2023) and contributions. The declining contributions trend ($220,165 in FY2023, down from $415,221 in FY2021) suggests A+P is becoming more self-sustaining from endowment returns.

Asset-based peers in the IRS Philanthropy & Grantmaking (NTEE T23) category at the $24–27 million range are predominantly private family foundations or trusts with minimal public presence. Art + Practice stands apart from this peer set in almost every operational dimension.

Among these asset-comparable peers, Art + Practice is by far the most operationally active and mission-specific. It employs paid staff (Executive Director Sophia Belsheim at $122,531 in FY2023), operates physical program facilities, maintains institutional partnerships with the California African American Museum, and makes both internal program expenditures and external grants. The Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation is perhaps the most structurally analogous — a celebrity-founder-connected operating entity with a defined social impact thesis and no public application process — though it operates in a different domain. For mission-aligned peer benchmarking, A+P is better compared to organizations like the Gordon Parks Foundation (a direct A+P grantee), the California African American Museum, or mid-size operating foundations in Los Angeles such as the Roski Foundation or the Hammer Museum's granting programs.

Art + Practice's most significant recent programming centers on its multi-year collaboration with the California African American Museum (CAAM at A+P), which entered its fourth year in 2025–2026. The partnership, structured as a five-year commitment running 2022–2027, delivers two major exhibitions per year at A+P's gallery at 3401 W. 43rd Place: a fall/winter show (October–March) and a spring/summer show (April–September). In April 2026, A+P opened two concurrent exhibitions — photographer Rahim Fortune's solo show 'Between a Memory and Me' and 'Kinship & Community: Selections from the Texas African American Photography Archive' — both running through September 5, 2026. These follow 'Giving You the Best That I Got' (October 2025–March 2026), 'To a Future Space-Time' (April–September 2025), and 'KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Media Arts of Ben Caldwell' (October 2024–March 2025).

Leadership at A+P remains stable. Co-founders Mark Bradford (serving as CEO and President of the Board) and Eileen Harris Norton (Director/Secretary) remain active. Allan DiCastro serves as CFO, and Sophia Belsheim continues as Executive Director. No public announcements of leadership changes, new program launches, or strategic pivots were found for 2025–2026. Total assets declined modestly from a FY2021 high of $27.7 million to $24.1 million in FY2023, reflecting investment market conditions rather than any programmatic contraction. The A+P Scholars Program with First Place for Youth continues to provide housing, job training, and education support for foster youth ages 18–24 in Leimert Park.

Because Art + Practice is an operating foundation that funds only a handful of direct program partners, the conventional grant application model does not apply. There is no published RFP, no online portal, no deadline calendar, and no review committee scoring unsolicited proposals. The application instructions on record read simply: 'Please contact organization for more details.' Every relationship in A+P's grantee history began as an operational partnership, not a competitive application. With that framing, here is what the most effective approach actually looks like.

Lead with operational complementarity, not funding need. Every A+P grantee runs a specific program that A+P considers its own. First Place for Youth manages the A+P Scholars Program on A+P's campus. Nest Global and PILAGlobal deliver the international education piece of A+P's mission. The implicit question in any outreach is: 'What specific A+P program would your organization strengthen, extend, or make possible?'

Align with one of three proven pillars. (1) Transition-age foster youth services in Los Angeles — especially housing, job training, and education for 18–24 year-olds. (2) Early childhood education for underserved children globally — PILAGlobal and Nest Global define this lane. (3) Preservation and advancement of Black artistic legacy, particularly where contemporary art intersects with social justice and youth empowerment.

Make the first contact brief and specific. Initial outreach to office@artandpractice.org or (323) 337-6887 (ask for Allan DiCastro, the listed contact) should be a single paragraph: your organization's mission, the specific A+P program you see alignment with, and a request for an introductory conversation. Do not send a full proposal.

Visit in person before reaching out. A+P's exhibition space (3401 W. 43rd Place, Tues–Sat, 11am–5pm, free) and public programs venue (4334 Degnan Blvd) are open to the community. Demonstrating familiarity with the space and the neighborhood matters in a community-embedded organization like A+P.

Prepare for a multi-year timeline. A+P's grantees are repeat partners, not one-time recipients. Set expectations for a 12–24 month cultivation period before any formal funding discussion.