Pocantico Prize for Visual Artists

Pocantico Prize for Visual Artists is sponsored by Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) Culpeper Arts & Culture program. The Pocantico Prize recognizes U. S.

artists with a trajectory of artistic excellence who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color; disabled; women or gender non-binary; or from other groups that have been denied opportunities or recognition.

Culpeper Arts & Culture | Rockefeller Brothers Fund Photo by Francisco Graciano, courtesy of Broadway Dance Lab. Choreographer Ephrat Asherie leads a group of Dance Lab New York dancers. The Charles E.

Culpeper Arts & Culture grants honor the legacy of Charles E. Culpeper by supporting the artists and cultural organizations that make New York City one of the world’s most dynamic creative capitals. The Fund is inspired by the conviction that arts and culture promote free expression, foster a deeper understanding of human experience, and provide a fresh lens on persistent problems and emerging challenges in diverse communities.

The Fund aims to strengthen the cultural environment of the city by supporting its rich artistic community and the diversity of the city’s population Increasingly, the arts and artists have an important role to play in civic discourse and social movements—shedding light on important social, economic, and political issues; breaking down barriers; helping society heal after crisis and hardship; recognizing communities that have been historically underrepresented or harmed by past patterns of discrimination; and offering hope for a better future.

Artists are true innovators that spark creativity, inspiration, and imagination. The movement toward a more equitable ecosystem of support for artists is underway. Throughout the city’s communities, promising artists are creating meaningful works while showing potential for further artistic growth and impact in society.

Leaders at many of the city’s iconic museums and cultural institutions are implementing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility plans for their organizations to break down barriers to access for diverse artists and audiences.

To support these emerging trends, the program’s grantmaking includes a focus on community building and social impact, prioritizes artist-centered and multidisciplinary work, advances the Fund’s anti-racist and anti-sexist commitments, ensures attention to accessibility, and celebrates innovation. The program also supports the creative process by elevating artists and cultural leaders across all disciplines.

The Pocantico Center, located in Tarrytown, New York, is an important complement to the Fund’s grantmaking efforts, providing time and space for aesthetic exploration, artistic collaborations, and nurturing artistic imagination. Organizations that nurture innovative, socially engaged, multidisciplinary artists working in new genres and with new technology are encouraged to apply.

The Fund also seeks to encourage larger, established institutions to incorporate socially engaged art and artists into their programming and decision-making processes and to find innovative ways to engage diverse communities.

Goal: Support a vibrant and inclusive arts Community in New York City Supporting the role of artists in the creative process and in the presentation of their work, including historically underrepresented artists, such as those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+, women, nonbinary, or disabled.

Providing time, space, and financial resources through residencies in New York City and at the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at The Pocantico Center, in partnership with artist-led organizations, artist collectives, and cultural leaders. Elevating arts advocacy efforts, field research, cultural-civic movements, and cultural leadership development opportunities to strengthen the arts and culture field and the creative community.

New Culpeper Arts & Culture Program Guidelines (January 2022) Revised Culpeper Arts & Culture Program Guidelines (August 2026) See all recent Culpeper Arts & Culture grants The Pocantico Prize for Visual Artists pairs a $25,000 cash prize with a two-month artist residency at the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center (DR Center) at Pocantico. Alliance for Artist Communities New York Community Trust’s Mosaic Network and Fund