Arts Education
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation has a longstanding commitment arts education. Participating in the arts confers numerous benefits, from providing captivation and pleasure, to providing a vehicle for self-expression, to promoting cognitive growth and the capacity for empathy. Arts education nurtures creative thinking, collaboration, and other competencies.
Through our arts education grantmaking, we seek to address and challenge inequities that limit student access to arts experiences. In particular, we are focused on supporting organizations that:
- Provide opportunities for students to engage directly in high-quality arts instruction, particularly in which students actively participate in making art.
We only make grants to organizations located in and serving students in Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake Counties in North Carolina.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
MDBF views our arts education grantmaking through an equity lens. We are particularly interested in supporting organizations led by people of color, that incorporate arts accessibility into their work, and whose boards and staff reflect the diversity of the Triangle. By accessibility, we mean opportunities to encounter, appreciate, and participate in the arts. We support organizations that embrace and advance DEI practices and work towards equitable access and engagement in the arts.
Grant Guidelines
Looking for the types of grants we offer and eligibility criteria?