The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has announced the expansion of its Regional Re-granting Program and the appointment of Khadija Nia Adell as the Foundation’s Regional Re-granting Program Manager. The expansion doubles the reach of the initiative from 16 to 32 cities and regions nationwide, and positions Adell to devote time and resources to the program at a moment of great need in the artist communities it is designed to serve.
The Regional Re-granting Program was established in 2007 to recognize and support the movement of independently organized, public-facing, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes but that lies beyond the reach of traditional funding sources. The program is administered by non-profit visual art centers across the United States that work in partnership with the Foundation to fund artists’ experimental projects and collaborative undertakings.
“The Foundation’s grantmaking program supports the full spectrum of contemporary artistic practice in this country, from the hyper-local community-focused efforts funded through our regional re-granting program, to career retrospectives of visionary artists at major institutions,” says Joel Wachs, President of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, “Our grants help to ensure that a broad range of artistic voices participate in cultural dialogue around issues of pressing local, regional and national concern. The Foundation is fortunate to welcome Khadija Adell, whose experience as both an artist and administrator will inform the Foundation’s approach to supporting financially vulnerable and culturally powerful artist communities in this historic moment.”
Since its inception, the Regional Re-granting Program has grown steadily, adding new cities and regions to its national network each year. When COVID-19 hit and it became clear that artists needed a different kind of support, the Foundation’s Board authorized a programmatic pivot; the existing 16 partners in the Regional Re-granting Program swiftly set up COVID-19 emergency relief funds to help artists cover basic living/medical/child-care expenses. Since April 2020, the Foundation’s original 16 Regional Re-granting partners have disbursed over $1 million in emergency grants. Now, as the pandemic enters its 8th month, the Foundation is doubling the number of re-granting partners in its network; 16 new programs will provide emergency funds to artists in their regions while many of the original 16 programs have already begun a second round of emergency grants. By December 2020 the Foundation will have given over $2 million to emergency artist relief funds across the 32 programs nationwide.
As the former Program Manager of the Grit Fund, one of the original Regional Re-granting partners in Baltimore, Khadija Nia Adell comes to her position at the Warhol Foundation with an inside perspective of how the national program functions. A multimedia artist, independent curator and arts administrator who works at the intersection of visual arts, cultural organizing, and philanthropy – and herself a recipient of a GRIT Fund grant – Adell has a deep understanding of how the program contributes to dynamic exchanges in regional artistic communities, how it builds relationships and helps to expand opportunities for discourse andartistic exploration. Adell will work directly with the Foundation’s Regional Re-Granting partners to support the growth and flourishing of the network.
“It is an honor to have the opportunity to expand my work with the Warhol Foundation as Program Manager. I look forward to deepening my relationship with each program and creating a structure that helps ground our work – while remaining flexible and responsive – so that our partners may continue to support the livelihoods and creative visions of artists around the country,” states Khadija Nia Adell, the Foundation’s new Regional Re-granting Program Manager.
In the thirteen years since it was established in 2007, the Foundation has made nearly $10 million dollars in grants to its 16 partners across the nation.