The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture Program

In 2014, the Fund launched the Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture grants, honoring the legacy of the Culpeper Foundation and uniting two RBF commitments in need of redefinition: the arts and New York City. The 1999 merger with the Culpeper Foundation revived RBF giving in arts and culture, and under the new program architecture (2003) the Fund’s New York City program was revised to embrace a focus on arts and culture in the City. It supports the creative process and builds capacity through grants to small- and mid-size institutions, with particular attention to artists of color and other underrepresented groups, underscoring the diversity and cultural vitality of the City. Grantees have included the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Robert Wilson, New York City Center’s Fall for Dance, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum. In 2011, the program joined with the RBF Pocantico Center to launch the Pocantico Arts Collaborative, in which selected Culpeper grantees, curated by RBF program staff, receive artist residencies at Pocantico, and in turn offer public programming such as performances and readings.