November 11, 2020 – With their newly established Collective Power Fund, Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) is one of the newest nonprofit visual art centers to join The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Regional Regranting Program. A national initiative established in 2007, the Regional Regranting Program recognizes and supports the movement of independently organized, public-facing, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes that lie beyond the reach of traditional funding sources.

As one of 32 partner organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico, NWFF will work in partnership with the Foundation to fund artists’ experimental projects and collaborative undertakings. The first round begins in Fall 2020 to provide $70,000 in COVID-19 Artist Relief funding; round two continues in Spring 2021 with project-based grants. Both are open to residents in incorporated and unincorporated King County, with applications in Spanish and Chinese, to better serve some of the area’s most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods.

“Northwest Film Forum is honored to be in connection with the other forward-thinking, cutting-edge arts organizations that comprise the Regional Regranting Program,” states NWFF Executive Director Vivian Hua. “This opportunity solidifies our reputation as an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to serving diverse artistic communities throughout our entire region.”

“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.”

Since its inception, the Regional Regranting Program has grown steadily, adding new cities and regions to its national network each year. When COVID-19 hit, the Foundation’s Board authorized a programmatic pivot; the existing 16 partners in the Regional Regranting Program swiftly set up emergency relief funds to help artists cover basic living, medical, and childcare expenses.

In October 2020, the Regional Regranting Program doubled from 16 to 32 cities and regions nationwide, as a response to the pandemic. Northwest Film Forum joins Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) as the only two partner organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

The 16 new Regional Regranting partners are:

• Alabama – Alabama Contemporary Arts Center, SpaceOneEleven & Coleman Center for the Arts: Verdant Fund
• Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Contemporary: Nexus Fund
• Boston, MA – Tufts University Art Galleries: Collective Futures Fund
• Detroit, MI – CultureSource:: Flourish Fund
• Indianapolis, IN – Big Car: Power Plant Grant
• Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions: Lightning Fund
• Milwaukee, WI – Poor Farm & The Open: The Open Fund
• Nashville, TN – Tri-Star Arts: Current Art Fund
• Newark, NJ – Project for Empty Space: Newark Artist Accelerator
• Oklahoma – Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition: Thrive Grants
• Omaha, NE – Union Center for Contemporary Art: Populus Fund
• Phoenix & Tucson, AZ – Arizona State University Art Museum & Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson: Night Bloom Grants
• Providence, RI – Dirt Palace & Providence CollegeGalleries: The Interlace Grant Fund
• Raleigh & Greensboro, NC – Elsewhere & Visual Arts Exchange: Pivotal Fund
• Seattle, WA – Northwest Film Forum: Collective Power Fund
• San Juan, PR – Beta Local: Artist Fund

The original 16 Regional Regranting partners are:

• Albuquerque, NM – 516 Arts: Fulcrum Fund
• Baltimore, MD – BARCO: GritFund
• Chicago, IL – Gallery 400 & Threewalls: Propeller Fund
• Cleveland, OH – SPACES: The Satellite Fund
• Denver, CO – RedLine Contemporary Art Center: INSITE Fund
• Houston, TX – Aurora Picture Show / Diverse Works / Project Row Houses: The Idea Fund
• Kansas City, MO – Charlotte Street Foundation & Spencer Museum of Art: Rocket Grants
• Miami, FL – Locust Projects: WaveMaker Grants
• Minneapolis, MN – Midway Contemporary Art: Visual Arts Fund
• New Orleans, LA – Antenna, Ashé Cultural Art Center & Pelican Bomb: Platforms Fund
• Philadelphia, PA – Temple Contemporary: The Velocity Fund
• Portland, ME – Space Gallery: The Kindling Fund
• Portland, OR – Portland Institute for Contemporary Art: Precipice Fund
• Saint Louis, MO – The Luminary Arts: Futures Fund
• San Francisco, CA – Southern Exposure: Alternative Exposure
• Washington DC – Washington Project for the Arts: Wherewithal Grants

By December 2020, the Foundation will have given over $2 million to emergency artist relief funds across the 32 Regional Regranting organizations nationwide.

For more information about Northwest Film Forum’s Collective Power Fund, please visit bit.ly/collectivepowerfund or learn more about the Regional Regranting Program on the Warhol Foundation website.