Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Commits $50 Million to Individual Artists

The Doris Duke Performing Artists Initiative is a special initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), providing pioneering support to individual artists while adding $50 million to the Foundation’s substantial existing commitment to contemporary dance, jazz, theatre and related interdisciplinary work. Over the course of ten years, the three-part Performing Artists Initiative will provide awards to more than 200 artists, as well as a range of dance companies, theaters and presenters.

The initiative will consist of artist residencies as well as two tiers of fellowships. Unlike other grants, the new DDCF fellowships will not be project based. Instead, they will give artists flexible, multi-year support, enabling them to take creative risks, explore new ideas, and pay for important needs such as healthcare. The fellowships will also offer grantees unprecedented incentives such as retirement funds and additional support for audience development and arts education.

Go, Ben!