Mellon Foundation

Announcing the 2025 Writing Freedom Fellows ?? Today, March 25, Haymarket Books and Mellon Foundation are excited to announce the second cohort of the Writing Freedom Fellowship. The Fellowship supports the notable and necessary works of writers impacted by the criminal legal system. It was created to provide writers in and outside carceral settings with professional development, mentorship, and opportunities for shared learning. Fellowship recipients advance their unique creative practices across fiction, poetry, and nonfiction forms, while together envisioning a world beyond the criminal legal system. ? The 2025 Writing Freedom Fellows: ? Ra Avis ? B Batchelor ? Jeremiah Bourgeois, J.D. ? Dante Clark ? Ajanaé Dawkins ? Curtis Dawkins ? Emile DeWeaver ? Michael Fischer ? Joe Garcia ? torrin a. greathouse ? Elizabeth Hawes ? Faylita Hicks ? Monterica Sadé Neil ? Geneva Phillips ? Janel Pineda ? Julie Poole ? Nicole Shawan J. ? Carla J. Simmons ? Jesús I. Valles ? Anonymous Learn more about the fellowship at on.mellon.org/4hIXrNK #MellonFoundation #HaymarketBooks #WritingFreedomFellowship #Writers #ImaginingFreedom #BeyondIncarceration

The Institute of Black Imagination offers an experiential journey into the Black imagination. Founded by Dario Calmese, the institute manages a unique storefront located in the Oculus of the World Trade Center, a podcast that invites unconventional thinkers, and a mission to revolutionize the narrative of Black design, creativity, and intellect.

Learn more about Mellon Foundation's Humanities in Place grant-making program, led by Program Director Justin Garrett Moore, FAICP, in Metropolis Magazine's latest issue. “All this work we’re doing—the objective of it is to build just communities,” says Moore. “We can have innovation and have caring in mind."

Led by Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz at Northwestern University, SLIPPAGE is a global think-tank exploring connections between performance, history, and technology. With support from the Mellon Foundation, the lab has launched a project that explores how Black dance practices across the US constitute African American identity. “Dance offers a lever of expression that exceeds language,” Professor DeFrantz says. “Dance, for me, offers a terrific way to think with curiosity and empathy.”

Mellon Foundation and Flamboyan Foundation are excited to announce that applications for the 2025 Letras Boricuas Fellowship are now open. Entering its fourth year, this fellowship will provide 24 Puerto Rican writers, both in the archipelago and in the diaspora, with an unrestricted $25,000 grant to support their creative endeavors. ??? The deadline to apply is April 30, 2025. Visit letrasboricuas.org for more details. ________________ ?La Fundación Mellon y el Fondo Flamboyán para las Artes están emocionados de anunciar que hoy, 18 de marzo de 2025, abre oficialmente la convocatoria para la beca Letras Boricuas 2025! Esta prestigiosa beca, que entra en su cuarto a?o, brindará a 24 escritores puertorrique?os, tanto del archipiélago como de la diáspora, una subvención sin restricciones de $25,000 para apoyar sus proyectos literarios. ??? La fecha límite para solicitar es el 30 de abril de 2025. Visita letrasboricuas.org para más detalles.

The Mellon Foundation has awarded Prospect Park Alliance a $1.5 million grant in support of its Relmagine Lefferts initiative. Relmagine Lefferts aims to commemorate Brooklyn's African and Indigenous histories by engaging #ProspectPark visitors through a series of outdoor exhibits for the Lefferts Historic House Museum.

Promoting educational access in correctional facilities, the JSTOR Access in Prison (JAIP) program has reached a remarkable milestone, now serving over one million incarcerated learners across the US. Supported by grants from the Mellon Foundation and the Ascendium Education Group, JAIP provides JSTOR access to more than 95% of state and federal prison facilities, with the program active in 24 countries worldwide.

The Gateways Festival Orchestra, composed of Black professional musicians from the nation's leading orchestras and music faculties, returns to Carnegie Hall and Eastman School of Music this Spring. By celebrating the tradition of Black classical artistry and providing a home for its musicians, Gateways Music Festival, Inc. connects communities through the transformative power of music.

The International African American Museum (IAAM) was awarded a $750k grant from the Mellon Foundation, bolstering its mission to serve as a leading international connector within the African American and Black Diaspora.

Presented by the Eames Institute, The Curious 100 is a celebration of one hundred leaders who are harnessing the transformative power of curiosity to solve today's most pressing problems. This year's cohort includes Mellon staff members Deana Haggag (Mellon Program Director of Arts & Culture) and Justin Garrett Moore, FAICP, (Mellon Program Director of Humanities in Place). Congratulations to our friends of Mellon and Mellon Grantee Partners, Jha D Amazi, Dario Calmese, Theaster Gates, Carol Coletta, Rahsaan Thomas, and Sean Sherman, for their recognition.