Arts

"The arts belong to everyone." So said Wallace's co-founder, Lila Acheson Wallace. Wallace works to ensure the vitality of the arts and to engage more young people in high-quality arts learning.

Arts Initiatives

Wallace has worked for decades to help arts organizations broaden and diversify their audiences and to expand arts opportunities for youth. Our work today focuses on arts organizations of color and their work in communities.

Advancing Well-Being in the Arts

This initiative supports and seeks to learn more about arts organizations founded by, with, and for communities of color.

Youth Arts Initiative

Wallace began the Youth Arts Initiative in 2014 to help close gaps in access to high-quality arts education for young people.

Building Audiences for Sustainability

Twenty-five performing arts organizations sought to find out whether and how they could expand their audiences and if their efforts could bolster an organization's finances and stability.

Wallace Excellence Awards

Fifty-four arts organizations received funding to develop and test ways to expand, diversify, and more deeply engage their audiences.

State Arts Partnerships for Cultural Participation (START)

Wallace gave grants to 13 state arts agencies to support programs, research, and outreach efforts to help make the arts a bigger part of people's lives.

Where we've worked

Shaded states represent where The Wallace Foundation has worked within the arts focus area.