Cultural Exchange Fund Travel Grants
The Cultural Exchange Fund (CEF) is a travel subsidy program supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to assist U.S. based presenters in building partnerships and collaborations with international touring artists, companies and their collaborators and in seeing the work of artists from around the world in its cultural context. The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (Arts Presenters) recognizes that promoting global cultural exchange is essential for audience and community engagement in the performing arts and provides an opportunity for presenting professionals to expand and deepen their knowledge of artists, traditions and cultures from around the world. In promoting cross-cultural arts programming, Arts Presenters strongly encourages travel to the following locations, including but not limited to: the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Arts Presenters will award travel subsidies to individual presenters, presenting organizations and to groups of presenters traveling to see the work of artists, companies and/or to develop and advance projects with international artists and their collaborators. All applicants must be active members of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.
A presenter who is unable to make the proposed trip has the option to apply to send a manager, agent or producer, who is working with them to make the trip, on the presenting organization's behalf. In those instances, the presenting organization that is unable to make the trip must include a letter specifying the scope and timeline for the project by the presenting organization (for individual travel) or a letter specifying the manager, agent or producer's role in conjunction with the goals and activities of the group(for group travel).
For-profit organizations are not eligible for Cultural Exchange funds. The Cultural Exchange Fund does not fund artists that are performing or traveling to meet with international presenters about performance opportunities, nor does it fund managers, agents or producers working to expand business rosters.
