Foundation for Contemporary Arts

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was established in 1963 as the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts by artists Jasper Johns, John Cage, and others.

FCA was founded on the principle of "Artists for Artists" support as visual artists united to sponsor performance artists through grants funded by the sale of donated artworks. The first benefit exhibition was at the Allan Stone Gallery in 1963. Among contributors to the Foundation's first benefit exhibition were Marcel Duchamp, Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Elaine de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol.

Since its establishment, FCA has awarded more than 2,500 non-restrictive grants to individual artists and art organizations through its seven grant programs: Grants to Artists, Emergency Grants, the biennial John Cage Award, the biennial Merce Cunningham Award, the annual Robert Rauschenberg Award, the annual Ellsworth Kelly Award, and the annual Dorothea Tanning Award.

FCA is located at 820 Greenwich Street in the West Village neighborhood of New York City.

In 1962 Jasper Johns, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and other painters and sculptors came together to assist Merce Cunningham and his dance company plan for a week of dance performances at a Broadway theater. In order to finance the performances, the artists arranged for a sale of their artworks at a benefit exhibition, the first of its kind, at the Allan Stone Gallery. Unfortunately, Cunningham's Broadway performances were not realized and the funds raised were then used to support the Cunningham company's world tour in 1964. The fund-raising efforts were so successful that there was money to spare, and when the artists asked Cunningham what he thought they should do with it, he replied, “We're all in the same boat - why don't you give it to other performing artists?"

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