Artist residencies can be life-changing for artists and the organizations that host them. At Artist Communities Alliance (ACA), we know that meaningful placements don’t happen by chance — they’re built through trust, shared values, and sustained support.

Since launching its strategic plan in 2021, Artist Communities Alliance has centered the concept of equitable capacity: the organizational muscle needed to enact equity across all areas of practice. With tools like the Five Pillars of a Healthy Residency, ACA is helping residencies transform not just their programming, but their culture.

In March of 2023 ACA received a $3 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, its biggest and most transformative grant to date.

Artist Communities Alliance's Equitable Capacity Workshops launch in 2021 to help artist residencies develop and enact fair, just, and inclusive practices.

ACA awarded $720,000 from McKnight Foundation in October 2020 to develop consortium program.