The Supporting Act Foundation

There’s incredible creativity and artistic ability to be found all over the world, but if you’re from a marginalised background and hoping to get your foot through the industry doors, you can often find they seem to be shut in your face. The Supporting Act Foundation is an independent charity set up to support artists as they are starting out – particularly those who come from under-represented groups. Guided by the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the organisation strives for social, intersectional, and environmental justice—using the power and reach of the arts to make a difference for everyone.

Set up in 2021 by WeTransfer with a €1million donation and an ongoing 1% annual revenue pledge, the Netherlands-based organisation offers support for emerging artists and community-centred arts initiatives through a three-pronged grant programme. This includes individual creative bursaries, impact grants for new non-profit organisations that support artists, and community grants for artist-led initiatives that nourish emerging creative communities.

The first set of grants was awarded in 2022, channelling a total of €600,000 to 26 jury-selected individuals and organisations across six countries in Europe. Now, the Supporting Act is preparing to launch an open-call for a fresh round of grants in 2023, and growing the organisation to better serve emerging artists in Europe and beyond.

The Supporting Act Foundation and Zetteler share an ambition to entrench equity across the creative sector, and we are very excited to support this new but ambitious initiative as it sets out to build awareness of its work, and select a new cohort of creatives and community initiatives to support in 2023.

thesupportingact.org