Art.coop is a network of artists and groups who make the Solidarity Economy irresistible.

Our Vision

Artists who are fed up with the current system are connected and know their power. There is a hub where artists get money, ideas, and tools to strengthen their communities. Art.coop is part of the movement to remember future art worlds with community-control at the core.

Our Mission

We are working for a future in which artists closest to the pain of an extractive economy know their power and use it to dismantle the current system. We resource a community of artists committed to building the art worlds we want. Art.coop is located in the U.S. but is rooted in the international Solidarity Economy movement.

Who We Are

Art.coop is a collective that exists to grow an arts/culture movement rooted in solidarity by centering artists and cultural workers making systems-change irresistible. In 2021, we launched with a report and held Study-into-Action with 105 cultural innovators and collaborated with Grantmakers in the Arts for our Move the Money Series. Listen to our podcast and take free online courses. Find us on IG or Twitter.

Announcing

Remember the Future is a pilot fellowship Art.coop is organizing to honor the power of group work in the arts and beyond. Remember the Future awards a community of arts and culture groups with $15,000 each plus technical assistance for the year.

Arts groups around the country are fed up with our current system and are inspiring others with economic practices of shared power and shared wealth. The movement they are part of is called the Solidarity Economy, where cultural practice and redistribution go together.

Meet the Remember the Future Fellows

Acres of Ancestry is a multidisciplinary, cooperative nonprofit ecosystem rooted in Black ecocultural traditions and textile arts to regenerate custodial landownership, ecological stewardship, and food and fiber economies in the South.

Instagram | YouTube

Land & Housing.
Food & Farming.
Money & Finance.

Fiber Arts.
Cultural Organizing.
Traditional & Ancestral Arts.

Artisans Cooperative is a cooperative online handmade marketplace promoting creativity, supporting artist livelihoods, creating opportunities for social impact art collectives, and connecting people through an equitable artistic community.

Discord | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Reddit | Mastodon

Art, Media, & Technology.
Work & Labor.

Craft.
Traditional Arts.
Visual Arts.

Groupmuse is a worker- and musician-owned cooperative seeking to uplift artists and strengthen broader community bonds through live, intimate performances of historically-rooted music.

Facebook | Instagram | TikTok

Art, Media, & Technology.
Work & Labor.

Music.
Performance Arts.

Means TV is the home for worker-owned entertainment. Financed through subscriptions, and free of any advertisements or venture capital, Means TV seeks to chart an independent path in building a cooperative media organization lasting for generations to come.

Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | X | YouTube

Art, Media, & Technology.

Cultural Organizing.
Fashion.
Film.
Music.

Ohketeau is a place for Indigenous scholars and educators to undermine harmful narratives, stereotypes, and biases about Indigenous cultures and actively acknowledge and take steps to remove invisibility within mainstream settler society.

Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Art, Media, & Technology.
Land & Housing.

Cultural Organizing.
Interdisciplinary Arts.
Traditional Arts.

Question Culture practices transformative justice and cooperative economics and spreads it through pop culture through artist management, media production and creative direction.

Instagram | Film

Art, Media, & Technology.
Work & Labor.

Cultural Organizing.
Digital Arts.
Film.
Journalism & Literature.

Why Remember the Future ?

We know that practices of cooperation are as ancient as culture itself, and that cultural workers have always been remembering ancestral practices as they build the futures of care that we need. This is why we call the fellowship, Remember the Future.

Art.coop’s mission is to redistribute resources, connections and tools to arts & culture groups who are challenging dominant paradigms in the economy.

We believe that the result of the Fellowship will be increased capacity and stronger connections across collectives, co-operatives, and other members of the Solidarity Economy movement. We affirm that culture shapes what we imagine is possible for social movements, and that movements strengthen the arts. We aim to demonstrate the interdependence between arts & culture and the Solidarity Economy movement.

How were the Fellows selected?

Each of the Remember the Future fellows were nominated through a democratic process with the team of cultural workers at Art.coop. Thirteen groups were nominated, from which six were selected.

The Remember the Future fellowship resources arts and culture initiatives that are:

based in the lands colonially known as the United States;
a group (2+ people with the intention to grow);
2+ years or older;
working for economic justice (i.e. fighting for better wages, equitable housing, systems change, getting resources for their communities, etc.);
trying to live their values by following Solidarity Economy principles such as interdependence, cooperation, equity, and pluralism;
reaching a wide audience, making inspiring art, and/or strengthening social movement(s); and
led by a diverse group of people.

Want to fund the #ArtWorldsWeWant?

Write to Gabrielle Chapman at gabrielle@art.coop.

Follow Art.coop on Instagram

📢 Meet the Art.coop team! 📢

The last few weeks we introduced our new teammates Lydia, Ethan and Gabbi, and now we’re going to reintroduce the rest of the team!

Did you know that Robin joined Art.coop in 2023 as they were working with our ve

#StudyIntoAction opportunity with Art.coop teammate, Ebony aka @cooperativejournal THIS WEDNESDAY 🕯️

“This Black Study Session will introduce the solidarity economy, explore connections between the solidarity economy and Kwanzaa, and engage i

▶️ Today we want to make sure you follow @theartrebellion and their work to reframe the conversation around artist pay and exploitation.

They just launched an “Artist Pay” exhibit last month at University of Michigan. Congratulations Ma

Ecosystem highlight 🌐 Mark your calendar!

#Repost from @ujimaboston

What does utopia look like in Black? Join us for an inspiring conversation featuring Dr. Stacey Sutton, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illin

NEWS: Lydia from Arts Business Collaborative joins Art.coop!

Lydia Blankenship (she/her) is a multi-ethnic transracial adoptee, a mom, an artist, and systems builder. She grew up predominantly in the Middle East and Central Asia which was very forma

Art.coop is thrilled to launch the REMEMBER THE FUTURE fellowship to honor the power of group work in the arts and beyond!

The fellowship awards a community of arts and culture groups with $15,000 each plus technical assistance for the year.

Arts

Why Remember the Future?

We know that practices of cooperation are as ancient as culture itself, and that cultural workers have always been remembering ancestral practices as they build the futures of care that we need. This is why we call the fello

Join our mailing list

 We provide artists working on economic justice with resources, money, ideas, and tools. 

Podcast

We produced a a pilot season podcast about the Solidarity Economy and the artists and culture workers who are building it in their communities.

Listen to the podcast here.

Courses

Creatives around the world are working together, placing people and the planet over profit to create thriving homes, businesses, investments, and creative work. You can too.

Take our online courses for free right here.

If you would like to learn about the solidarity economy right now, we suggest that everyone reads these texts and attends Economics for Emancipation.

Propagation Pool

The Propagation Pool is a project-based grant for creatives in the Solidarity Economy which redistributes $40,000 in grants ranging from $500 to $5,000.

The Propagation Pool builds on our 2021 report, Solidarity, Not Charity, which calls for a grantmaking process determined by movement leaders who are accountable to an organized base.

Reflecting on the work of our partners at the New Economy Coalition, A Blade of Grass, US Department of Arts & Culture, US Solidarity Economy Network, Creative Wildfire, Boston Ujima Project and practicing artists in the Solidarity Economy movement, Art.coop has designed this application to meet artists’ needs within the bounds of our fiscal sponsorship agreement with Movement Strategy Center.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any restrictions?

Grant monies are open for use, as long as they adhere to 501(c)(3) and public charity regulations and are, thus, not used for lobbying, private benefit, or violations of policy.

Use-rights or intellectual property relationships for any work created through resources from the Pool are determined by the artists who make the work.

Who can apply?

Any individual artist or group of artists can apply as long as they are…

Committed to the Solidarity Economy movement
Able to receive taxable income in the U.S.
Have a creative endeavor within the Solidarity Economy ecosystem that they would like support with.

What projects are eligible?

Art.coop defines Propagation Pool projects as any efforts that sustain the Solidarity Economy through art and culture. This includes short-term projects, but prioritizes practices that build infrastructure, provide knowledge hubs, and foster trusting relationships.

How are applications submitted?

Applicants can apply here.

Art.coop uses a rolling application process to move money to support artistic endeavors that resist the dominant extractive economy and build a new one.

Artists can use a written, voice recording, or voice call application for this grant. Our Artist Organizer, Sruti, is on hand to receive voice call applications via Zoom; you may schedule a time with them through the application.

How are applications reviewed?

Propagation Pool applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis by the Art.coop staff against the eligibility criteria above. Applications are reviewed individually, not in comparison to each other.

The Art.coop team is focused on engaging a diversity of strategies to strengthen the Solidarity Economy with art, and will accordingly redistribute resources to the projects that apply.

Currently, we are prioritizing applications that support narrative-building projects about the Solidarity Economy, meet initial incorporation and infrastructural costs, and/or challenge overt and covert fascism.

Applications are currently reviewed as they arrive by our staff of Solidarity Economy artists and stewards. In the future, the Pool may expand to have a council of elders who help distribute grants.

What is the timeline for this grant?

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and the Art.coop team reviews requests as they arrive in our inbox. When funds are fully distributed, Art.coop will notify the public until the next year’s Pool opens.

Creatives can apply at any point during the year, as long as funds are available.

Applicants can expect to hear back from Art.coop within one month of application, and if awarded the grant, will receive monies within 2 weeks.

Upon receipt of grant and completion of the project, recipients must share a budget and narrative explaining the use of funds.

Who can I contact with questions?

Please write to Sruti Suryanarayanan at sruti@art.coop with any questions.

The cultural economy we want already exists - and can be strengthened with intention.

Solidarity Economy & Culture Models

Here are a few examples of arts and culture groups and initiatives in the Solidarity Economy. As shown throughout the report, all networks and infrastructure in the Solidarity Economy—regardless of their emphasis on arts and culture—will support artists and culture-bearers. See the list below and add yourself to our internal Directory.