Mellon partners with nonprofit organizations whose work aligns with our current strategies.

With each turn of each project and new idea, our collective practice shifts, merges, and emerges to create new and beautiful patterns of endless possibility.

A Prism for Fresh Vision

Rehearsal for “After Sorrow.” Photo: Lia Chang, courtesy of Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. 1996.

A man wearing glasses and a patterned sweater sits indoors, touching his forehead thoughtfully, with two other people visible in the background.

Ping Chong Retired After 50 Years of Groundbreaking Artistry. Here’s What Happened Next. 

Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe is being relocated to Kaw Nation land. Photo: Mike Gunnoe, courtesy of the University of Kansas Endowment Association 

In a clearing at sunrise, a tall red stone boulder sits on a pedestal made of smaller stones. The boulder is almost as tall as the trees around it. 

The Kaw Nation Reclaims a Sacred Stone

We are able to collectively get all this history together and make context out of it, but we rely on our community for its history.

In centering voices that have often been sidelined and silenced, we challenge the status quo.

The Legacy of Black Life on the North Shore

Father and Son Banquet at the Emerson YMCA, circa 1917. Photo: courtesy of Helen Cromer Cooper

A gathering of African American men and boys seated at a formal dinner in the early 20th century

The Nation’s First Municipal Reparations Program, Grounded in Black History

Media AP

Former Librarian of Congress, fired by Trump, vows to improve public information in new Mellon role

The future is the rest of society recognizing that so many answers are within the disability communities.

Art was my first language. It was how I communicated with my family and friends when spoken language wasn’t fully accessible to me.

“Dinner Table Syndrome” by Nancy Rourke. Oil painting on canvas. Photo courtesy of the artist

Oil painting of red table with hearing relatives and a Deaf person in black and white color

Lessons in Creativity from Two Artists and Disability Futures Fellows 

For Freedoms is a call to action for people who are creatively inclined to become civically engaged.

The Making of Four Freedoms 

“Freedom of Worship” by Hank Willis Thomas and Emily Shur in collaboration with Eric Gottesman and Wyatt Gallery of For Freedoms. From Four Freedoms, 2018. Archival pigment print.

An artwork depicts the side of faces of people of different ethnic backgrounds, many wearing a range of scarves, turbans, and other culturally significant headpieces. 

You Are Now Entering a Democracy Reimagined

The protected Cementerio Del Barrio de los Lipanes. Video: MASS Architects courtesy of Big Bend Conservation Alliance

An aerial view of Cementerio Del Barrio de los Lipanes

In Far West Texas, a Sacred Burial Site is Reclaimed Through Partnership and Perseverance

The “Gang of 19” protests in 1978—which took place at the location of the Civic Center District in Denver—helped spur the Americans with Disabilities Act. Its historical significance is being foregrounded as monuments-related planning continues for the Civic Center Park. Photography: from the Denver Public Library Digital Collection courtesy of the City & County of Denver.

The “Gang of 19” protests in 1978

The City of Denver is asking fundamental questions to uncover hidden truths about its monuments with the help of the Mellon Foundation.

The Revelatory Powers of Community Engagement

How do libraries facilitate civil and community engagement?

Event America Library

Originally livestreamed on October 27, 2022. This event included Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander, Tracie Hall, and John Szabo.

America is at the Library—Not Just the Ballot Box

Dr. Carla Hayden stands on a balcony

Dr. Hayden, the former 14th Librarian of Congress and the first woman and first African American to have held the position, joins the Foundation in an advisory capacity.

Mellon Foundation Announces Appointment of Dr. Carla Hayden as Mellon Senior Fellow 

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The Mellon Foundation announced the election of Margaret Anadu, Senior Partner at private investment firm The Vistria Group, to its Board of Trustees. 


Impact Investment Leader Margaret Anadu Joins Mellon Foundation’s Board of Trustees

Foundations donate $1.5M to help restore historic Black church in Memphis gutted by arson

The fellowships matter because “it’s important to hear from this community that we don’t hear from,” said Mellon Program Director Margaret Morton.

Media InsidePhilanthropy (1)

Mellon and Haymarket Books Back Justice-System-Impacted Writers

Program Officer at Mellon Foundation Stephanie Ybarra announced exciting news of a $1.5 million dollar grant from the Mellon Foundation in support of HERE's new leadership team.

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$1.5 Million Mellon Foundation Grant Announced at BEYOND: HERE's Gala

Mellon makes grants to support communities through the power of the arts and humanities

Get news about what we are supporting and more by subscribing to our newsletter.

University of California Berkely campus. Photo: Elena Zhukova for Mellon Foundation

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Civic Engagement

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

Could the arts and humanities fuel an engaged citizenry?

Mellon makes grants to support communities through the power of the arts and humanities

Our community in focus

Ping Chong Retired After 50 Years of Groundbreaking Artistry. Here’s What Happened Next.