Create & Connect

The Bed-Stuy Create & Connect Fund is a hyperlocal micro-grant program offered annually and managed by The LP. The Fund seeds and supports the creative ideas or civic actions of artists, cultural practitioners, community organizers, activists, and neighbors whose proposals aim to enrich community life in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

During the 2026 cycle, we will provide up to 20 grants in the amount of $1500 in support of project proposals. We are looking for creative initiatives or civic projects that are rooted in community, foster meaningful connections (please see examples below). In other words, we aim to support community building amongst neighbors through community-led action.

We encourage both individuals and collectives to apply if you have a new project or an ongoing initiative that positively impacts and engages a group, audience, or community in Bed-Stuy. We are particularly interested in proposals that nurture creativity, uplift local legacies, foster community wellness, or inspire collective advocacy.

Proposals that show potential for both creative and civic impact in Bed-Stuy will be prioritized.

Virtual Information Session

Coming Soon!

Applicants

Self-organized groups or collectives (e.g., sewing clubs, writers groups, mutual aid groups); formal organizations (e.g., block associations, tenant associations); and individuals (at least 18 years of age) living, working, or otherwise committed to and invested in Bed-Stuy are eligible to apply. Please note the legacy of place is a core value of this fund, so proposals must be free for attendees and responsive to or centered within the Bed-Stuy neighborhood and its communities.

Prioritization List

We also see the allocation of this fund as a way to help counter structural, systemic injustices in Bed-Stuy. Therefore, we will prioritize:

• Proposals led by residents born and/or raised in Bed-Stuy, generational Bed-Stuy residents, and residents who have lived in Bed-Stuy for more than 10 years
• Proposals led by individuals who have been displaced from Bed-Stuy as a result of gentrification and lack of affordable housing
• Proposals led by individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, Native and/or People of Color
• Proposals led by individuals in the disability community, including immunocompromised individuals
• Proposals led by individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+

Please note that prioritization does not guarantee selection but informs evaluation.

Types of Eligible Proposals

Proposed projects must include a publicly accessible component that activates or takes place in Bed-Stuy between July 2026 and September 2027 and provides Bed-Stuy community members with the opportunity to experience, interact with, or contribute to meaningful initiatives across creative and civic practice.

Public components may be held in-person, virtually, or some combination of both. Public components can include, but are not limited to, panel discussions, presentations, webinars, IG Lives, recording sessions, exhibitions, performances, festivals, listening parties, screenings, readings, and creative workshops.

Preference is given to public programs or initiatives that are held in community spaces outside of The Laundromat Project (i.e., libraries, parks, gardens, senior centers, storefront shops, restaurants, laundromats). In our listening sessions, we’ve heard the need to amplify creative programming across the Bed-Stuy community and encourage applicants to develop projects in collaboration with these third spaces. We encourage applicants to seek accessible spaces, including ADA-compliant spaces, as well as note the capacity and accessibility limitations of the chosen location(s) in event details and promotional materials.

Eligible proposals may include, but are not limited to:

• Workshops and Classes
  • Art-making (e.g., painting, sculpture, printmaking, film, collage, dance, music);
  • Skill-sharing (e.g., Creating an Artist Portfolio, Grant Writing 101) 
  • Cultural activities (e.g., folk arts & traditions, ritual, storytelling) 
  • Community Teach-Ins & Public Education Workshops
• Storytelling Initiatives
  • Community Podcasts;
  • Story Circles & Readings;
  • Oral History, Material, and Digital Archives
• Public Performances or Outdoor Activations
  • Dance (e.g. hip hop, jazz, folk);
  • Theater (e.g., drama, comedy, musicals); 
  • Spoken Word Poetry or Open-mic;
• Community and Place-based Projects
  • Public Murals;
  • Walking Tours;
  • Public Installations;
  • Creative Scavenger Hunts;
  • Sidewalk Chalk Art Competitions;
  • Community Bike Rides or Roller Skating activations;
  • Mapping and Wayfinding projects
• Gatherings for Intergenerational Community
  • Sewing or Knitting Clubs;
  •  Community Book Clubs;
  • Game Nights;
  • Writing Groups;
  • Singing Circles
• Civic Engagement
  • Community Organizing;
  • Food or Clothing Drives;
  • Community Resource Pantries;
  • Wellness initiatives (i.e. herbalism & healing, yoga, double dutch, tennis);
  • Campaigns that strengthen “connections to place” in Bed-Stuy;
  • Mail or postal projects that encourage social connectedness;
  • Innovative activations around mutual aid or cultural organizing;
  • Community Gardening, Composting, or Sustainable Farming programs
• Support towards arts and cultural festivals including art making at block parties or fairs

Types of Ineligible Proposals:

• Solo production of artworks made for personal practice
• Proposals with no involvement, impact, or engagement with additional stakeholders or a broader community in Bed-Stuy
• Projects, events, and/or activities that require an admission or participation fee
• Proposals that seek to fund the operation of a business
• Proposals that seek to fund the product development or sale of a commercial good

All proposals must include a public component or activation that takes place within the neighborhood of Bed-Stuy, which is geographically bounded by Classon Ave, Atlantic Ave, Eastern Parkway, Broadway, and Flushing Ave.

At The Laundromat Project, artists are community organizers, and community organizers are artists. To be an artist is to be a creative problem-solver. Creative problem-solvers tap into community and utilize resources to create and manifest ideas.

By The LP’s definition, we consider art as any cultural tradition, practice, object, or action made with creative intent and grounded in community. This includes the visual, media, literary, and performing arts, as well as archival curation, scholarship, oral history, education, healing, gardening, community organizing, activism, and other modes of cultural production.

You do not have to consider yourself an artist or community organizer to apply.

Learn how we define art at The LP!

ELIGIBILITY

APPLICATION SUPPORT QUESTIONS

SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION

Notifications

DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS

If you have further questions, you can contact the LP Artist & Community Development team by email at [email protected].