Villa Albertine Opens the 2026-2027 Call for Applications for Albertine Grants in Visual Art, Dance, Music, and Theater

New York, December 1, 2025 — Villa Albertine is pleased to announce the launch of its call for applications for Albertine Grants, a wide-ranging program that supports the works of French and American creators and organizations engaged in contemporary visual art, theater, dance, and music.

Albertine Grants consists of four categories of professional activity: Étant Donnés (visual art), Albertine Music, FUSED: French-US Exchange in Dance, and Theatre and New Forms, and will fund projects taking place from May 1, 2026 through August 31, 2028. 

Grants will be funded within three specific timeframes:  

• May 1, 2026 and August 31, 2027 for FUSED and Theatre and New Forms 
• September 1, 2026 and August 31, 2027 for Albertine Music 
• September 1, 2026 and August 31, 2028 for Étant Donnés 

Applications for the above calls for projects will be accepted from December 1, 2025, until January 30, 2026 (23:59 ET). 

Albertine Grants are made possible through the support of Albertine Foundation, the French Ministry of European & Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Culture, and the Institut français. Program-specific support is as follows:   

• Étant Donnés is made possible thanks to the exclusive sponsorship of the AXA Foundation for Human Progress, in partnership with ADAGP (société des droits d’auteurs). 
• Albertine Music Grants are made possible thanks to the support of Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique (SACEM), and the Centre National de la Musique (CNM). 
• Albertine Grants FUSED are made possible thanks to the generosity of Denise Littlefield Sobel.      
• Albertine Grants THEATRE & NEW FORMS are made possible thanks to the generosity of Mélanie and Frédéric Biessy.  

Background and criteria for each grant category are as follows:  

Étant Donnés: Étant Donnés aims to foster, promote, and support artistic creations through cultural institutions and artistic exchanges. For over 30 years, Étant Donnés has aimed to strengthen ties between France and the United States in the field of visual art by encouraging active collaboration and long-lasting partnerships between French artists, curators, and collectives, and American curators and cultural institutions.  

The program fosters the discovery of emerging talent while maintaining engagement with established artists, prioritizing solo exhibitions, productions, and new commissions. 

Étant Donnés disburses funds for the following projects 

• Creative Grants for projects in the United States and France: Grants are issued to provide financial support to American and French nonprofit institutions (museums, art centers, and others) seeking to organize exhibitions featuring living French or France-based artists and American artists, respectively. Priority is given to exhibitions and new commissions.  
• Curatorial Fellowships for American curators wishing to conduct research in France. These fellowships offer funding to American curators who desire to conduct research on the French visual arts scene. Candidates are encouraged to connect with art professionals and other researchers as well as with institutions, universities, art schools, or private and public archives in preparation for future exhibitions or collaborations. 

Jury: Ėtant Donnés grantees will be selected by an independent committee comprised of French and American curators and directors of art institutions.  

Eligibility: Étant Donnés eligibility requirements can be found on our webpage. 

Albertine Music: Designed to encourage, promote, and support artistic musical performances, Albertine Music is a comprehensive grant program for projects between French and American artists and ensembles in the fields of jazz and classical music – from Baroque to contemporary.  

Albertine Music provides financial support for the following types of endeavors 

• Creative Grants for projects jointly conceived by French and American professional musicians and institutions, including commissions by American ensembles, French composers or composers based in France, as well as US premieres of French works. 
• Touring Grants where touring projects of French or France-based musicians and ensembles are supported, with a minimum of three performances in the US. 
• Educational grants which support educational and artistic exchange programs, including master classes, workshops, and short-term residencies in US academic institutions and schools. 

Jury: Albertine Music grantees will be decided by a jury of French and American professionals. To ensure a balanced approach, two distinct juries will oversee project selection: one dedicated to jazz and the other to classical music (from Baroque to contemporary). 

Eligibility: Albertine Music eligibility requirements can be found on our webpage.  

FUSED – French-US Exchange in Dance: Established in 2004, FUSED supports collaborative contemporary dance projects between France and the US that showcase the cultural and artistic diversity of both nations’ contemporary dance scenes by awarding grants to nonprofit venues.  

FUSED allocates financial support for works of the following types 

• Touring Grants for a tour, series, or large-scale presentation of productions. This funding is dedicated to French productions in the US and US productions at major international festivals in France. 
• Creative Grants that support the development of French American contemporary dance productions. Programs for consideration include collaboration between a US-based company and a France-based choreographer, or a France-based company and a US-based choreographer.  

Jury: FUSED grantees are evaluated by a peer artistic committee comprised of French and American performing arts professionals.

Eligibility: FUSED eligibility requirements can be found on our webpage.  

Theatre & New Forms: Since 1999, Villa Albertine has proudly undertaken a comprehensive program dedicated to theater. This initiative aims to encourage and support collaborative endeavors between French and American artists in contemporary theater, circus, puppetry, street theater or hybrid forms by allocating grants to French and American nonprofit venues. 

Theatre & New Forms issues grants for the following initiatives 

• Touring Grants that support the tour, series, or large-scale presentation of productions. This funding is dedicated to French productions in the US and US productions at major international festivals in France. 
• Creative Grants supporting creations and commissionsenvisioned collaboratively by France- and US based artists including US productions of text-based projects by contemporary French or francophone playwrights translated into English (note: classical French theater is ineligible), and US productions that involve a France-based director collaborating with a US-based company on a contemporary theater, puppetry, circus, or street theater production. 

Jury: Theatre & New Forms grantees will be named following the decision by a committee of French and American performing arts professionals.  

Eligibility: Theatre & New Forms eligibility requirements can be found on our webpage.  

Timeline: The Albertine Grants call for applications opens on December 1, 2025 and will close on January 30, 2026. Candidates that apply will first be evaluated by Villa Albertine program staff, with finalists selected by committees of French and American jurors with expertise in visual art, music, dance, theater, and performing arts. Winners will be announced in the spring of 2026.  

“The programs that encompass Albertine Grants, including visual art, music, dance, theater, circus, puppetry,  street theater, and other disciplines, are mainstays in programming offered by Villa Albertine in the US and France, and have served to enrich the lives of countless citizens in both countries,” said Mohamed Bouadballah, Cultural Counselor of France in the United States and Director of Villa Albertine. “While the works of our grantees have been staged in some of the world’s most recognized arts venues, the Albertine Grants programs, which include outreach to schools and in underserved communities, ensure that those exhibitions and performances are also accessible to a diversity of peoples in age, location, and background. Our support for their artistic endeavors is as broad as their creative vision.”