The Open Fund Artist Project Grant
The Open Fund Artist Project Grant supports visual artist initiatives that are experimental, collaborative, and public-oriented. This includes wide-reaching and innovative projects that are unique to communities and the culture at large.
The Open Fund is administered by two Wisconsin artist-run spaces, The Poor Farm and The Open. Since its inception in 2020, The Open Fund has distributed $240,000 to artists in Milwaukee County.
In 2025 with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Re-granting Program and additional support from The Ruth Foundation for the Arts, we are pleased to announce funding eligibility will expand to artists throughout the entire state of Wisconsin.
About The Open: The Open began in 2016 in Riverwest, Milwaukee, as a utility to support ephemeral art-makers and social platforms. It hosts a range of artist-operated venues. This project is an experiment in durational cultural investment, foregrounding the importance of place and alternative economic exchanges. The Open is run by artist John Riepenhoff and collaborators.
About The Poor Farm: The Poor Farm is an art experiment founded in 2008 by artists Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam at the former Waupaca County Poor Farm (built in 1876) in Little Wolf, Wisconsin. It is a not-for-profit project space and residency that supports artists and their ideas.
The Open Fund is administered by artists
John Riepenhoff and Nomka Enkhee.
The Outlet presents The Warming Hive at The Open, 2017
The Poor Farm, 2020
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Re-granting Program
The Regional Regranting Program partners with local arts organizations around the country to make grants to artists and collectives for projects that chart new creative territory in their communities; participation is by invitation only.
Each partner in the network creates its own program tailored to the specific needs and artistic identity of its region. Established in 2007, the network is currently active in 35 cities and regions, supporting artists whose work falls outside the scope of traditional presenting organizations and/or funding opportunities.
The Ruth Foundation for the Arts
Ruth Arts is dedicated to meeting the evolving needs and lived experiences of artists, communities, and arts organizations whose work is anchored by the visual and the performing arts.
Based in Milwaukee and national in scope, Ruth Arts honors our benefactor Ruth DeYoung Kohler II (1941–2020) with inventive approaches to philanthropy that are rooted in creativity, experimentation, and access. Ruth Arts currently supports a dynamic cultural landscape in three distinct ways: grant programs for organizations nominated via Artist Choice, continuing Ruth’s personal giving, and an invite-only initiatives program designed as multi-year thinking partnerships.
If you have additional questions about the program please contact:
Nomka Enkhee at The Open (414) 226-1978 or question@theopen.fund
John Riepenhoff at The Open (414) 226-1978 or apply@theopen.fund
Michelle Grabner at The Poor Farm (708) 305-2657 or michellegrabner@gmail.com