The Impact of your Gift
Why the arts. Why now.
The arts enrich our lives, strengthen our communities,
and fuel a vibrant regional economy.
The arts enrich our lives, strengthen our communities and fuel a vibrant regional economy.
Funding Arts. Fueling Community.
The ArtsWave Endowment provides permanent, stable funding to sustain artistic excellence and expand arts access for generations to come.
ArtsWave supports more than 150 organizations, artists, and projects through funding, services and advocacy. Their concerts, performances, exhibitions, arts education and public art bring people together, strengthen our economy and make our region a more vibrant place to live and work.
-
General Endowment fundGeneral Endowment fund
-
Fine Arts FundFine Arts Fund
-
More AccessMore Access
-
More VoicesMore Voices
-
Power of HerPower of Her
General Endowment Fund
Supporting the greatest opportunity or need.
Supports all four impact areas wherever the opportunity or need is greatest, giving ArtsWave the flexibility to respond to what the next century brings.
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Artistic excellence, leadership and long-term vitality of the institutions that help define our region.
Sustaining Excellence for the Future
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, one of the oldest orchestras in the United States, is in a new artistic chapter under music director Cristian Măcelaru. His vision includes deepening the orchestra’s connection to Cincinnati, expanding its artistic range and pursuing new recording and international touring opportunities.
Măcelaru is helping shape the orchestra’s future through new repertoire, work by living composers, key musician appointments and stronger relationships with Cincinnati’s neighborhoods and artists.
That’s what the Fine Arts Fund supports: the artistic excellence, leadership and long-term vitality of the institutions that help define our region.
Fine Arts Fund
Preserving excellence.
Sustaining legacy.
Cincinnati’s largest arts institutions are beloved cultural anchors that shape our region’s identity, economy and quality of life. The Fine Arts Fund provides long-term support to help sustain these institutions and the artistic excellence they bring to our community.
More Access
Removing barriers.
Creating opportunity.
An arts ecosystem only works if people can participate in it. More Access expands opportunities to experience and discover the arts by addressing barriers such as cost, strengthening arts education and helping more people across our region find their way into the arts.
More Arts, More Kids
Teachers saw the difference firsthand: 100% said the experience encouraged critical and creative thinking, and 100% believed it increased students’ appreciation for art.
Transforming Arts Education Through Access
Through More Arts, More Kids, ArtsWave is helping make sure students across the region experience the arts firsthand.
In its first year, the program brought thousands of students to our region’s premier arts institutions, including 2,500 third graders to The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, 2,500 fourth graders to the Cincinnati Art Museum and 1,000 first graders to a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert at Music Hall.
Teachers saw the difference firsthand: 100% said the experience encouraged critical and creative thinking, and 100% believed it increased students’ appreciation for art.
That’s what More Access makes possible: opening the doors to meaningful arts experiences for more people across our region.
Artist Noam Denenberg
“[The Inspired Artist Grant] didn’t just fund two new works of art. It helped me believe that building a life as an artist isn’t something reserved for someone else. It’s something I’m already doing.”
What Happens When an Artist Has Room to Grow
For artist Noam Denenberg, the Inspire Artist Grant created something bigger than financial support: the freedom to take creative risks.
With ArtsWave’s investment, he was able to experiment with new materials, create two ambitious new works and exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center. Just as important, the grant cohort connected him with other artists and helped strengthen his confidence in his own creative voice.
“It didn’t just fund two new works of art. It helped me believe that building a life as an artist isn’t something reserved for someone else. It’s something I’m already doing.”
More Voices creates room for emerging artists to experiment, grow and bring new perspectives to Cincinnati’s arts community.
More Voices
Expanding creativity.
Elevating new perspectives.
Some of the most important artists and arts organizations of the next century may be just getting started. More Voices supports emerging artists, organizations and creative expression, creating space for new perspectives and voices to become part of our region’s cultural future.
Power of Her
Honoring a legacy of women’s leadership.
Visionary women have helped shape Cincinnati’s cultural legacy for generations. Power of Her carries that legacy forward with permanent support for women artists and leaders who will help define the next century of arts in our region.
Hillary Mitchell, Boardway Bound
That’s what Power of Her makes possible: investing in the women artists and leaders who will help shape our region’s cultural future.
Growing Into Arts Leadership
For Hillary Mitchell, Boardway Bound created a path from a personal love of the arts to a meaningful leadership role in Cincinnati’s cultural community.
As part of ArtsWave’s 2025 Boardway Bound cohort, Mitchell brought her professional experience in marketing together with her passion for the arts. Today, she serves on the board of Summermusik, using those skills to support the organization while continuing to grow as a leader herself.
Since 2004, Boardway Bound has trained and placed more than 500 people on local arts boards, helping organizations strengthen leadership, broaden community representation and connect with the next generation of civic leaders.
“We are a city that’s so rich with art, and it makes working a corporate job here something that’s really rich with beauty and variety.”
That’s what Power of Her makes possible: investing in the women artists and leaders who will help shape our region’s cultural future.
Your Legacy, Our Shared Future.
The original 1927 Visionaries could not have predicted how their gifts would compound over time, but they trusted the arts to create lasting value.
They gave our generation a remarkable inheritance. Today, we have the opportunity to provide the same gift to those who come after us.