Materials for the Arts (MFTA) is launching a new free shopping program for artists who receive city-funded grants on October 19, nearly three weeks after Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Department for Cultural Affairs (DCLA) announced that they are doubling grants for individual artists and small nonprofits in New York City.
The new MFTA program functions as a free supply base for the selected artists, who can now receive up to $10,000 in city-funded grants, which had remained at a $5,000 cap for the last 20 years. The organization will open its 35,000-square-foot warehouse to artist grantees on the second Monday of every month (apart from federal holidays) from 3 pm to 6 pm, offering materials such as leather spools originally used to make airplane seats, tomes dedicated to the visual arts, and dinosaur masks. The first iteration of the program will take place on Monday, October 19.
“By broadening our operations to offer shopping days directly targeting these art grantees, we can ensure that more artists, more changemakers, and more New Yorkers have access to our city program,” Tara Sansone, the executive director of MFTA, told Hyperallergic.