The Our Fund Foundation Awards $370,000 in Arts & Culture Grants Supporting South Florida LGBTQ+ Nonprofit Organizations

The Our Fund Foundation’s 2025 Arts & Culture grant recipients

WILTON MANORS – The Our Fund Foundation awarded a total of $370,00 in grants through its 2025 Arts & Culture Fund to support 19 organizations and LGBTQ+-specific projects in Broward and Miami-Dade counties that inspire creativity, foster belonging and strengthen community through shared experiences.

This year’s grant recipients were recognized for their impact on South Florida’s vibrant LGBTQ+ community and received awards ranging from $5,000 to $40,000 during a celebratory reception on Wednesday, October 15 at Arts United in Wilton Manors.

The Arts & Culture Fund is fueled by The Our Fund Foundation’s endowment and the newly created Pillars Fund, which provides multi-year operating support for established LGBTQ+-serving organizations that have demonstrated consistent impact and a long-standing partnership with the nonprofit. This year’s grants were made even more impactful thanks to the significant support of The Warten Foundation and generous donors whose contributions expand the program’s reach.

“The deep commitment from our supporters reflects a shared belief that the arts not only preserve our culture and history but also shape our future,” said David Jobin, President and CEO of The Our Fund Foundation. “With the current political climate and the decimation of Florida’s state arts and culture funding, it is more vital than ever to support these talented organizations that enrich our community in so many ways. These grants would not be possible

without the generosity and foresight of our Legacy Society members who included The Our Fund in their wills and estate plans.”

The Our Fund Foundation’s 2025 LGBTQ+ Arts & Culture Fund Grant Recipients include:

  1. ArtsUnited
    Fostering the creative expression of LGBTQ+ artists by providing exhibition opportunities and community engagement through the arts.
  2. Black LGBTQ+ Liberation (BLINC)
    Thou Art Woman
    Since 2014, this event series has uplifted and connected BIPOC LGBTQ+ women and their allies through live performance and visual art.
  3. Brévo Theatre
    Freshly Rooted: Live Out Loud
    A 2026 program amplifying Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ artists through bold, socially engaged theatre.
  4. Florida Atlantic University Foundation
    2025-2026 Fair Play Initiative
    Now in its sixth season, FAU Theatre Lab’s Fair Play Initiative commissions and develops new plays exploring the LGBTQ+ experience.
  5. Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida 
    Uplifting audiences with powerful performances that celebrate diversity and promote social justice through music.
  6. Hued Songs
    Any Other Way: A Hybrid Arts Experience Celebrating Jackie Shane
    A hybrid digital and live performance that creates QR activations across Sistrunk and Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods, celebrating Jackie Shane’s Black queer legacy.
  7. Island City Stage
    Produces professional theatrical works that explore LGBTQ+ themes and bring impactful stories to South Florida audiences.
  8. Kutumba Theatre Project
    Reviving Baby GirL: Amplifying Non-Binary Lesbian Voices
    A reimagining of Baby GirL, centering a non-binary lesbian’s journey of love, identity, and belonging through inclusive theatre.
  9. Lesbian Thespians
    Lesbian Thespians Theater 2025-2026
    Providing opportunities for lesbian playwrights, directors, and performing artists to showcase scripts with lesbian content.
  10. OUTShine Film Festival
    Showcasing LGBTQ+ cinema, building community and advancing representation through the art of film.
  11. The Miami Book Fair
    LGBTQ+ Authors Series: A Bold Commitment to LGBTQ+ Voices
    Presenting a diverse range of LGBTQ+ authors and programming during Miami Book Fair 2025.
  12. Pioneer Winter Collective
    Every Body Dances: Pioneer Winter Collective’s Broward Expansion
    A dynamic season of groundbreaking queer dance in Broward County, uniting bold performances with community-centered workshops.
  13. Plays of Wilton
    Staging original works and contemporary plays with an emphasis on stories relevant to the LGBTQ+ community.
  14. South Florida Pride Concert Band 
    Unites musicians of all backgrounds to perform concerts that inspire pride, acceptance, and cultural enrichment.
  15. Stonewall National Museum, Library and Archives 
    Preserves and shares LGBTQ+ history and culture through its extensive collections, exhibitions, and educational programs.
  16. The McKenzie Project
    HEAT Conservatory (Healing Through Expressive Arts and Theater Conservatory)
    An arts and storytelling program uplifting LGBTQ+ youth through workshops, public art, and a digital archive of lived experiences.
  17. The Pride Center at Equality Park
    Arts with Pride
    A cultural arts initiative, celebrating LGBTQ+ lives and stories through music, film, visual art, and creative expression.
  18. Thinking Cap Theatre
    Produces bold and innovative performances that challenge conventions and amplify underrepresented voices, including LGBTQ+ stories.
  19. Zoetic Stage
    The Inheritance Part 1, By Matthew López
    A landmark production of Matthew López’s The Inheritance Part 1, presented January 8–25, 2026, at the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami.

Support for the 2025 LGBTQ+ Arts & Culture Fund came from the following: 

  • The Warten Foundation 
  • Jim Laird’s Hamish Fund at Our Fund 
  • Darden Family Fund 
  • John D. Green & Jeffrey I. Sacks Charitable Fund 
  • Russell Vance & Edward Schwartz Charitable Trust  
  • Scott L. Bennett Charitable Fund 
  • Jayne Baron Sherman 
  • Lawrence R. Hyer Donor Advised Fund 
  • Stan Pogroszewski and Dean Beals 
  • Stephen L. Smith 
  • Richard Sorian 
  • Richard L. Stimpson 
  • Scott Brown  

The 2025 Arts & Culture grant review committee, made up of community volunteers, gave special consideration to organizations that have limited appeal to traditional funding sources, as well as to applications that leverage partnerships between similar-missioned agencies to reduce duplication of effort/resources and expand reach/services and organizations that proved an effective and dedicated approach to addressing gaps in representation of marginalized communities.  

About The Our Fund Foundation

Established in 2011, The Our Fund Foundation has grown into the third-largest LGBTQ+ foundation in the nation. As South Florida’s only LGBTQ community foundation, The Our Fund Foundation promotes philanthropy, manages enduring investments, and conducts meaningful grant-making to improve the lives of LGBTQ people in South Florida. For more information or to make a donation of any size, please contact The Our Fund Foundation at theourfund.org or call 954-565-1090.

President and CEO of The Our Fund Foundation, David Jobin