The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation 2026 Grant Awards support innovative arts activities throughout the University of Pennsylvania community. Cover design by Elaine Lopez.
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation is thrilled to announce its ninth round of annual grant awards supporting 20 projects across five categories: Artist Residency Grants, Community Partnerships Grants, Project Support Grants, Curricular Support Grants, and Independent Creative Production Grants.
In addition to these 20 annual grant awards, the Sachs Program announced 17 student grant awards earlier this spring, for a total of 37 grants awarded over the 2025–2026 academic year. On Monday, April 27, 2026, we celebrated all 2026 Sachs Program Grant Award recipients at a public event at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, with music, food, and fellowship.
The arts remain essential to our ability to process and interpret the world around us. Even in challenging times, the Sachs Program shines a critical light on the important work of artists and creative practitioners across our communities; the work that makes us human.
— Josephine Park, Associate Dean for Arts and Letters, University of Pennsylvania
We are incredibly proud of all the projects and creative inquiries we are able to support this year. The Sachs Program 2026 Grant Awards reflect the breadth and depth of creativity within the arts and humanities at the University of Pennsylvania and in our neighboring communities.
2026 Annual Grant Awards
Sachs Program grant awards provide essential catalytic support to get ideas off the ground, encourage experimentation, and cultivate meaningful engagement with and through the arts. We are honored to continue this mission and happy to announce The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation 2026 Annual Grant Awards.
- Ana Carolina Estarita-Guerrero
Otherwhere - Center for East Asian Studies, the Office of Social Equity & Community, and the Asian American Studies Program
RAPtivism and the Future of the Present - Emmanuela N Soria Ruiz
Llueve: Stage Directions for Collective Processing - Eshani Surya
Gift Horse - History of Art Department with Marina George and Jessica L. Horton
Pomo Baskets, Woven Futures - Isaac Shalit and Sam Tate
Bugsounds - Jamal J. Elias and Twelve Gates Arts
Unbroken Lineages: Traditional & Contemporary Practice of the Islamic Book Arts - Julia Alekseyeva
The Great North: Life at the Edge of the World - Keisha-Khan Perry
Gamboa: An Ethnographic Novel of a Coveted Paradise - Marie-Claude Boileau
CLAY: Past and Present - Minnie Kim
What the Body Owes - Musica Practica/Elettronica Viva and One Art Community Center
Another System, Another Sound - Natacha Diels, Andrew Burke, and The Perch Music & Arts Workshop
Wavy Movy Festival - Netter Center for Community Partnerships and The City Root Media Group
A Summer in West - Penn Cultural Heritage Center
Suzan Shown Harjo: An Oral History - Penn Museum and Tukufu Zuberi
Fighting for Freedom in an Era of Race and Colonialism - Ranim Albarkawi and the Greenfield Intercultural Center
Southwest Asian, North African (SWANA) Arts at Penn - Simone White
MOM PUTT PUTT - Theatre Arts Program
Amanda Horowitz Residency in Theatre Arts - Yadan Luo
Designing Play
Complete information about all Sachs Program 2026 Grant Awards, including 2026 Student Grant Awards, is available on our website.
The complete list of all Sachs Program 2026 Grant Awards can also be found in the program brochure from our April 27, 2026, grant awards announcement celebration.
Download the 2026 Grant Awards Celebration program. (PDF)
Grant Awards Review Process
Each year, The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation grant award decisions are extremely difficult and not taken lightly. The 2026 grant cycle represented our largest and most competitive application pool to date, and we are extremely grateful to all who applied.
Our 2026 applications were peer-reviewed by 12 committees across six grant categories during a weeks-long evaluation process. Committee members included former grantees, Penn students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as Philadelphia community members, and colleagues within the arts, reflecting a range of expertise.
While the committees change each year, the decisions they make are always informed by the Sachs Program’s grantmaking criteria and mission priorities, and are undertaken with great care and attention. The feedback generated from committee members and shared with applicants is an integral element of our efforts to support the communities we serve.
We are grateful to our 2026 committee members for the time and thought they dedicated to this year’s grants evaluation process.
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation is an independent center at the University of Pennsylvania. Established in 2017 with a primary objective of supporting the arts at Penn, the Sachs Program fulfills this mission through grantmaking, curated exhibitions and topical programming, and community-engaged initiatives.
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation is supported by an endowed gift from Keith L. and Katherine Sachs. Keith L. and Katherine Sachs have provided major support for the arts at Penn for more than a decade, completely transforming the landscape of arts education on campus.