• Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Slide
    Photo care of The Tributary Fund
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    In isolation, it is impossible for an artist to see the real position and value of his or her art.
    Fritzie Brown, Executive Director, CEC ArtsLink
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Slide
    Eli Keszler
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Although, in theory, travel and communication should be easier than when TMU was founded in 1984, the economic and political hurdles for true collaboration are still extremely great.
    Steve Dubiel, Executive Director, Earthcorps
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Slide
    Photo care of Link Vostok
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Together, we create something new.
    Robert Wilson, Artistic Director, Watermill Center
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Slide
    Photo by Pavel Antonov
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    It is always important for artists and scholars to challenge themselves and their own assumptions about the world and the work they do in it.
    Kara Walker, Artist, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation/CCA Ujazdowski Castle American Seasons
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Slide
    Photo by Nick Hall
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    We see that we are not alone in our work—we see that people living in different parts of the world are working to solve the same kinds of issues we are. We have shared problems, but the approaches to solving them can be very different.
    Sergei Berezniuk, Pacific Environment Agricultural Fires exchange participant
  • Trust for Mutual Understanding
    Slide
    Photo by Joel Berger

TRUST FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

MISSION

The Trust for Mutual Understanding awards grants to American nonprofit organizations to support direct exchange in the arts and the environment between professionals from the United States and TMU’s geographic region: the Baltic States; Central Asia; Central, East, Southeast Europe; Mongolia; and Russia.

Priority consideration is given to projects that involve direct, in-depth professional interaction, with the potential for sustained collaboration; that show evidence of professional accomplishment and innovation; and/or that respond to social contexts and engage local communities.

HISTORY

The Trust for Mutual Understanding was established in 1984 by an anonymous American philanthropist as a private, grantmaking organization dedicated to promoting improved communication, closer cooperation, and greater respect between the people of the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries in Eastern and Central Europe. TMU’s program reflects her conviction that grantmaking can make a contribution to that process by supporting international face-to-face contact and professional interaction. TMU’s mission has been shaped by the belief that creative international collaboration encourages global harmony.

TMU continues to support East-West exchanges in the arts and environment, reflecting the founder’s appreciation of the importance of culture and ecology in people’s lives. Before 1985, there was relatively little American funding for such activities, and what support there was—mainly governmental—was often restricted by political considerations. It remains TMU’s goal to enable talented people to come together from different countries to freely share ideas and stimulate creativity in a nonpolitical context.

GRANTEES

2017 Cultural Grants

$203,450

Total Grants
in 2017

$101,350

Cultural Grants
in 2017

11

Cultural Grants
in 2017

2017 Cultural Grants

Baryshnikov Arts Center

Baryshnikov Arts Center

New York, NY

$25,000

to provide supplemental support for a multi-city, US tour of Hungarian theater ensemble Bela Pinter and Company’s production of Our Secrets in January 2017.
Brooklyn Arts Exchange

Brooklyn Arts Exchange

Brooklyn, NY

$5,000

to send Fritzie Brown and Ivan Talijancic to Croatia to attend planning meetings for the Alliance of Croatian Cultural Organizations and to conduct a workshop at Unicult in Rijeka, Croatia in summer 2017.
Causa Artium

Causa Artium

New York, NY

$1,150

to bring Artmossphere Biennale founder Sabina Chagina from Moscow, Russia to New York City to participate in lectures and related programming at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University in March 2017.
CEC ArtsLink

CEC ArtsLink

New York, NY

$9,000

to send New York-based curator Kendal Henry and artist Matthew Mazzotta to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to participate in the Platform Art Prospect Festival of public art in September 2017.
DFBRL8R

DFBRL8R

Chicago, IL

$2,000

to support Elana Katz’s live performance Running on Empty as part of the Spaced Memory project in Belgrade, Serbia in May 2017.
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Fractured Atlas

Fractured Atlas

New York, NY

$2,200

to support Tjasa Ferme’s performances of Wild Child In the City at the Monoakt Festival in Peja, Kosovo and the LUDI Festival in Orel, Russia in June 2017.
Independent Curators International

Independent Curators International

New York, NY

$12,000

to support the participation of Beatriz Colomina, Adrian Deva, Molly Kleiman, Renaud Proch, and Christian Rattemeyer in Stacion Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina’s Summer School as a School program in Kosovo in June and July 2017.
Lincoln Center Theater

Lincoln Center Theater

New York, NY

$10,000

to support Polish and Russian participation in the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in June and July 2017.
New England Foundation for the Arts

New England Foundation for the Arts

Boston, MA

$10,000

to support travel for NEFA executive director Cathy Edwards and Lisa Booth Management vice president Deirdre Valente to Ukraine as part of season four of NEFA’s Center Stage program in May 2017.
Single Carrot Theatre

Single Carrot Theatre

Baltimore, MD

$5,000

to send director Martin Boross, sound designer Mark Bartha, and performer Julia Jakubowska from Budapest, Hungary to Baltimore for final rehearsals and the opening of Promenade: Baltimore.
The Wilma Theater

The Wilma Theater

Philadelphia, PA

$20,000

to bring director and choreographer Csaba Horvath to Philadelphia for eight weeks for workshops, rehearsals, and premiere of Blood Wedding in spring 2017.
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TMU ONLINE APPLICATION

For detailed information on our application process and frequently asked questions, please visit our Applicants page.

TMU reviews applications two times a year. To make the experience more user friendly, the application process is broken down into two parts:

  1. Initial Inquiry stage
  2. Full Application.

The deadlines are as follows:

  • Initial inquiry: May 1
  • Full Application: August 1
  • Notification: mid-November

This round is for projects happening January 1 or later.

  • Initial Inquiry: November 1
  • Full Application: February 1
  • Notification: mid-May

This round is for projects happening July 1 or later.

Please note that Initial Inquiries and Full Applications are due at 5:00pm, EST. Should the due dates of either the Inquiry or Full Application fall on a Saturday or Sunday, they are due on Monday, the next business day. Supporting materials for the Full Application should be received no more than two weeks following the respective deadline. When submitting a letter of recommendation, please clearly indicate the organization that is applying. We do not guarantee a notification of receipt of any supporting materials or letters. Grant tracking and/or application ID numbers are for grantee reference only and cannot be used for our purposes.

Please contact us if any questions arise during this process.

THE BLOG

Moving Away From Agricultural Burning in Ukraine

Moving Away From Agricultural Burning in Ukraine
by Dr. Gail Stevenson Meeting with the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) organized a study tour for six Ukrainian farmers and experts to the United States in October to explore alternatives to open burning with the support of TMU. The group visited university agricultural research stations and numerous farms in Pennsylvania through an excellent collaboration with the Pennsylvania State College of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance, after which the

By TMU | | In Environment | Read more

Likhachev Foundation Cultural Fellowships

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BY THE LIKHACHEV FOUNDATION: The Likhachev Foundation (St. Petersburg, Russia) and the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center (Moscow, Russia), with support of the Committee on External Relations of St. Petersburg, announce a competition for two-week cultural fellowships in Russia (St. Petersburg) from 15 to 28 May 2017 for foreign professionals in the field of arts and culture who work on projects related to Russian culture and history and aimed at a broad foreign audience. Airfare

By TMU | | In blog, Culture | Read more

Central Europe Looks Beyond Coal

Central Europe Looks Beyond Coal
Central Europe Looks Beyond Coal Kristina Sabova   Alternative energy production and new conservation tools are raising hope in Central Europe. Our region includes communities near the former “Black Triangle,” the border region shared by Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, that has long suffered from the polluting emissions of industry, coal-fired power plants, and open pit mines. The European Union is working on its future climate and energy scenarios, to bring clean and affordable

By TMU | | In blog, Environment, Environment | Read more

CONTACT US

Contact Information
Email:

tmu (at) tmuny.org

Mailing:

Trust for Mutual Understanding
1 Rockefeller Plaza
Room 2500
New York, New York 10020

Telephone:

212 649 5776

Fax:

212 649 5777

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