Culture & Community | Frances "Bitsie" Clark | Arts & Culture
Hope Hope Chávez, Rebekah Moore, Mimsie Coleman and Sharon Cappetta. Katie Pellico Photo.
The following citizen contribution was submitted by members of the Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists. Applications for the grant, which you can find here, are open through June 30.
The Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists, dedicated to enriching arts and culture in Greater New Haven, is excited to announce applications for its 2026 grant cycle. This year, members of the fund’s jury have designated one grant for an artist of color while the second remains open to all artists.
This marks the first year that the fund is managed by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the non-profit where Clark served as executive director for 20 years. Prior to that time, an advisory committee including Mimsie Coleman, Kim Futrell, Robin Golden, Stacy Graham-Hunt, Betty Monz and Maryann Ott steered the fund.
"Being the facilitating organization for the Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists is a full-circle moment of legacy, as we keep Bitsie's name alive," said Rebekah Moore, program director for the Arts Council. "To be honored with this responsibility isn't taken lightly. We as a staff know that this grant uplifts our arts community, and is a reminder that legacy allows you to touch lives well after you're gone."
Both grants are open to artists from all artistic disciplines who seek to either tackle a major goal in their artistic development, take a risk on a new direction in their work or advance their career as an artist.
These may include, but are not limited to, dance, music, theater, visual art, design, craft, literary, voice, poetry, playwriting, composition, and film.
Previous awardees have included poet and playwright Aaron Jafferis, musician and composer Adam Matlock, puppeteer Isaac Bloodworth, photographer Alexandra Diaz, playwright Steve Driffin, composer and bassoonist Damali Willingham, sculptor Linda Mickens, self-taught painter Marquis Brantley and vocalist Thabisa Rich among others (read more about them here, here, here, and here; a full list of awardees is available here).
"We have come full-circle," said Coleman of the fund's move to the Arts Council. "Bitsie Clark has come home."
The Bitsie Fund was founded in 2018 in honor of Frances "Bitsie" Clark, the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven for 20 years, who helped launch the Audubon Arts District and helped establish the arts as a driving economic force in Greater New Haven. The mission of the fund is to continue Bitsie's commitment to artists in the region. The Fund offers grants for individual artists, allowing them to pursue a significant goal at a turning point in their development.
Read more about Clark's extraordinary life and work here and about her memorial service here.
Full guidelines for the 2026 grant, including all the information artists need to apply, are available here. Applications are open from May 21, 2026 to 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2026. The Bitsie Fund is a donor-advised fund housed at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (CFGNHV). The artist must live in one of the towns served by the CFGNHV.