Printed Matter is grateful to Wagner Foundation for their generous support of two new programs beginning in 2024—the Printed Matter Publisher Work Grant and a new Commissioned Publication series—that have been established to offer new avenues of support to artists and artists’ book presses amidst a challenging independent publishing landscape. Abigail Satinsky, Program Officer and Curator, Arts & Culture, shared on occasion of the new program: “At Wagner Foundation, we believe that platforms for artist publishing are essential to a healthy contemporary art ecosystem so artists can continually experiment, collaborate, and build publics for their work. We are thrilled to partner with Printed Matter to expand national opportunities for this vital sector.”

The Printed Matter Publisher Work Grant offers an unrestricted award in recognition of past work that publishers may determine how to best utilize in support of their future book projects and life as an artist. The Publisher Work Grant aims to strengthen an ecosystem of publishing practices that champion experimental artist-driven books, investing in culturally vital work that falls outside of mainstream support and distribution channels.

Wagner Foundation support will also establish a new series of commissioned artists’ books, developed with Printed Matter and published under the organization’s imprint. Printed Matter will work closely with artists through ideation, design, and production, through to the eventual distribution and promotion of the work. Prospective projects will be identified through an invitation process guided by the informal input of peers across the wider publishing community, focusing on works that foreground a thoughtful artist-driven approach, engage with urgent themes, and explore the possibilities of the book as a site for experimental artwork.

Learn more about the Publisher Work Grant

Wagner Foundation is a Cambridge, MA based foundation that funds at the intersection of health equity, economic prosperity, and cultural transformation across the globe.