Tour de Force Foundation

08/24/2026

What happens when a city’s cultural map starts moving?
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The Kennedy Center is preparing for a two-year closure. The National Symphony Orchestra is heading out across the DMV. At the Phillips Collection, artists from across the region are gathering under one roof.
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And in Baltimore, a blank skateboard deck becomes another kind of cultural space.
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In the August edition of The Spark, we look at where culture happens when familiar boundaries begin to shift, and meet TDF grantee Sanah Brown-Bowers, whose Get on Deck with Purpose invited young people to turn skateboard decks into images of identity, possibility and the futures they imagine.
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The cultural map is moving. Come see where it goes.
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Read the new edition of The Spark here: https://www.tourdeforcedc.com/post/the-kennedy-center-is-closing-where-does-culture-go-now
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A conversation about the future of culture, public spaces, and community in Washington DC following the Kennedy Center closure.

08/15/2026

Have an idea for a creative project that brings people together to make, learn, participate or experience something new?
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The Tour de Force Foundation grant portal is open.
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We award $500–$2,000 grants to DMV-based artists and educators developing creative projects with a clear educational or community purpose.
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The application is intentionally short and straightforward. Tell us what you want to do, who it’s for, why it belongs in your community, what support you need, and when it will happen.
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The follow-up is light-touch too. We want your time going into the work, not into grant paperwork.
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Funding can support practical project costs including materials, instruction, transportation, venue or space, and other costs that help the project happen.
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Selected projects must be completed, or the supported event must take place, within four months of receiving the grant.
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Read the FAQs and apply through the TDF grant portal.
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What’s your Tour de Force?
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07/30/2026

The TDF grant portal reopens August 15 ✨

Before the form opens, give your idea a little room to take shape.

Who’s the project for? What will people be invited to see, make, learn, share—or experience together?

Then think about the practical pieces that’ll help it happen: materials, transportation, space, artist fees, documentation, meals, access support, or another concrete need.

The clearer the public moment and the path towards it, the more vividly we can see what your project could become.

Save this as a starting point for August 15.

07/23/2026

Creative life in the DMV doesn’t happen in one place.

It grows in classrooms, libraries, studios, museums, performance spaces, and the communities that bring them to life.

TDF is one part of that network. We help artists and educators cover practical costs so workshops, performances, field trips, and public programs can take place.

The TDF grant portal reopens August 15.

Who helps creative work reach your community?

Slide 4: Our June 2026 grantee, , at Slamtastic.

07/19/2026

Who gets buried in America’s story?

This month’s edition of The Spark explores the people working to preserve histories that might otherwise be forgotten—from Washington’s historic Black cemeteries and community murals to museum exhibitions that ask how memory is made, shared and protected.

Read the July edition:

Who gets buried in America’s story? The Spark July 2026 explores historic Black cemeteries, public art and the work of preserving overlooked histories.

07/10/2026

Every project needs a doorway.

Sometimes a small grant creates the opening where an idea can begin to meet its community.

The TDF grant portal reopens August 15.

Slide 3 image: March 2026 grantee Stephanie Wolfe / REACH at the American Visionary Art Museum.

07/07/2026

How a day became a doorway.

Our March 2026 grantee, Stephanie Wolfe, used her TDF-supported project with REACH to bring teens to the American Visionary Art Museum for a docent-led tour and the Esther Krinitz Story Cloth Workshop.

They explored art shaped by memory, imagination, and personal history, then created fabric stories of their own.

A museum visit. A workshop table. A shared creative experience.

What opened a creative door for you?

06/27/2026

Our June grantee, Words Beats & Life, used TDF support for Slamtastic — an open mic series where young poets, emcees, and spoken word artists share original work in front of a live, supportive audience.

Slamtastic creates space for youth voice, creative confidence, and community. TDF’s grant helped support the people and infrastructure behind the series, including hosts, featured artists, audio, documentation, marketing, and recap content.

Small grants can help make real creative infrastructure visible.

The TDF grant portal reopens August 15. Learn more through the link in bio.

06/23/2026

Young voices need real stages.

Tour de Force Foundation is proud to support our June grantee, Words Beats & Life, and their youth poetry program, Slamtastic.

Slamtastic creates a live, supportive space where young poets, emcees, and spoken word artists can share original work, build confidence, and be heard in community. In rooms like this, a young person can step up to the mic and discover that their voice belongs in public.

Who helped you find your voice?

Mazi Mutafa

DCArts SpokenWord YouthPoetry CreativeCommunity ArtsEducation CommunityArts