Real Art Ways

Real Art Ways (RAW) is a non-profit contemporary arts center in Hartford, Connecticut, founded in 1975 by a collective of artists seeking an alternative to traditional museum and gallery models. From its early days in a former factory building, RAW has championed interdisciplinary, risk-taking work across visual art, film, music, and performance, with a particular commitment to artists who operate outside mainstream commercial circuits. Its Provision Fund, established to support individual artists, reflects the organization's long-standing ethos of direct, trust-based patronage rather than project-driven or thematic curation. The fund provides unrestricted grants to artists at critical junctures in their practice, prioritizing those whose work challenges conventions and engages with social, political, or aesthetic questions in substantive ways.