The Puffin Foundation

Why the Puffin?

The Puffin, once endangered in the northeastern United States, was returned to its native habitats through the efforts of a concerned citizenry. Our name is a metaphor for how we perceive our mission in the arts: to join with other concerned groups and individuals to ensure that the arts not merely survive, but flourish at all levels of our society.

The Foundation’s grant search provides funds to hundreds of artists annually. You can find out more about those grants (and the application process) under the grantee menu. We also partner with numerous other organizations and institutions on special projects to bring the values of the Foundation to the public at large.

The Foundation also runs the Puffin Cultural Forum, a dynamic arts, discussion and performance venue with which we share our Teaneck space. Puffin also opened a gallery at the Museum of the City of New York. Activist New York is the inaugural exhibition in The Puffin Foundation Gallery, which is dedicated to the ways in which ordinary New Yorkers have exercised their power to shape the city’s and the nation’s future.

In 2025 Puffin opened a second location in Park Slope Brooklyn.I n addition to being a workspace, the new office in Park Slope has an area for art displays, intimate performances, and meetings of community organizations.