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Pozzi Family Foundation
''″All art, regardless of its form, consists of three elements: the performer, the witness, and the shared experience between them. All three are necessary, but the real magic is in that shared experience.″'' -Ryan Pozzi

The Pozzi Family Foundation is new, however, its members aren’t new to arts and community development work. Before they were funders, two generations were practitioners in these fields. That’s how they learned that the most common approach is not always the best way. The primarily support projects that have been overlooked by other funding agencies because the strongest communities support and encourage new ideas, but new ideas mean taking chances and trying new things. Those values aren’t easy for many funding agencies to embrace.

PFF FOUNDERS - Ryan and Elizabeth Pozzi

Ryan Pozzi is the founder of the Nebraska Writers Collective and of the Apollon Art Space – both nontraditional arts organizations serving eastern Nebraska communities. Working as a nonprofit executive in a variety of capacities for more than a decade means that, before moving to the other side of the table, he wrote more grant applications than he cares to remember.

Elizabeth Pozzi is the owner of Oracle Art Supply, local art materials retail shops in Omaha, Nebraska and in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She’s the real artist in the family with scads of professional experience as a sculptor, a photographer, an installation artist, and a curator.

Together they formed the Pozzi Family Foundation in 2019, one year after the passing of Elizabeth’s father Mark, to support arts, culture, and community growth projects in Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois where the family has deep roots

Created by local artists Elizabeth and Ryan Pozzi, the Pozzi Foundation exists to provide financial assistance to creative projects in the areas of the arts, culture, and community growth.

As long-time artists in the Omaha and Council Bluffs areas, the Pozzis recognize the importance of brazen and outlandish ideas — especially the ones that seem impossible. This is why the Pozzi Foundation insists on one highly unusual requirement for consideration:

The creative project is required to have been rejected at least once by a fund or support institution in order to be considered for an award.

Co-founder Ryan Pozzi emphasizes, “We don’t care how popular your brand is or isn’t or how good you are at navigating the traditional grants process. We’re interested in supporting the right people with the right ideas.”

The Pozzi Foundation was built in memory of Elizabeth’s father Mark, a former Air Force captain and Union Pacific employee. Frequently occupied with unusual creative projects — from specialty woodworking to fabricating chain maille and dozens of others — Mark’s penchant for the unconventional aligns with the scrappy artists and progressive thinkers this foundation seeks to serve.

The awards are given in amounts ranging from $100 to $5,000, and are reserved for arts, culture, and community growth projects in Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. For information about application, please visit https://www.pozzifoundation.org/apply.

About The Pozzi Foundation The Pozzi Foundation is a fund created by longtime working artists Elizabeth and Ryan Pozzi in order to support arts, culture, and community growth projects in Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois where the family has deep roots. You can learn more about financial awards and application at https://www.pozzifoundation.org/