A long list of artist grants and project funding opportunities
Grants are hard to come by but when you get funded by one it can change your whole career. It’s almost never about the money, even though some grants on this list are 50k. It’s the connections you make while being funded, the exposure such funding brings and the sudden time you have, to make your art and nothing but your art. No need for a job for that period of time, no worries about bills, just the process. Wish you luck!
Awesome Foundation Grant
A micro-granting organization, funding “awesome” ideas, The Awesome Foundation set up local chapters around the world to provide rolling grants of 1000 € to “awesome projects.” Each chapter defines what is “awesome” for their local community, but most include arts initiative and public or social practice art projects.
WHO: Anyone is eligible for a grant — individuals, groups, and organizations alike.
FIELD: Any Field. Each chapter has their own requirements, most consider arts projects.
AMOUNT: 1000 €
FINE PRINT: Grants not given for studio space or strictly salary or supplies. Needs to make the community more “awesome.” Think public works. More info here.
Creative Capital
Creative Capital supports artists across the US through funding, counsel, and career development services.  This driven arts organisation provides each funded project with up to 50,000 € in funding and career development services valued at 45,000 €.
WHO: Artists in any discipline working on a specific project.
FIELD: Painting, Sculpture, Works on Paper, Photography, Public Art, and more.
AMOUNT: Up to 50,000 € in direct funding.
FINE PRINT: Besides funding, you’ll have access to consultations with legal, financial, marketing, public relations, and web consultants; artist retreats and regional gatherings; ten meetings with a strategic planning coach; and more. You can learn more here.
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
Established as part of Lee Krasner’s legacy, the Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant was set up to support and strengthen the creative lives of artists. A competitive grant for artists with extensive exhibition records, this grant has a long list of impressive alumni. Since its start in 1985, the foundation has granted over 65 million euro in awards to artists in over 70 countries.
WHO: Â Mid-career professional artists with demonstrable financial need. Â Artists must be actively exhibiting their current work in professional artistic venues, such as gallery and museum spaces.
FIELD: Painters, sculptors, and artists who work on paper, including printmaking.
AMOUNT: Awards range from 5,000 € to 30,000 €, depending on need and circumstance.
FINE PRINT: Commercial artists, video artists, performance artists, filmmakers, crafts-makers, and computer artists are not eligible. Students not eligible. Detailed FAQ here.
The Harpo Foundation Grants for Visual Artists
The Harpo Foundation seeks to stimulate creatives and to encourage new modes of thinking about art. Applications are evaluated on the basis of the quality of their work, the potential to expand aesthetic research, and its relationship to the foundation’s priority to provide support to visual artists who are under-recognised by the field.
WHO: Under-recognized US visual artists over the age of 21.
FIELD: Any field.
AMOUNT: Awards are made of up to 10,000 €.
FINE PRINT: Students are not eligible. €15 application fee is required. You will need to submit an artist resume, artist statement, and work samples on the online application. Detailed FAQ here.
Artadia Awards
Artadia is a US non-profit organization that supports visual artists with unrestricted, merit-based awards and fosters connections to a network of opportunities. In the past 18 years, Artadia has awarded over 3 million euro to more than 300 artists.
WHO: Visual artists working in the program city (or its eligible counties) and who have resided there for at least two years.
FIELD: Any field.
AMOUNT: Ranges between 5000 € to 20,000 €, plus ongoing assistance through the lifetime of your career.
FINE PRINT: Students are not eligible. Award money can be used however the artist sees fit. Continued support is achieved through close collaborations with its host cities to create exhibition opportunities for artists, arrange studio visits with local as well as national curators, source residency programs, and make introductions in the field. Learn more here.
The Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant
The Gottlieb Foundation encourages artists who have dedicated their lives to developing their art, regardless of their level of commercial success.
WHO: Artists who have been working for at least 20 years in a mature phase of your work, and can demonstrate a need for financial assistance.
FIELD: Painting, printmaking, or sculpting.
AMOUNT: 25,000 €.
FINE PRINT: Maturity is based on a high level of intellectual, technical, and creative proficiency that has been maintained over time. It is based less on an applicant’s age than on the development of and commitment to an artist’s work that has progressed over time. Detailed FAQ here.
John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships
The Foundation offers Fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions.
WHO: Visual artists from the US and Canada.
FIELD: Any field.
AMOUNT: The amounts of grants vary, and the Foundation does not guarantee it will fully fund any project.
FINE PRINT: On the application, you must include a chronological list of shows, citing dates and places, and a list of collections in which your work is represented. Work exhibited on websites and blogs alone does not constitute a sufficient record of accomplishment for our competition. Learn more about applying here.
Aaron Siskind Foundation – Individual Photographer’s Fellowship
The Aaron Siskind Foundation is set up by photographer Aaron Siskin’s estate, which he had asked to become a resource for contemporary photographers. The award was established to support and encourage contemporary artists working in the photographic field.
WHO: Any US artist over 21 years of age.
FIELD: Work must be based on the idea of still-based photography, but can include digital imagery, installations, documentary projects and photo-generated print media.
AMOUNT: Up to 10,000 €.
FINE PRINT: Varied amounts of grants gifted up to 10,000 €. Students not Eligible. Doctoral candidates considered on case-by-case basis. Check out the FAQ here.
Integrity: Arts & Culture Association Grants
Integrity: Arts & Culture (IACA) sponsors mini-grants for artists focusing on creative endeavors, believing the arts are essential to the health and vitality of our communities and our nation. Grants are intended to assist with such things as: art supplies, recording studio time, exhibits, performances, project related expenses, etc.
WHO: Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent legal resident, 18 years of age or older. High school or college undergraduate students may not apply. Graduate students may apply, but we do not fund tuition or student projects.
FIELD: Literary, Performing, and Visual Arts.
AMOUNT: Grants generally average 250 €.
FINE PRINT: Within 30 days of the close of the project, we require 1-2 paragraphs describing how our support benefited you. Learn more here.
Artist Grant
Founded in 2017, Artist Grant is a new venture that aims to support and fund artists. To that end, this charitable organization funds the efforts of artists to continue their important work and contributions to society,providing a modest competitive grant of 500 € to one artist every quarter.
WHO: Visual artists 18 and older from anywhere in the world.
FIELD: Painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, stills of video/film, sculpture (of any type of material), ceramics, mixed/multiple medias, installation, and other new or alternative medias.
AMOUNT: 500 € each grant cycle.
FINE PRINT: There are four grant cycles per year – January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15. There is an application fee of 25 €. You can learn more here.
Rising Voices: The Bennett Prize for Women Figurative Realists
The Bennett Prize, created in 2018, awards 50,000 € to a woman artist to create her own solo exhibition of figurative realist paintings, which will travel the country. The Prize will propel the careers of women painters who have not yet realized full professional recognition, empowering new artists and those who have painted for many years.
WHO: Women artists working in figurative realism.
AMOUNT: 50,000 €.
FINE PRINT: The Bennett Prize is open only to women eighteen (18) years or older residing at least part in the United States, whose primary practice is the creation of original paintings in the genre of figurative realism. Artists must be currently pursuing, or intend to pursue, a career as a full-time painter. Learn more here.
The Halstead Grant
Sponsored by Halstead, a jewelry supply distributor to studios around the world, this program has awarded a grant each year since it began in 2006. Past winners and finalists are an impressive group of accomplished jewelry designers.
WHO: Jewelry artists who began their businesses in the last 3 years
FIELD: Jewelry art
AMOUNT: 7,500 € in start-up cash, 1,000 € in materials
FINE PRINT: Candidates must provide responses to essay questions that guide you through the process of creating a business plan. The business plan component is weighted equally with the artist’s portfolio during the jurying process. (Participants who complete the grant packet have a professional document they can use for securing business loans, investors and press coverage.) You can learn more here.
SFFILM Westridge Grant
The SFFILM Westridge Grant funds feature narrative films that explore social issues or questions of our time that are in the screenwriting or development phase.
WHO: This grant is open to U.S. based filmmakers telling stories set domestically. Applicants must be 18 years or older.
FIELD: Filmmaking.
AMOUNT: 20,000 €.
FINE PRINT: The total budget for the films cannot exceed 3 million euro. All projects must be feature length films. Short films, web-series and episodic content will not be considered. Learn more here.
SFFILM Rainin Grant
The SFFILM Rainin Grant funds feature narrative films that explore stories of social justice that are in the screenwriting, development, or post-production phase.
WHO: This grant is open to filmmakers from anywhere in the world who are 18 years and older.
FIELD: Filmmaking.
AMOUNT: 10,000 € – 25,000 € for screenwriting and development phase; up to 50,000 € for post-production.
FINE PRINT: The total budget for the films cannot exceed 3 million euro. All projects must be feature length films. Short films, web-series and episodic content will not be considered. Learn more here.