We also found some interesting opportunities so we've added a few more free grant funding sources which you may find useful. We realize not everyone can apply for all of these, but I try to find some varied grants for each of you to qualify for. We will continue to confirm and add to the post as often as possible. These are good organizations that provide money and other supports to artists. We look for opportunities that are free -- that is no application cost is required, but sometimes we find some that we feel are worth listing, so skip over any that are not of interest.
I'm sorry I didn't keep up my posting schedule the last few months, but life got in the way. The good news is that we've made more contact with many more foundations who are sharing their ideas of how to apply for these grants. Earlier this year we published a grant directory for children, youth and family programs, and I'm happy to say, it was well received and we've had some great feedback from readers who applied to one or more grants and were accepted. That makes us all very happy as we know so many programs are being cut.
In selecting and writing your grant, remember to follow the directions I provided in one of the earlier blogs. Besides following their instructions, the most important thing is for you to show confidence about your art, your music, your writing, or whatever you are passionate about -- and tell a little about it to your funder in your request letter or application. Only apply for grants that you qualify for -- some are only for a limited demographic or geographic area. And some are valid for a particular focus in one of the arts. If you don't find one to try, look at the earlier posts -- as they have lots of grants, and although the deadline is expired for this year, you can start planning for next year -- since most grants follow the same calendaring for grant giving.
Don't be worried about trying for this. It is worth it. And if you find this information useful, sign up for new email alerts at the top of the page on the right. We will be adding posts often, so that will let you get the newest information.
Also, there are links on the page to earlier posts which may be useful to you -- including the first one which gives step by step directions to submitting a grant.
Good luck, I know your work is awesome!
An apology and a Request!
I apologize for the unmatching headlines and such. Thought I understood all the right HTML but obviously I don't. If someone would be willing to correct and pretty it up every other week or so, I'd trade them a copy of the Grants for the Arts Directory and Guide which is now in publishing. Please be willing to do it for at least 3 months. Thanks. Giovanna
| It Is Official That The American Academy in Rome's | 2011-2012 Rome Prize Winners |
Each year, through a national competition, the Rome Prize is awarded to approximately thirty individuals who represent the highest standard of excellence in the arts and humanities. Prize recipients are invited to Rome for six months to two years to immerse themselves in the Academy community where they will enjoy a once in a lifetime opportunity to expand their own professional, artistic, or scholarly pursuits, drawing on their colleagues' erudition and experience and on the inestimable resources that Italy, Europe, and the Academy have to offer.
Congratulations to the 2011-2012 Rome Prize winners:
Albert Paul Albano • Aaron S. Allen • Margaret Marshall Andrews • Paola Bonifazio • Bradford Albert Bouley • Benjamin David Brand • Angela Co • Lonn Combs • Beatriz del Cueto • Jennifer R. Davis • Matt Donovan • Sean Friar • Colin Gee • Elliott Green • Jiminie Ha • Albertus G. A. Horsting • Mary Reid Kelley • Sean Lally • Lei Liang • Siobhan Liddell • Craig Martin • Camille S. Mathieu • Jackie Murray • Suzanne Rivecca • David A. Rubin • Jenny Snider • Heidi Wendt
The 2011-2012 winners will join Elizabeth C. Robinson and Carly Jane Steinborn who will be in the second year of their Rome Prize Fellowships.
Fellows are chosen from the following disciplines:
- Architecture
- Design
- Historic Preservation and Conservation
- Landscape Architecture
- Literature (awarded only by nomination through the American Academy of Arts and Letters)
- Musical Composition
- Visual Arts
- Ancient Studies
- Medieval Studies
- Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
- Modern Italian Studies
rize recipients are invited to Rome for six months or eleven months to immerse themselves in the Academy community where they will enjoy a once in a lifetime opportunity to expand their own professional, artistic, or scholarly pursuits, drawing on their colleagues' erudition and experience and on the inestimable resources that Italy, Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Academy have to offer.
Rome Prize winners are the core of the Academy's residential community, which also includes Residents and Visiting Artists and Scholars.
Fellows are encouraged to work collegially within and across disciplines in pursuit of their individual artistic and scholarly goals.
National Geographic All Roads Film Project Offers Seed Grants for Storyteller
Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to filmmakers for the development and production of a film or video that showcases indigenous or underrepresented minority-culture storytellers.
This grant funds film projects by or about indigenous and underrepresented minority cultures from around the world and seeks to support filmmakers who bring their community stories to light through first-person storytelling. Submission deadlines are the 15th of each March, June, September, and December. Grant award notifications are approximately six weeks later.
To apply, download an application in PDF.
SURDNA Art Teachers Fellowship
The Surdna Foundation invites arts teachers from public high schools to apply for funding for artistic development through its Arts Teachers Fellowship Program. Eligible schools include specialized public arts high schools, as well as arts-focused, magnet and charter high schools. The program offers teachers the opportunity to immerse themselves in their own creative work, interact with other professional artists, and stay current with new practices.
The program supports the artistic revitalization of outstanding arts teachers in specialized, public arts high schools. The national program provides grants of up to $5,000 to enable selected teachers to make art with professionals in their disciplines and stay current with new practices and resources. A complementary grant of $1,500 is awarded to each Fellow’s school to support related post-Fellowship activities
Sundance/Sloan Commissioning Grant and Fellowship Program Offers Support for Science and Technology Film Projects
Commissions of up to $25,000 will be awarded to emerging and established filmmakers working on the early stages of projects that relate to science and technology
To support the development of screenplays with science or technology themes, the Sundance Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation annually provide opportunities for both emerging and established filmmakers through a commissioning grant and fellowship.
The program is designed to further the development of film projects focused on stories grounded in current (or past) science and technology. The program does not support science fiction projects. (Stories taking place in the future or involving science that is clearly not yet achievable would be considered science fiction.)
The Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant is an annual cash award for a science- or technology-related narrative project that is at an early stage, such as full treatment or early screenplay draft. The grant includes the following: a cash grant of up to $20,000 to provide support during the writing period; a stipend of up to $5,000 for a science advisor; creative support during the writing process from a select group of creative advisors; the possibility of a fellowship to a Sundance Screenwriters Lab; and strategic and practical support from the Sundance Feature Film Program staff.
The Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship is awarded annually to an emerging screenwriter to support the ongoing development of a narrative, feature-length screenplay with science or technology themes. The fellowship includes the following: attendance at a Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Directors Lab, Creative Producing Lab, Creative Producing Summit, or the Sundance Film Festival as a fellow; a stipend of up to $5,000 for a science advisor; and creative and strategic support from the Sundance Feature Film Program staff.
The commissioning grant focuses on projects in earlier stages of development- from full treatment form to early screenplay drafts. Scripts in a later stage of development will be considered for the screenwriters lab fellowship. There is no separate submission required; all projects submitted through the application process are evaluated for either the grant or fellowship.
Deadline: September 9, 2011
For complete program guidelines, the application form, and an FAQ, visit the Sundance Web site.
New York Foundation for the Arts Invites Applications
Artists' Fellowships are cash awards made to individual originating artists living and working in the state of New York for unrestricted use. Grants are awarded in 15 artistic disciplines, with applications accepted in five categories each year. Since the fellowship program's inception in 1984, NYFA has awarded over $24 million to over 3,700 artists. In 2010, NYFA awarded 115 Fellowships to 118 artists, with three of them working in a collaboration. This year the New York Foundation for the Arts with Leadership Support from New York State Council on the Arts awarded $728,000 in Grants through the 2011 Artist Fellowship Program
| The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) was founded in 1971 to empower artists at critical stages in their creative lives. Each year we provide over $1 million in cash grants to individuals and small organizations. Artspire, our fiscal sponsorship program, is the largest and most established in the country and helps artists and organizations raise and manage over $3 million annually. Our NYFA Learning programs provide thousands of artists with professional development training and our website, NYFA.org, received over 1.9 million unique visitors last year and has information about more than 8,000 opportunities and resources available to artists in all disciplines. |
First Peoples Fund Awards for Artist in Business Leadership
The Purpose:
To cultivate entrepreneurial artists to a small business level (consistent and reliable income) where business concepts are understood and applied.The Strategy:
First Peoples Fund selects artists based on demonstrated artistic talent, evidence of possessing the qualities of an entrepreneur, and indication of embodying the values of First Peoples Fund.This self-directed, independent business arts fellowship is a one-year self-directed program is supported by individualized professional development training, and working capital funds to strengthen their marketing strategies. The fellowship also provides a focus on new work to stimulate creativity and a renewal of energy in Native art expression.
Eligibility:
Artist applicants must be in mid career (5+ years) in their experience in marketing their art at Indian art markets, galleries, and have wholesale experience.Artists will have chosen art as a means to obtain economic self-sufficiency for their family and to establish themselves as independent, credible artists with viable community based businesses.
Be a member of a Northern Great Plains tribe located in South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Western Dakota of Minnesota, Nebraska, the Eastern Plateau region of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, a tribe from the Great Lakes Region of Minnesota, Michigan, or Wisconsin, a tribe belonging to the U.S. Eastern Seaboard states, Hawaiian Native or an Alaskan tribe. Affiliated Canadian First Nations artist applicants are eligible.
Must demonstrate a strong vision and articulated plan for implementing effective market strategies over the one-year fellowship period and will effectively use this opportunity to explore New Works and demonstrate marketing initiative effectively.
Grant amount: $5,000
Application deadline: September 1, 2011
National Endowment for the Arts Announces New Arts in Media Funding Category
The National Endowment for the Arts new Arts in Media funding category is designed to help make the excellence and diversity of the arts widely available to the American public through the national distribution of innovative media projects about the arts and media projects that can be considered works of art.
The new Arts in Media guidelines replace the Arts on Radio and Television guidelines. All project types that were previously eligible under Arts on Radio and Television remain eligible. In addition, the expanded category now includes all available media platforms, including the Internet, interactive and mobile technologies, digital games, and arts content delivered via satellite, as well as radio and television.
Grants are available to support the development, production, and national distribution of innovative media projects about the arts (e.g., visual arts, music, dance, literature, design, theater, musical theater, opera, folk and traditional arts, and media arts including film, audio, animation, and digital art) and media projects that can be considered works of art.
Projects may include high profile multi-part or single television and radio programs (documentaries and dramatic narratives), media created for theatrical release, performance programs, artistic segments for use within an existing series, multi-part webisodes, installations, and interactive games. Short films, five minutes and under, will be considered in packages of three or more.
The new program guidelines feature an emphasis on innovation as well as strengthening creativity through access to the arts. In order to reach the widest possible audience, priority will be given to projects that include substantive public engagement strategies, including the use of social media.
To be eligible, applicants must be U.S.-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, units of state or local government, or federally recognized tribal communities or tribes. Applications through a fiscal agent are not allowed; however, partnerships between artists and eligible nonprofit organizations are encouraged. Any application for a collaborative project representing a partnership between a media organization and an arts, education, or community organization should be submitted by the media organization.
Grants generally will range from $10,000 to $200,000, based on the platform and the complexity and scope of the project.
Visit the NEA Web site for complete program guidelines, a short video on the new program, and application instructions.
Deadline: September 1, 2011
ASCAP Foundation Invites Entries for Young Jazz Composer Awards
A shared award of $25,000 will be given to U.S. residents under the age of 30 who have composed a jazz piece.
Sponsored by the Gibson Foundation and the ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards are granted annually to encourage talented young jazz composers.
Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States who have not reached their 30th birthday by December 31, of thae year of application. Applicants must submit a completed application form; the notated score of one composition; and biographical information listing prior music studies, background, and experience. Applicants must also submit a CD or cassette of the composition.
The winning composers will share $25,000 in ASCAP Foundation awards.
Visit the ASCAP Foundation Web site for information on this and other award programs for composers.
Deadline: December 1, Annually
Guitar Center Music Foundation Offers Support for Music Instruction
Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to nonprofit music programs in the United States providing music instruction to people of any age in underserved communities.
The Guitar Center Music Foundation's mission is to aid nonprofit music programs across America that offer music instruction so that more people can experience the joys of making music.
The Guitar Center Music Foundation accepts grant applications throughout the year from 501(c)(3) organizations. Qualifying applicants are established, ongoing, and sustainable music programs across the United States that provide music instruction to people of any age who would not otherwise have the opportunity to make music.
The grant committee reviews all applications three times yearly, and grant awards range from $500 to $5,000 each.
Visit the foundation's Web site for complete program guidelines, application procedures, and funding restrictions
Deadline: Open
Dodge Foundation Announces $4.4 Million in Grants Awarded to Hundreds of NonProfits
Although the grants for this year are already awarded, these grants come up approximately the same time each year. Watch for updates or go to the website.
Grants were awarded to nonprofits working in the areas of education, the environment, media, and arts and culture. The foundation awarded $720,000 to eighteen environmental organizations, including $45,000 to City Green for urban farm and garden projects; $545,000 in support of six "high-potential, innovative, and collaborative" initiatives; and $210,000 to three media organizations — ($150,000), National Public Radio ($50,000), and Grist ($10,000).
More than half the funding ($2.4 million) was awarded to support arts organizations and arts education programs, including the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, which received $125,000 for its main stage and educational programs; the WheatonArts and Cultural Center, which was awarded $75,000 for its museum, studio, and arts education activities; and the New Jersey Ballet Company, which received $55,000 for its arts education activities. In addition, the foundation awarded $125,000 in general support to the Newark Museum, $45,000 to the Hunterdon Art Museum for arts education initiatives; and $30,000 to the Trenton Community Music School for its preschool program, Music for the Very Young.
"The Dodge Foundation is proud to be a leading funder of the arts in New Jersey," said its president and CEO, Chris Daggett. "These grants reflect our deep and long-standing commitment to the arts and to robust and transformative arts education opportunities for New Jersey's students."
This is what we have so far. We are meeting with two other foundations this next week and will fill you in on anything we find. Good luck and thanks for signing up for our email alerts. We try to keep them at a minimum and still provide you the information you might need.
