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Grants, Residencies, and Opportunities

Black Girl Ventures: Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program

The Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program is a 3-month leadership development program (with 2 cohorts in 2025) created specifically to expand the capacity of early-stage entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders, empowering them to strengthen their local ecosystem of under-resourced women-identifying entrepreneurs.

Our program amplifies women leaders and creates an “each one, teach one” model for growing underrepresented founders' long-term entrepreneurial knowledge and sustainability. We cultivate local leaders who, in turn, nurture their communities to promote equal opportunities for underrepresented women entrepreneurs to thrive.

Total funding: $5,000

Application deadline: May 30, 2025

Location: Austin, Chicago, or Los Angeles

For more information and to apply, visit this link

NYC Summer Streets Programming Partner Submissions

Summer Streets is an annual celebration of New York City's most valuable public space – our streets.

Summer Streets takes place on select Saturdays from the morning to the afternoon. Miles of NYC's streets are open in both directions for people to play, walk, and bike. Take a break along the route at one of our rest stops to enjoy free activities. Summer Streets provides space for healthy recreation and encourages New Yorkers to use more sustainable forms of transportation. In 2023, Summer Streets expanded to the five boroughs creating nearly 20 miles of Car-Free Streets.

NYC DOT invites performers, fitness professionals, nonprofits, artists and community-based organizations, to help shape NYC's annual summer celebration in every borough. Programming partners will need to provide their contact information, the type of activity they will provide, any materials they will need, and their preferred boroughs to participate in.

If you are interested in being a programming partner for Summer Streets, please complete our application:

Summer Streets Programming Partner Application – deadline is Friday, June 6.

Rapid Response Artivism Micro-Grant

The grant is designed to support individuals and collectives to create rapid response artivism projects that can be conceived, executed, and launched within a 2-month timeline. Per Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s definition of artivism, qualifying projects should be narrative-based, change-oriented, include a clear call to action, and involve people who are directly affected by the issue in the development process.

This program is for artists, writers, organizers, activists, and performers and for any other person who is interested in combining artistry and advocacy practices to mobilize change. Formal arts experience is not necessary to apply. Collectives will be considered. Participation has no minimum educational or experience requirements, but preference will be given to individuals who have participated in at least one Broadway Advocacy Coalition program. Additionally, by accepting a micro-grant, you will agree to have your finished project represented on BAC’s website and/or social media.

Deadline: June 9, 2025

For more information and to apply, visit this page

Quarantine Residency

The Quarantine Residency, founded by Claudia Alick of the Calling Up Justice practice, is a truly unique and special place. Located in the Bay Area, the residency was created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic as a way for artists to have a safe and supportive space to create and rest. Claudia, who is disabled and quarantining for safety, founded the residency with the belief in the value of both digital and in-person collaboration.

The Quarantine Residency offers all the amenities an artist could need, including food, an editing and recording studio, a private garden, bathroom, and a comfortable bedroom. But it’s not all work and no play – the residency also includes fun field trips to places like the Golden Gate Bridge and Redwood Forest, as well as activities like escape rooms and outdoor silent discos.

The participants in the Quarantine Residency have been a diverse group, including a theater director, a high school graduate, a college graduate, a graphic designer and game streamer, and a writer. They stay for 4-10 days, setting goals for projects or simply taking the time to rest and recharge. During their stay, they have helped produce racial justice events, designed video games, done photo shoots, started TikTok accounts, and written essays, as well as indulging in bubble baths, nature walks, live-streamed theater, movies and TV, reading, and lots of rest and relaxation.

Calling Up Justice’s Quarantine Residency is inspired by the ideas of Pleasure Activism and The Nap Ministry, and has been a valuable resource for artists during these challenging times. However, the program has had to stop for months at a time due to Covid surges, and is currently accepting participants on a limited basis in 2025. If you’re an artist looking for a safe and supportive place to create, The Quarantine Residency may be the perfect fit for you.

Apply here.

Goddard Riverside’s Community Arts Program

Goddard Riverside’s Community Arts program provides opportunities for people of all ages to experience and participate in the arts. Our shared multi-use spaces serve as a creative resource hub for the Upper West Side community to share, learn, heal, explore, innovate, and excel. We are committed to countering adversity with joy and strive to meet the needs of those of us currently experiencing financial hardship and members of historically marginalized groups.

Community Arts events take place at the Bernie Wohl Center, at Columbus Avenue between W 91st and 92nd Street.

Deadline: June 15, 2025. 


For more information, visit Goddard Riverside's Instagram and website.  

The BRAVA Awards

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) is proud to announce the return of its significant biennial award program, the BRAVA Awards (BIMA Recognizes Achievement in the Visual Arts). The awards will honor four exceptional contemporary artists, craftspeople, or makers whose work demonstrates artistic excellence, technical mastery, and meaningful contributions to the arts community. The awards will be presented in four categories, recognizing individual achievement and the broader impact these artists have had on the arts landscape.

The award was inspired by the values and vision of museum founder Cynthia Sears, who has been a passionate advocate for a world that supports, respects, and honors artists, craftspeople, and creative makers. The awards are designed to make a direct and significant difference in the lives of contemporary working artists and craftspeople, as well as a lasting impact on the arts landscape of our region and beyond.

Each artist selected in one of four categories will receive an unrestricted award of $15,000, and recognition of their achievement through a short video, promotion, and live award program. Each BRAVA awardee is selected through a unique competitive process from one of four independent Jury Committees, composed of working artists, educators, and art sector leaders and thinkers. The BRAVAs will be awarded every two years through a dedicated Award reserve, seeded by a restricted gift to the museum and maintained by BIMA.

Applications open April 1, 2025.

For more information, visit this link.

Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists

he Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists is an annual $10,000 grant awarded to provide critical support to Black trans women whose work has often been under-recognized in the visual art field. Now in its 5th year, the Illuminations Grant was developed and named in partnership with Mariette Pathy Allen, Aaryn Lang, and Serena Jara. Winning artists and finalists will receive additional professional development resources and further guidance to bolster their creative development in the field.

“The Illuminations Grant not only highlights the lacking representation of Black trans women in the visual arts,” says Lang, “but also seeks to confront the systemic barriers that deny them artistic opportunities and a sustainable craft. By supporting this grant, Mariette Pathy Allen challenges herself and the art industry to see Black trans women as more than mere subjects, while forging a new pathway for visual artists within this community to thrive.”

The Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists, a $10,000 grant, supports visual artists who are Black trans women. This grant is made possible entirely through support provided by visual artist Mariette Pathy Allen, whose body of photographic work over the last forty years has been squarely focused on expanding cultural consciousness around gender and transformation. The development of this grant was stewarded by consultant and writer Aaryn Lang, working in collaboration with Mariette Pathy Allen, Serena Jara, and Queer|Art. In order to further recognize finalists for their artistic achievements, Queer|Art is pleased to announce that the grant will also provide a $1,250 award to four distinguished finalists.

The llluminations Grant is administered through Queer|Art with a rotating panel of judges, each of whom will conduct a studio visit with the winning artist as part of the award’s focus on supporting creative and professional development. Judges for the 2025 grant cycle include Legacy Russell, Jordyn Jay, and Lee Laa Ray Guillory. Queer|Art staff will also provide the winning artist and finalists with consultations and further access to many of the tools they have developed in conjunction with the organization’s cornerstone creative and professional development program, Queer|Art|Mentorship.

Qualified artists must be Black trans women working in visual art and based in the United States. Applications are open March 31, 2025–July 2, 2025.

For questions, email Queer|Art Design & Marketing Manager, Andrius Alvarez-Backus at [email protected].

APPLICATIONS OPEN - MARCH 31st, 2025
COMPLETE APPLICATION - JULY 2nd, 2025

What information does the application require?

  • Contact info, narrative bio, and headshot
  • Demographic information
  • One sentence description of your artistic practice
  • Two short essay questions on your artistic practice
  • 2 references that can speak to your practice
  • CV
  • Work samples (12 samples maximum, details below)

Work Sample Specifications:

Choose from any of the following formats to upload work samples that best represent your practice.

Allowed Media Types:

  • Images (up to 10MB each)
  • Video (up to 500MB each)
  • PDFs (up to 20MB each)
  • External media from YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud

Images do not have to be a particular size, as SlideRoom's servers will process them to fit their system. Their processors will resize anything larger than 1280 x 1280 x 72 ppi to fit within those limitations.

Image file formats accepted: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .tif, .tiff, .bmp, .tga
Video file formats accepted: .m4v, .mov, .mp4, .wmv, .flv, .asf, .mpeg, .mpg, .mkv

Please include title, medium, year, and brief description of each work sample.

Note: Application fees for all applicants have been waived.

For more information and to apply, please visit here.

Cartier Women's Initiative Award

Cartier Women's Initiative regional and thematic awards recognize and fund talented impact entrepreneurs from around the world who are leveraging business as a force for good.

Applications are now open and will close at 2pm CEST, June 24, 2025. Click here for more information and to apply.

SoGal Black Founder Startup Grant

Black women founders are the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs out of any throughout history. These founders are best equipped to solve some of the world’s largest unmet needs, and have a legacy of reinvesting in their communities and creating intergenerational wealth. However, Black women entrepreneurs are met with the greatest barriers to accessing capital.

This perpetual systemic discrimination, the unwillingness & inability of Silicon Valley and venture capitalists to effectively diversify their investments, the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs of color, and generations of inequities against Black people are absolutely inexcusable.

SoGal Foundation has teamed up with Winky Lux, bluemercury, twelveNYC, Twilio, and other sponsors to make a small step towards progress by providing several $10K and $5K cash grants to Black women or nonbinary entrepreneurs.

Awardees will also receive tactical help navigating the fundraising environment at large so that they will have a more equitable opportunity at scaling the next billion dollar idea. They will also receive lifetime “ask-me-anything” access to the SoGal Foundation and SoGal Ventures teams. We know this is a small start, and we are hopeful that it will grow. We believe in a brighter future where the next world changing business does not go unrealized because of systemic discrimination.

To qualify, you should:

– self-identify as a Black woman or Black nonbinary entrepreneur (inclusive of multiracial Black women and multiracial Black nonbinary folks)

– have a legally registered business

– plan to seek investor financing in order to scale, now or in the future

– have a scalable, high-impact solution or idea with the ambition to be the next billion dollar business.

Deadline: Rolling

To apply, click here.

VIA Art Artistic Production Grant: Fall 2025 Award Cycle

Artistic Production grants fund the production and exhibition of new artistic commissions, in amounts ranging between $25,000 – $100,000. Often exhibited beyond museum walls in public space, these projects feature high levels of thought leadership, artistic production, and public engagement. VIA Art Fund accepts Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) on a semiannual basis for our Fall and Spring award cycles.

Artistic Production Grant: Fall 2025 Award Cycle

Letter of inquiry deadline: May 15, 2025

Invitation to submit full application*: June 18, 2025

Full application deadline for invited applicants: July 17, 2025

Grant award notification: October 2025

Projects must start after November 2025

*By invitation only

Click here to apply and here for more information.

Yéigo Action Grant

Grants for individual Native artists and culture bearers who are in need of quick financial assistance for an artistic opportunity, emergency situation and/or sudden unanticipated expense related to their art practice or business.

KEY INFORMATION

Grant amount: $100-$1,000

Application deadline: 3:00pm MT on the 10th of every month

For more information and to apply, click here