The Bandung Residency, presented by the Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) and The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), is an opportunity designed to uplift the work of organizers, artists, educators, and waymakers whose practice is intended to foster solidarity between Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Black communities.

PROGRAM GOALS

For the fourth cohort of this residency, 6-7 NYC-based visionaries will be selected as residents by a panel of independent reviewers to participate in a six-month-long hybrid program consisting of structured, self-directed, and group learning exchanges that introduce community leaders embedded in this social justice work, propel forward the spirit of solidarity crystalized during the 1960s and ‘70s, center the historical and contemporary issues faced by AANHPI and Black communities, while enabling the deepening of each participant’s relationship with themselves, their practice, other participants within the cohort, and most especially with the communities identified.

Residents are also expected to connect with local leaders and community members to inspire unity through an artistic presentation, shared exploratory experience, or special project that they will incubate and create during the residency. Examples of projects include a public art piece, performance, walking tour, ephemeral installation, or community building activity. Residents are encouraged to realize the project they propose, however we understand if a project evolves and iterates beyond the residency period.

Our north star rests in the human potential to strengthen cross-cultural community ties through intersectional advocacy (within and across participating communities), and to use “art” as a vehicle for social change through neighborhood interventions.

INFORMATION SESSION

A pre-submission information session for those interested in applying will be held on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 from 6:00–7:00 PM ET via Zoom. Register here.

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Are you a NYC-based changemaker, organizer, artist, educator, waymaker or community leader interested in building a project rooted in fostering solidarity between AANHPI and Black communities? Are you dedicated to inspiring and/or transforming yourself, other artists, the intended communities, or all of the above?

The 2025 Bandung Residency is seeking 6-7 participants with a range of artistic expression, social justice expertise, organizing frameworks, and lived experiences for its fourth cohort. We strongly encourage individuals from underserved communities—including but not limited to Indigenous, low-income, immigrant, disabled, non-native English speaking, LGBTQIA+ communities—to apply.

Requirements

• A current resident of New York City who will be based in New York City for the duration of the program period, from June–December 2025 (this residency will take on a hybrid form with some in-person meetings required)
• Open to individual participants (or participants working in collaboration/collectives no larger than three people); organizations may not apply
• If applying as a collective, all members of the collective must participate in the program and must meet all eligibility requirements and expected participation deliverables
• Degree-earning students at the time of the residency may not apply
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• All disciplines and stages of artistic exploration/developments, activism, community organizing, educational practice, and thought leadership are welcome

Deadline: May 14, 2025

To apply and for more information, click here.

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.

The Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies to artists in financial need* who are creating in the visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography.

*To be eligible to apply, your average adjusted gross income for the last two years you’ve filed tax returns must be no greater than $75,000 ($150,000 for joint filers).

Please note:

• Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants are not for lost wages, living expenses, or medical care for individuals other than the artist. Visit NYFA’s Emergency Resources page for a regularly-updated list of emergency resources.
• The need for emergency funding far outpaces available funds. An application to this grant program is not a guarantee of a grant award. In each cycle, we will distribute approximately $150,000 in total funding. Learn more about the review and decision-making process at the bottom of this page.

This program and Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants are made possible through the support of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Robert Rauschenberg was committed to assisting fellow artists in need of emergency aid, ultimately establishing the nonprofit foundation Change, Inc. in 1970.  In this spirit, this program is designed to serve artists in financial need who otherwise may delay critical treatment or incur substantial and perhaps overwhelming debt.

Timeline

Applications Open

Tuesday, April 15 at 10:00 AM ET

Applications Close

Tuesday, May 13 at 5:00 PM ET*

Applicants Notified

June 27, 2025

*Please note that the application form on Submittable will automatically close and stop accepting applications at this time.

For more information and to apply, click here. 

We’re awarding three $5,000 manufacturing grants for small businesses to use to purchase inventory. In addition to the grant, winners will get introduced to verified manufacturers, a feature on our platform, and expert guidance.

Applications open: March 15, 2025

Deadline to apply: May 3, 2025

Winners announced: May 15, 2025

For more information and to apply, click here.

The Black Ambition Prize competition strengthens pathways to entrepreneurship, increases access to capital, expands pathways to growth, and highlights the talents of underrepresented founders.

Black Ambition seeks to support entrepreneurs from backgrounds that have historically been overlooked by venture capital funding. To be eligible to apply, a team must have at least one founding member from such a background, including, but not limited to, backgrounds such as Black/African/African American, Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx, LGBTQ, parents with earned income below the poverty level, first-generation immigrants, first-generation college graduates, and those raised by a single parent. Founders from any background traditionally overlooked in venture capital funding may apply regardless of race.

Teams applying for the Black Ambition Prize must have at least one founder or co-founder, who identifies as an underrepresented founder. A member of the founding team is defined as having a C-Suite or VP-level role. Eligible ventures must be growth-ready companies that have not yet raised more than $1M in dilutive funding to date and innovating in:

• Technology
• Healthcare
• Consumer Products and/or Services
• Media and Entertainment
• Artificial Intelligence

Why Apply?

Because it’s time to even the playing field. There’s not just space for more diverse leaders in these industries, there’s an overwhelming necessity. Your ideas and innovation, combined with the right support, will tip the scales in a way that permanently changes the landscape in these arenas. We know that building bold ideas and innovative companies requires collaboration and support.

Eligible ventures will compete for awards between $20,000 to $100,000.

Select applicants will receive the following support services.

• Growth capital
• Coaching
• Pitch, Wellness, and Leadership workshops
• Community
• Online and in-person events and funder introductions
• Cohort-based Mentorship
• Exclusive Training Opportunities with Global Brands
• Resources – Supports valued at more than $20k through partners
• Marketing, vending and product placement opportunities

This competition is for ventures that have shown progress against the venture concept (tested the concept, working prototype, minimum viable product). To learn more about the eligibility requirements for the Black Ambition Prize, please visit our website. For additional support to complete your application please refer to our application resource guide. Applications close May 2nd, at 9 PM ET.

For more information, click here. 

The Bed-Stuy Create & Connect Fund is a hyperlocal micro-grant program offered annually and directly managed by The LP. The Fund aims to enrich community life in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, by resourcing the creative ideas or civic actions of artists, cultural practitioners, community organizers, activists, and neighbors.

For the 2025 cycle, we will grant up to 20 project proposals with $1500 each. We are looking for creative initiatives or civic projects that emerge from community needs, foster meaningful connections, and ignite socially conscious conversations. In other words, we aim to support community building amongst neighbors through community-led action.

We encourage both individuals and collectives to apply if you have a new project or an ongoing initiative that positively impacts and engages a Bed-Stuy group, audience, or community. We are particularly interested in proposals that nurture creativity, uplift local legacies, foster community wellness, or inspire collective advocacy.

The Laundromat Project will reserve up to 5 grant awards for proposals that embody or engage our organization-wide theme, Black Quantum Futurism, which interrogates how time, space, and memory can inform our collective liberation.

Proposals that show potential creative and civic impact in Bed-Stuy will be prioritized.

Applications Close − May 1

Decision Notification − Mid-June

Eligible proposals may include, but are not limited to:

• Workshops and Classes: Art-making (e.g., painting, sculpture, printmaking, film, collage, dance, music);
  Skill-sharing (e.g., Creating an Artist Portfolio, Grant Writing 101)
  Cultural activities (e.g., folk arts & traditions, ritual, storytelling)
  Community Teach-Ins & Public Education Workshops
  
• Storytelling Initiatives: Community Podcasts;
  Story Circles & Readings;
  Oral History, Material, and Digital Archives
  
• Public Performances or Outdoor Activations: Dance (e.g., hip hop, jazz, folk);
  Theater (e.g., drama, comedy, musicals);
  Spoken Word Poetry or Open-mic;
  
• Community and Place-based Projects: Public Murals;
  Walking Tours;
  Public Installations;
  Creative Scavenger Hunts;
  Sidewalk Chalk Art Competitions;
  Community Bike Rides or Roller Skating activations;
  Mapping and Wayfinding projects.
  
• Gatherings for Intergenerational Community: Sewing or Knitting Clubs;
  Community Book Clubs;
  Game Nights;
  Writing Groups;
  Singing Circles.
  
• Civic Engagement: Community Organizing;
  Food or Clothing Drives;
  Community Resource Pantries;
  Wellness initiatives (i.e. herbalism & healing, yoga, double dutch, tennis);
  Campaigns that strengthen “connections to place” in Bed-Stuy;
  Mail or postal projects that encourage social connectedness;
  Innovative activations around mutual aid or cultural organizing;
  Community Gardening, Composting, or Sustainable Farming programs.
  
• Support towards arts and cultural festivals, including art making at block parties or fairs.

Types of Ineligible Proposals:

• Solo production of artworks made for personal practice
• Proposals with no involvement, impact, or engagement with additional stakeholders or a broader community in Bed-Stuy
• Projects, events, and/or activities that require an admission or participation fee
• Proposals that seek to fund the operation of a business
• Proposals that seek to fund the product development or sale of a commercial good

Click here for more information and to apply. 

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.  

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.

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].

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APPLY

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.

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.

Through the Acceleration Portfolio, Dovetail Impact Foundation invest in African nonprofit organizations that have annual budgets under $500,000 working in one of our four priority sectors: health, livelihoods, justice, and education. They have the opportunity to work with various training consultants —including Mighty Ally, IDinsight, RaiseUp, Spring Impact, Vanreusel Ventures — on communications, finance, fundraising, M&E, and strategy through workshops and one-on-one coaching.

Their goal in launching the Acceleration Portfolio is to partner with high-potential organizations through unrestricted grants and support beyond the grant – to grow their impact, focus their programs, hone their message, and expand their funding base.

First-round applications for the 2025 Acceleration Cohort are now open!

We will be reaching out to those selected for second-round applications as noted in our timeline.

We are looking for prospective partners who:

• are locally-led, African, not-for-profit organizations
• have been in operation for at least 2 years
• are officially registered in their country(ies) of operation
• have an annual budget under $500,000
• have an official Board of Directors or Trustees
• have leadership (or a whole team) who are fluent enough in English to participate in capacity-building workshops (Unfortunately, we are only able to offer our capacity building workshops and coaching in English at this time.)

Timeline for the 2025 application cycle:

• 11 April to 12 May: Application window open for Round One submissions
• late May: Applicants notified on Round One decision, Round Two applicants notified regarding selection for finalist application
• mid to late June: Round Two Interviews conducted and second-round applications due for finalist organizations
• late July: 2025 cohort organizations selected & notified
• September: program year begins
• Read additional details on the grants and capacity building aims for this portfolio, and some FAQs here.
• This portfolio is focused on strategic capacity building, and thus the strongest applications will be coming from an organization’s leader.
• Due to the volume of applicants, we unfortunately will not be able to provide individual feedback on applications or reasons for decline.

Round One Application link open through May 12, 2025; 4pm East Africa Time
(Note that applications are submitted via the Airtable platform)

To apply, please click here. 

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.

The Creative Business Boost Initiative supports 100 creative entrepreneurs with a $5,000 grant and access to Boost Camp coaching. Presented by Hello Alice and GEN with support from Etsy’s Uplift Fund. Apply by May 9, 2025 at 6 pm ET.

To apply, click here.

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.

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. 

Village Capital's Thriving Communities: Climate Resilience will support 10 place-based climate startups to drive a more sustainable economy and address gaps across the US.

It is an investment-readiness program designed to support ten startups addressing the growing environmental challenges across the US.

With support from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation (HPEF) and Salesforce, the initiative fosters place-based innovators developing solutions that support climate resilience and uplift low-income communities. At the end of the program, two startups will be eligible for investment.

Total Funding

$25,000

Application Deadline

May 9, 2025

Location

Virtual, 1 in person workshop in Chicago

For more information and to apply, click here. 

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.