Grants and Opportunities for Artists and Creators
Funding should not be the thing that stops the work. Whether you are a visual artist refining your practice, a multidisciplinary creator building a larger body of work, or an independent creative looking for production support, there are real opportunities open right now with deadlines approaching. Below is a curated list of grants, residencies, fellowships, and paid open calls. If you have been waiting for a sign to apply, this is it.
Innovate Grant
Deadline: September 17, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Two unrestricted grants of $1,800
One visual artist and one photographer receive funding during each quarterly cycle. Artists and photographers age 18 and older may apply internationally.
TNT Residency
Deadline: September 18, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Six month Brooklyn studio residency, solo presentation, documentation, and $250 honorarium
The residency prioritizes underrepresented artists and artists creating work that may not fit traditional commercial markets. Housing is not included.
The Bennett Prize
Deadline: September 19, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $75,000 grand prize and $10,000 runner up award
The Bennett Prize supports women figurative realist painters who have not yet received full professional recognition. The winner also receives a national touring solo exhibition.
LACE Lightning Fund and Jacki Apple Award
Deadline: September 23, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Ten $6,000 grants and one $10,000 award
The program supports Los Angeles County visual artists, artist collectives, projects, and publications. Strong consideration is given to Black, Indigenous, POC, LGBTQ+, disabled, elder, and immigrant artists.
Foundwork Artist Prize
Deadline: September 25, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $10,000 unrestricted grant and three $1,000 finalist grants
The prize supports emerging and midcareer contemporary artists working across media. Applicants must maintain a published Foundwork profile during the selection period.
Berlin Prize Fellowship
Deadline: September 25, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $5,000 monthly stipend, airfare, housing, and partial meals
The American Academy in Berlin supports artists, writers, composers, journalists, and scholars based in the United States. Fellows spend one semester pursuing independent work in Berlin.
Creative Confluence Fund
Deadline: September 30, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Ten artists receive $50,000 over two years
The fund supports artists living or working in Historic Northeast Kansas City, Eastside Kansas City, or Eastern Wyandotte County. Selected artists will develop community informed projects.
Generator Fund
Deadline: September 30, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Grants of up to $10,000
The Generator Fund supports individual artists and artist led groups in Erie and Niagara counties in New York. Eligible projects may include exhibitions, performances, publications, podcasts, artist spaces, films, and community programs.
Black Public Media Open Call
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Five projects receive $20,000. One project may advance to receive up to $150,000.
Black Public Media supports feature length nonfiction projects created for public media. Projects should engage Black stories, perspectives, communities, or issues affecting Black life in the United States.
New York City Film Production Grant
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Up to $30,000 in production funding
The Jerome Foundation supports early career film directors living in New York City. Applicants must be developing new independent short or feature length moving image projects.
Ellis Beauregard Foundation Project Grants
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Five grants of $10,000
These grants support Maine artists working across artistic disciplines. Funding is intended to help artists complete ambitious projects during the grant period.
Paul R. Judy Center Grant
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000
The program supports United States musicians and musical arts organizations developing innovative research, performances, educational programs, and projects that strengthen musical communities.
Artadia Atlanta Awards
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Three unrestricted awards of $15,000
The awards are open to contemporary visual artists living and working in one of 23 eligible Atlanta area counties. Applications are free.
Art Omi Residency
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Fully supported residency with housing, meals, and working space
Art Omi offers residencies in Ghent, New York, for artists, writers, dancers, musicians, and architects. Selected residents attend at no cost apart from travel expenses.
Baryshnikov Arts Residency
Deadline: October 2, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $2,000 stipend, studio space, documentation, and a work in progress presentation
The residency supports artists working in dance, music, theater, multimedia, and interdisciplinary performance. Artists receive one or two weeks of intensive studio access in New York City.
Printed Matter Publisher Work Grant
Deadline: October 4, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Three unrestricted grants of $10,000
The grant supports independent publishers producing artists’ books and related publications. It is especially relevant to artist led presses, experimental publishers, and independent creative platforms.
Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants
Deadline: October 6, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Up to $3,000
The program supports professional dancers living in the United States who are experiencing an urgent financial emergency connected to reduced or lost performance work.
Brooklyn Arts Fund
Deadline: October 11, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Grants of $5,000 or $7,500
The Brooklyn Arts Fund supports artists, collectives, and nonprofit organizations producing arts and cultural projects for Brooklyn audiences. Projects must include a public component.
W. Eugene Smith Student Grant
Deadline: October 12, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Two grants of $5,000
The student grant supports emerging photographers completing documentary photographic essays that demonstrate social purpose and visual depth.
W. Eugene Smith Grant
Deadline: October 12, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $30,000 main grant and two $10,000 finalist grants
The grant supports photographers completing long term documentary photography and photojournalism projects that address significant social, cultural, political, or environmental issues.
Creative Catalyst Fellowship
Deadline: October 15, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Up to eight artists receive $30,000
This yearlong fellowship supports United States based artists creating public facing work connected to issues affecting Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Black and AAPI artists working across intersecting identities may be especially relevant.
Ursa Major Fund
Deadline: October 15, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Ten grants of $6,000
The fund supports Alaska artists and culture bearers creating artist led, experimental, and publicly accessible projects for Alaska communities.
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Creative Projects Grant
Deadline: October 15, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Up to $1,500
The grant supports Oklahoma visual artists, curators, and art writers developing new work that will culminate in a public presentation. Applicants must be at least 21 and cannot be enrolled in a BFA or MFA program.
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Community and Artist Partnership Grant
Deadline: October 15, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Up to $1,500
This grant supports Oklahoma artists developing community based projects that lead to the creation and public presentation of visual art.
PhotoWork Junior Fellowship
Deadline: October 15, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $1,000 stipend, $2,000 in photography services, and six months of mentorship
The fellowship supports early career post documentary photographers who are United States citizens or permanent residents. Applicants cannot currently be students or hold an arts related graduate degree.
Alaska AIR at Bunnell Street Arts Center
Deadline: October 15, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $2,000 stipend, $250 travel support, housing, and studio space
The residency welcomes United States and international artists working across visual art, writing, film, performance, music, sound, and social practice. Residents participate in community programming in Homer, Alaska.
Reel Change Film Fund
Deadline: Rolling
Funding/Opportunity: Four to six grants averaging $20,000
Reel Change supports composers from backgrounds historically marginalized within film composition. Funding may cover compensation, musicians, recording, studio expenses, orchestration, equipment, and other scoring costs.
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant
Deadline: Rolling
Funding/Opportunity: Up to $15,000
This emergency program assists mature painters, printmakers, and sculptors experiencing an unforeseen catastrophic incident. Applicants must demonstrate at least ten years in the mature phase of their practice.
International Opportunities
PhotoVogue MENA Panorama Open Call
Deadline: September 24, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $8,000 in total grants, festival presentation, publication consideration, and portfolio reviews
The free open call welcomes photographers, filmmakers, and multimedia artists from the Middle East, North Africa, and the diaspora. Work may address identity, culture, belonging, social realities, or experimental visual practices.
Unlimited Partner Awards
Deadline: September 28, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Eleven awards totaling £280,000
The awards support ambitious new work led by disabled artists in England, Scotland, and Wales. Individual awards generally range from £15,000 to £40,000.
Ars Biologica Art and Science Residency
Deadline: September 28, 2026Funding/Opportunity: €24,000 in total support
The program provides a €6,000 artist fee, up to €15,000 for production, and additional travel support. Artists should propose projects connecting art, science, ecology, technology, and environmental research.
Medialab Matadero Situated Research Residency
Deadline: September 27, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: €10,000 for each selected project, plus travel support
The Madrid based residency supports projects working across contemporary art, science, design, technology, and society. Three projects will be selected for development from January through July 2027.
Nature and Humans Photography Competition
Deadline: September 28, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: More than €17,000 in cash, equipment, and travel prizes
The competition welcomes photographers exploring the relationship between humans, nature, conservation, and environmental responsibility. Professional and amateur photographers may apply internationally.
Phenomenon GrantDeadline: September 30, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Grants ranging from €5,000 to €10,000
The program supports research and art projects connected to Greece and grounded in queer, feminist, anticolonial, or other emancipatory practices. International applicants may apply when their proposal demonstrates a meaningful Greek context.
Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination Fellowship
Deadline: September 30, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: $75,000 stipend, private office, and institutional research support
The fellowship provides a full academic year at Reid Hall in Paris for artists, writers, scholars, and thinkers. The independent creative arts category is open internationally under its stated residency requirements.
Tokyo Biennale Social Dive
Deadline: September 30, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Travel support, housing, production funding, and honorarium
Selected artists, curators, researchers, and collectives will develop community engaged, site responsive projects across Tokyo for the 2027 Tokyo Biennale.
Singapore Art Museum Residencies
Deadline: September 30, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Monthly stipend, housing, airfare, visa assistance, and institutional support
The program offers artist, community and education, and curatorial and research residencies. International residents receive a monthly stipend of S$1,500 in addition to housing and travel support.
Supporting Act Foundation Impact Grant
Deadline: October 1, 2026Funding/Opportunity: Ten grants of €50,000 over two years
The program supports younger arts nonprofits serving emerging artists from marginalized communities. Organizations must be registered or fiscally hosted in one of the eligible European countries.
Supporting Act Foundation Artist Grant
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Ten unrestricted grants of €10,000
The grant supports emerging artists from underrepresented groups who have between two and ten years of professional experience. Applicants must live in one of the ten eligible European countries.
Camargo Fellowship
Deadline: October 1, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: €3,500 stipend, travel funding, housing, and workspace
The ten week residency in Cassis, France, supports established and midcareer artists, scholars, and thinkers pursuing research, experimentation, and interdisciplinary exchange.
Earth Partner Prize
Deadline: October 7, 2026
Funding/Opportunity: Eight awards ranging from $2,000 to $10,000
The prize welcomes creatives between ages 14 and 30 working across photography, film, visual art, performance, fashion, music, dance, technology, and new media. Proposed work must address environmental or social issues connected to the climate crisis.
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