A $35,000 unrestricted grant can cover more than six months of living expenses so Fellows can focus full-time on their careers.
Fellowship Benefits;
- Weekly conversations with leading showrunners, writers, producers and creative executives help Fellows get bespoke advice and build new connections.
- Ongoing writing workshops and check-ins with the Inevitable team allow Fellows to sharpen their writing and pitching skills.
- Our personalized Concierge service links Fellows with Showrunners and Creative Executives for development and staffing opportunities.
- Connecting with other disabled screenwriters both inside and outside of the Fellowship program will build a supportive community that will stay with Fellows as they grow.
Deadline: Rolling
The James Laughlin Award recognizes and supports a second book of poetry forthcoming in the next calendar year. The winning poet receives $5,000, an all-expenses-paid weeklong residency in Miami Beach, Florida, and distribution of the winning book to approximately one thousand Academy of American Poets members.
Deadline: May 15, 2024
This $25,000 award recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous calendar year. The prize includes a ten-day residency at Glen Hollow in Naples, New York, and distribution of the winning book to hundreds of Academy of American Poets members.
Deadline: May 15, 2024
The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art. Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 in three categories—articles, books, and short-form writing—the grants support projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews for magazines and newspapers to in-depth scholarly studies. The program also supports art writing that engages criticism through interdisciplinary methods and experiments with literary styles. As long as a writer meets the eligibility and publishing requirements, they can apply.
Writers are invited to apply in one of the following categories:
- Article
- Book
- Short-Form Writing
Deadline: May 15, 2024
The Early Career Visual Arts award offers $1,000 towards the completion of a specific project in painting, drawing, sculpture, or mixed-media. Active early career Jewish visual artists between the ages of 25 and 35 may apply.
Deadline: June 1, 2024
The sum of $1,500 will be awarded towards the creation of a unique or limited-edition work in the field of Jewish book arts. All active, professional artists, working in the field of book arts, who have exhibited within the last five years are eligible to apply.
Deadline: June 1, 2024
Arts Partners for Learning is an initiative managed by Arts for Learning that seeks to expand access to arts education for children in Western New York and improve the capacity of cultural organizations to provide creative learning programs. Schools are eligible for funding if they are a public or charter school, have a student population where at least 30% of students qualify for a free or reduced lunch, or lack regular visual arts, music instruction, or arts enrichment opportunities. Programs must occur during the school day. There must be a dedicated, private work space available for students.
Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but previous applicants and early applicants are given priority.
Arts & culture funding designed to ensure continued support for our community. The funding for the Creative Impact Fund comes from a New York State Senate initiative designed to provide equitable arts support to all regions across New York State.
For 2024, ASI has developed four (4) grant opportunities that will be available to the WNY community:
- Arts Programming support (Deadline: May 1, 2024)
- Creation of a New Work support (Deadline: May 1, 2024)
- Training Access support (Deadline: May 1, 2024)
The Authors League Fund is an emergency fund providing non-taxable charitable support in times of urgent need, when a writer cannot afford to pay for necessities. Common circumstances include:
- Illness, or supporting a dependent family member in ill health.
- Overwhelming medical or dental bills.
- Imminent eviction and other forms of housing insecurity.
- Struggling after a natural disaster.
- Major income loss, including due to COVID-19.
They help writers at all stage of life, though priority is given to sick and/or older writers, and to mid- and late-career writers. There are limited funds for younger and/or emerging writers whose emergency is solely related to insufficient income.
The Authors League Fund helps authors, dramatists, journalists, critics, short story writers, and poets. They do accept applications from indie authors with a record of financial or critical success.
The Fund cannot assist writers whose sole credits are self-published or released by a press that charges for publication. The Fund does not help TV/film writers or lyricists and cannot help writers whose sole credits are from copywriting, blogging, public relations, technical writing, and writing for corporate clients.
Support cannot be used for professional expenses, e.g., time to write, computer purchase, book publicity, hiring an editor, airline tickets to a residency, book tour costs, theater production costs, starting a business.
Deadline: Continuous aid opportunity
Launched in April 2017, Awesome Disability is an independent chapter of the Awesome Foundation, a global community that provides micro-grants with no strings attached. The trustees of Awesome Disability are people with disabilities that want to support ideas and projects in our community. Awards are based on need – valuing up to $1,000 per month. There’s no limit to the number of grants and other sources you can apply to. Amount $1,000.
Deadline: Application periods are from the 1st to the 15th of every month
The Black Genius Foundation continues its mission to celebrate and invest in the genius of the Black Creative Ecosystem through Strokes of Genius, an open application program that provides artists, curators, journalists and scholars with funding to develop new creative projects. Strokes of Genius fulfills our commitment to invest in the creativity and cultural production of Black artists and arts professionals in addition to the creative health of our communities.
Eligibility:
- Applicant should be US based
- Applicant should be the principal creator of the work
- Applicant should have a defined artistic practice, aesthetic and point of view reflecting rigor and commitment to craft
- Applicant should have at least five years of professional experience and cannot be currently enrolled in a degree granting program
- Applicant should have a demonstrated record of achievement or body of work as noted by performances, exhibitions, reviews, commissions, grants, awards, residencies, fellowships, publications, screenings or productions
- Proposed projects should demonstrate originality and creativity
- Proposed project should be completed within the funding cycle – August 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
Types of Projects Supported:
- Fees and costs associated with:
- The composing or recording of new music
- The creation of a new choreographic, theatrical, or multidisciplinary work
- The production of a video, film, televisual, digital or multimedia project
- A visual arts project
- A creative writing project
- The research, development and/or execution of a curatorial project or presentation
- The research or writing of an article, paper, or book for publication
Deadline: April 21, 2024
SMALL THINGS ARE IN. Microbrewing, microdosing, microcomputing — so we’re giving out microgrants. Artists and curators are frequently asked to donate their time, labor, and money to make exhibitions or performances happen. We hope this grant will help offset some of that.
What it is:
- A $300 good-faith grant for artists and curators who are realizing a project in the greater Buffalo area. This is no-strings-attached money that an artist or curator can use in whatever way they feel it’s needed.
What we fund:
- Exhibitions, performances, or other projects that contribute to the visual arts in Buffalo.
Your project must:
- Include at least one public event (an opening, a performance, etc)
- Take place within three months (in the past or forthcoming) from the application date. IE: You could apply with a project that took place up to three months ago or a project that will take place in up to three months.
Rolling Deadline: January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1
The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation’s Community Impact grants are intended to support programming, capital, and technology needs. Priority will be given to requests that indicate support from multiple funding sources, demonstrate plans for sustainability, indicate collaborative partnerships, and employ evidence-based approaches with measurable outcomes (where applicable).
Deadline: March 1 and September 1 every year
The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation annually awards over $1million through its competitive grant processes to charitable organizations working to make a difference across the region. General grants are offered bi-monthly and are intended to assist with emerging needs or one-time costs. Requests can be made up to $4,000. Organizations can only submit two requests per year.
Deadline: Last Wednesday of February, April, June, August, October, and December (bi-monthly) by noon
The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation hosts two cycles per year, intending to fund larger initiatives with wide-reaching and longer term community impact. The process occurs in two stages for each cycle, beginning with submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and followed by an invitation to submit a full application. Priority given to requests that indicate support from multiple funding sources, demonstrate plans for sustainability, indicate collaborative partnerships and employ evidence-based approaches with measurable outcomes (where applicable).
Deadline: Letter of Intent due June 1 or December 1
The Circ Artist Grant provides unrestricted funding to artists with a demonstrated commitment to their artistic work. For the Spring 2024 grant cycle, three artists will be awarded $1,000 each to enhance and further their creative practice. Emerging, mid-career, and professional artists are eligible to apply.
Deadline: May 15, 2024
The Regional Development Corporation (RDC), is the lending arm of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA). The RDC Loan Program enhances the competitiveness of local businesses, promotes local ownership of firms employing local residents, and assists with the formation of new companies, including the technology sector and businesses in designated economic development zones.
The RDC Business Loan program supports underserved markets, including borrowers with little to no credit history, low income borrowers, and minority and women entrepreneurs in distressed rural and urban areas, who may not qualify for more conventional loans. M/WBE businesses may qualify for special loan terms.
The RDC offers business loans from $50,000 to $2,000,000 to businesses operating in Erie County, NY.
RDC Loans may be used for:
- permanent working capital
- machinery and equipment purchases
- property acquisition
- pollution control improvements
- loans to effect changes is local ownership when the employment base of the company would otherwise be in jeopardy
Deadline: Rolling
Empire State Development announced the launch of the NY Entertainment Workforce Diversity Grant Program, which will provide over $1 million annually in matching funds to support diversity and inclusivity in job creation and training programs in New York’s film and television industries. The grant program is funded through the Empire State Entertainment Diversity Job Training Development Fund which, at the suggestion of industry leaders, is financed by an allocated percentage from New York State’s film tax credit program. Grants from $25,000 to $500,000 will be available for job creation and training programs that support efforts to: recruit, hire, promote, retain, develop, and train a diverse and inclusive workforce for New York’s motion picture and television production and post-production industries.
Founded in 1985, Career Transition For Dancers enables dancers to define their career possibilities and develop the skills necessary to excel in a variety of disciplines outside of dance.
Professional Development Scholarship: The Professional Development Scholarship provides a one-time award of up to $1,000 for occupational skills training in a certification or licensure program in a field outside of dance, to initiate a post-dance career.
Deadline: The 12th of every month
Undergraduate Studies Scholarship: The Undergraduate Studies Scholarship assists current and former dancers in meeting the substantial financial commitments that come with the pursuit of a college-level degree. A limited number of scholarships in amounts up to $2,000 will be awarded to eligible applicants towards their tuition.
Deadline: October 15 and June 15, annually
Learn More
Capital Grants are for projects which involve raising money to pay for the purchase and proper installation and training of physical assets to assist your organization’s ability to service its clients and constituents.
Multi-Year Capital Grant –Multi-year capital projects are considered for funding at Foundation 214. These types of projects typically require a multi-year disbursement program while the project unfolds in its construction and/or implementation. Further, given the inherent nature of large projects, longer timelines may be required to determine levels of success. When considering your LOI submission, please make careful indication of the issue needing solution and how the goal will be accomplished. Special consideration will be given to projects where other foundations have already committed to partnering with you to partially meet your goal.
Deadline: Letters of Intent due April 30, 2024
Innovative Program Grants are made to assist a charitable organization in its delivery of its mission on a day-to-day basis. Typically, these are multi-year commitments whereby the committed dollars help to offset the associated expenses and costs in delivering your institution’s programs. Organizations may include reasonable administrative or overhead expenses as a percentage of the overall budget (generally up to 10-12% based on actual costs)
Deadline: Letters of Intent due April 30, 2024
Created in 1993 to further FCA’s mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:
- Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
- Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates
Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate, project-based assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad.
Each month FCA receives an average of 100 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-21 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,900.
Deadline: Ongoing
Learn More
The Harpo Foundation was established in 2006 by artist Ed Levine to support emerging and under recognized visual artists. Through grants and residency programs, the foundation seeks to stimulate creative inquiry and encourage new modes of making and thinking about art.
Awards are made of up to $10,000. The number of awards is determined each year by the annual granting budget. Project grant funds must be used for costs in direct support of new work by the proposed artist, including artist honorarium.
Deadline: April 29, 2024
The Harpo Foundation was established in 2006 by artist Ed Levine to support emerging and under recognized visual artists. Through grants and residency programs, the foundation seeks to stimulate creative inquiry and encourage new modes of making and thinking about art.
Starting in 2024, Harpo Foundation will offer an annual $25,000 fellowship to amplify the contributions of under-recognized Native American contemporary visual artists.
Deadline: April 29, 2024
The Hopper Prize provides unrestricted cash grants in the amount of $3,500 and $1,000 to artists around the globe. We view the field of visual art in its broadest and most inclusive sense and therefore make awards available to artists working in any media.
Deadline: May 14, 2024
The International Documentary Association (IDA) supports the vital work of documentary storytellers and champions a thriving and inclusive documentary culture. They have compiled a directory of all grants supporting documentary efforts at the link below.
To assist, support, promote, and advance charitable, philanthropic, religious, educational, patriotic, health, and social purposes and objectives, to advance and promote human welfare and well-being, encourage and advance good citizenship, and to assist research relating to some or all of these purposes.
Deadline: April 25, 2024
AGE in the Arts seeks to change the equity landscape of the American Theatre canon by increasing the representation of BIPOC playwrights 40+ years of age of marginalized gender. Three playwrights receive individual unrestricted grants of $10,000 each.
Deadline: May 15, 2024
The foundation is organized and shall be operated exclusively for charitable purposes and its principal purpose shall be to make grants to charitable organizations, institutions, or foundations. In carrying out the above purpose, the foundation shall make distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations; some, but not exclusive emphasis shall be given to those organizations benefitting the southwestern New York State area.
Primary Funding Areas:
- Program Interests – Arts, education, health care, youth, economic development, and the environment
- Types of Support – Program funding and capital project grants for non-profit organizations in Western New York
Rolling Annual Deadline: July 22
The East Buffalo Small Business Working Capital Grant is a $3 million program created by NYS Governor Kathy Hochul to help largely minority-owned establishments and small businesses rebound from and alleviate the social and economic impacts of the mass shooting at Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue on May 14, 2022. The program, funded by Empire State Development, provides grants of $5,000 to $50,000 to eligible small businesses in a designated area of East Buffalo.
Deadline: Begin accepting applications on March 15, 2024 on a first come first served basis.
Microsoft Tech for Social Impact is dedicated to providing affordable and accessible technology and tools to help nonprofits of all sizes achieve their missions. That’s why we offer grants and discounts of our products and services to eligible nonprofits around the world, including cloud solutions like Azure, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365, as well as solutions custom-built for nonprofits like Fundraising and Engagement for Dynamics 365 Sales.
Microsoft 365 with Microsoft Teams can help your nonprofit improve cybersecurity, reduce costs and empower staff and volunteers to work from anywhere.
Deadline: Rolling
The Mira Fellowship is building a blueprint for our cultural future by reframing our most intractable issues and discovering solutions that empower individuals to action.
Fellows will be given six months to research, design, and produce a simple actionable plan for change. How do we reframe garbage? How do we rethink privacy? How do we rethink education? What is your question that could change the world?
The fellowship is cohort-based and remotely collaborates monthly as well as meeting in person several times a year. Each fellow receives coaching, support, access to exclusive micro-grants for their project.
Fellows Receive;
- Creator toolbox
- Cohort Summits
- Coaching
- Cohort Collaboration
- Exclusive access to Mira micro-grants
- Access to alumni and the larger Mira Community
Deadlines:
- May 1st • Early Bird deadline – No application fee
- May 15th • Regular deadline – $10 application fee
- June 1st • Last Call deadline – $20 application fee
Artists, architects, designers, arts and community-based organizations, and other nonprofits can apply for grants ranging from $10,000 to $40,000 to create or restore public murals in the U.S.
Deadline: April 22, 2024
Challenge America grants offers support primarily to small organizations for projects to reach historically underserved communities with rich and dynamic cultural identities. This program may be a good entry point for organizations that are new to applying for federal funding. Grants are awarded in all artistic disciplines for a wide variety of arts projects.
Challenge America features an abbreviated application, a robust structure of technical assistance, and grants for a set amount of $10,000. Grants require a cost share/match of $10,000 consisting of cash and/or in-kind contributions. Total project costs must be at least $20,000 or greater.
Deadline: April 25, 2024, for projects taking place beginning in 2025.
The National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement.
This program operates on a two-year cycle with fellowships in prose and poetry available in alternating years. In 2024, we will be accepting applications in poetry.
Deadline: Rolling Annually, rotating poetry vs. prose focus
Grants for Arts Projects provides expansive funding opportunities to strengthen the nation’s arts and culture ecosystem. Grants are available for arts projects in a wide variety of artistic disciplines.
We encourage projects that seek to accomplish any of the following:
- Contribute to a healthy and thriving local, regional, state-wide, and national arts and culture ecosystem.
- Elevate artists as integral and essential to a healthy and vibrant society.
- Celebrate the nation’s creativity and/or cultural heritage.
- Facilitate cross-sector collaborations that center the arts at the intersection of other disciplines, sectors, and industries.
- Support arts projects with a focus on advancing the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
- Invest in organizational capacity-building and leadership development for arts organizations, arts workers, and artists.
- Support existing and new technology-centered creative practices across all artistic disciplines and forms, as well as build arts organizations’ capacity to serve a broad public by providing access, training, and other resources to engage with digital technologies.
- Address, develop creative work exploring, or reflect on the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), in a way that is consistent with valuing human artistry. Projects may include artistic work, from across all artistic disciplines, that improves the public’s awareness or understanding of the responsible use of AI in the field of arts.
- Originate from or are in collaboration with the following constituencies encouraged by White House Executive Orders: Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, Predominantly Black Institutions, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities
- Organizations that support the independence and lifelong inclusion of people with disabilities.
- To mark the semiquincentennial of the United States of America, the NEA also seeks arts projects furthering its mission of fostering and sustaining an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. The NEA is partnering with America250 to encourage arts projects that educate and engage communities in dialogue about the past, present, and future of our nation. Project examples may include public art recognizing the milestone, collaborative community arts projects exploring the nation’s identity, or retrospectives of celebrated or overlooked American artists. Projects are welcome in all artistic disciplines.
Deadlines: July 11, 2024 (for projects taking place beginning in 2025)
Fellowships for Digital Publication are competitive awards granted to individual scholars to support interpretive research projects that require digital expression and digital publication. To be considered under this opportunity, an applicant’s plans for digital publication must be integral to the project’s research goals. That is, the project must be conceived as digital because the research topics being addressed and methods applied demand presentation beyond traditional print or audio-video publication. Stand-alone documentaries and podcasts are not allowed. Applicants interested in conducting research and writing leading to traditional print or e-book publications should apply to the NEH Fellowships program.
Competitive submissions embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clearly articulate a project’s value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. All projects must be interpretive. Projects must advance a scholarly argument through digital means and tools. Stand-alone databases, tool development, digitization, and other projects that lack an explicit interpretive argument are not eligible.
Fellowships for Digital Publication provide recipients time to conduct research and prepare digital publications. Successful projects will likely incorporate images, video, audio, data, and/or other multimedia materials, interactive or manipulable elements, or flexible reading pathways that could not be included in traditionally published books, as well as an active dissemination plan. Products must be published in digital form and can include: monographs, peer-reviewed articles, websites, virtual exhibitions, translations with annotations or a critical apparatus, or critical editions. Projects may be at any stage of development.
Deadline: April 17, 2024
The Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants (AWAW EAG) will distribute a total of $300,000 in funding—up to $20,000 per project—to support environmental art projects led by women-identifying artists in the United States and U.S. Territories.
The AWAW EAG will support environmental art projects that inspire thought, action, and ethical engagement. Projects should not only point at problems, but aim to engage an environmental issue at some scale. Proposals should illustrate thorough consideration of a project’s ecological and social ethics. Projects that explore interdependence, relationships, and systems through Indigenous and ancestral practices are encouraged to apply.
The intended impact of the project is an important factor in the selection process. Environmental art projects that qualify for this program may focus on the following themes, but are not limited to:
- Regeneration
- Eco-social engagement
- Decarbonization as decolonization
- Ecofeminism
- Climate change/climate collapse
- Systems-restoration
- Interspecies relationships
- Natural or built systems
- Recycling and repurposing
- Clean energy production
- Bioplastics
Selected projects must benefit the public in some way, and are required to have a public engagement component by August 31, 2025. The public engagement component must be free to attend, open to the general public, and must add value to the public sphere rather than solely benefiting the artist’s private gain. Online events are acceptable as long as they are attended by a live audience.
NYFA is committed to supporting artists from every background, and at all stages in their creative careers. Artists of color, artists with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ artists are strongly encouraged to apply.
Deadline: April 16, 2024
The JGS Fellowship for Photography is a $8,000 cash grant open to New York State photography artists living and working outside of New York City.
The Fellowship is awarded to five artists working in traditional and experimental photography or any form in which photographic techniques are pivotal. The support for this funding is provided by The Joy of Giving Something (JGS).
Deadline: May 21, 2024
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), in partnership with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, offer two grant programs for artists in emergency situations: the Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants and Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program.
Grant cycles for July 2023-June 2024 are listed on each program’s page. These national emergency grant programs reflect Robert Rauschenberg’s concern for the well-being of fellow creative practitioners and were created in the tradition of Change, Inc., a non-profit foundation established in 1970 by Robert Rauschenberg to assist professional artists of all disciplines in need.
Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants
- Provides one-time grants of up to $3,000 to professional dancers in need who have a dire financial emergency as a result of a loss or lack of current live performance work, because of circumstances beyond your control.
- Provides up to three months of essential expenses.
- You must demonstrate an urgent and critical need for emergency support in order to apply.
- Click here to learn more.
Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
- Provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies.
- Open to artists in financial need who are practicing in the visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography.
- Period covered: Related, eligible expenses incurred for up to 12 months from the date of the emergency.
- Click here to learn more.
Deadline: Rolling, quarterly application cycle (check unique grant links)
The Niagara Arts and Cultural Center (NACC) is proud to announce the launch of the NACC Rehearsal Space Program, made possible by a generous grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). This initiative aims to provide affordable rehearsal spaces to performing artists in the local community to foster a more vibrant artistic landscape.
- Sign-Up Begins: April 2, 2024, starting at 10 am
- Cost: $5.00 per hour for any rehearsal space, on a first-come, first-served basis
- Availability: 5 spaces available, 7 days a week from 10 am to 9pm
- Who Can Apply? Any and All Performers (Musicians, Actors, Dancers, Mimes, Marching Bands, Singers, etc.)
The NACC Rehearsal Space Program is designed to address the financial challenges faced by performing artists with limited resources. By offering subsidized rehearsal spaces, the program aims to support both established groups and emerging talent. It aims to foster creativity, nurture artistic excellence, and cultivate a vibrant and inclusive cultural landscape.
For more information, to view spaces, and to sign up for subsidized rehearsal spaces, please visit https://thenacc.org/rentals/, or contact Dana Tyrrell, NACC Gallery Co-Director and Rental Coordinator, Dana@theNACC.org / 716-282-7530 x 117.
The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation’s Community Grant proposals must efficiently and effectively address identified community needs or encourage new opportunities. Grant proposals must benefit the northern Chautauqua community. NCCF competitive grants range from $500 to $15,000. On a limited basis, we will consider grant support for two (2) years. In such instances, second-year funding will be contingent upon successful program outcomes from the previous year.
Deadline: Letters of Interest are due September 1 by 4:00 pm, annually
The Oishei Foundation provides support to nonprofits that align with their five focus areas: Strengthen the P-20 education continuum, Enhance options for self-sufficiency, Build livable, stable neighborhoods; Promote health and improve systems of care; and Expand the role of arts, culture and heritage in regional development. They encourage all applicants to discuss applications with their program officers before submitting a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) and throughout the application process.
Support is primarily focused on activities in Erie and Niagara counties (NY), however, we will consider requests from other WNY counties including Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming.
Deadline: Letters of Interest are accepted on a rolling basis
Vanguard Arts Fund applications are now open for Olney Theatre Center’s 2024-2025 season. The Vanguard Arts Fund provides developmental support to diverse teams of artists interested in creating theatrical works. From the early drafts of a new play, to a concept for a classic adaptation to the first song of a musical, we provide workshop time for various stages of a work’s development process. We commit to these artistic teams in hopes of producing their work at Olney Theatre Center in a future season.
Deadline: May 8, 2024
The Emerging Writer’s Contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. One winner in each of the three genres is awarded publication, $2,000, review from Aevitas Creative Management, and a 1-year subscription.
Deadline: May 15, 2024
Podfund provides startup and growth capital, resources, and expertise to help podcast businesses and audio ventures accelerate success.
Podfund typically provides funding between $25,000–$150,000 to podcast studios and high-potential creators based on stage, track record, evidence of traction, revenue, and intended use of the funds. In some cases, we may provide a larger initial check and/or follow-on funding. We review applications on a continuous basis and are actively seeking new investment opportunities in audio-driven companies.
Prospect Art is seeking a curatorial research fellow at any stage of their career to help support the BROADCAST arm of our programming, highlighting media-based artists throughout the year. The selected candidate will design a cohesive program comprised of at least four BROADCAST segments (open to the public online events ranging from screenings, Q&A sessions with artists, and/or workshops) organized around a theme related to the environment. The research will be conducted from June to August 2024; at the end of that period, the fellow will present their program (and budget) to Prospect Art to seek funding to support the events and the curator in 2025. During this time, the curatorial fellow will be part of the NEW WORK review committee and will be expected to select half the artists for their program from the open call. This is an outstanding opportunity for the candidate to come in direct contact with a vast scope of artists. The selected curator will be awarded a $500 research honorarium for their curatorial research, with the possibility of receiving additional funds to conduct the program in 2025. We are particularly interested in curators who have a strong interest in environmental issues, climate change, and the impact of human existence in the arts.
Deadline: April 28, 2024
Open to visual artists worldwide, Prospect Art is prioritizing works that explore environmental issues, climate change, and the impact of human existence on our planet. The NEW WORK program is a mini-grant of $1, 000 that provides support for the production of new artwork. The ONE WORK publishing program is dedicated to a critical dialogue that focuses on one specific completed work by an artist for Prospect Art’s monthly online publication.
Deadline: May 26, 2024
The Sheldon Foundation devotes financial assistance to advance the physical, educational and cultural well-being of the people of the southerly portion of Chautauqua County, New York; and honors the memory of its founder, Isabella M. Sheldon and her husband, Ralph C. Sheldon.
Program interests include: Charitable, Health Care, Education, Youth, Arts and Humanities, and Environment
Types of Support: general/operating, capital campaigns, building/renovation, equipment, matching/challenge support
Range of Grant Award: $100 – $2,000,000
Deadline: Rolling; March 1, August 1, and December 1
Sista Creatives Rising (SCR) is a project founded by Black, invisibly disabled mother-daughter duo Claire Jones and Amaranthia Sepia. Seven women of color and femme-expressing creatives of color in any medium, based in the US and Canada, will receive a $200 micro-grant by submitting a two-minute video about how funds will help, artwork, and additional details.
Deadline: May 5, 2024
Springboard is an innovative rapid prize competition designed to incentivize a new wave of participants, energy, and entrepreneurial activity and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Buffalo, Rochester and Southern Tier regions. Springboard supports events, initiatives, and programs that connect entrepreneurs with resources, information, and other organizations. Springboard supports diverse populations, addresses unmet needs of existing entrepreneurs, creates storytelling opportunities, and generates positive momentum and goodwill across the broader ecosystem.
Springboard is one of the most flexible funding programs in the region. Applicants need to have an Employee Identification Number (EIN) and be located in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans or Wyoming county to apply. Eligible types of applicants include:
- Non-profit or for-profit entrepreneur support organizations;
- Local high schools, colleges, and universities who have programs that support up-and-coming entrepreneurs;
- Capital providers including seed-stage funders, angel groups, venture capital funds, and CDFIs;
- Any service provider that supports entrepreneurs;
- Organizations supporting diverse ownership or entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities;
- Innovative businesses with less than $2,000,000 in gross revenue;
- Entrepreneurs with an existing company including sole proprietorships
Deadline: Three sets of winners—one set in June, another in August, and a third set in October.
- April 26, 2024
- June 21, 2024
- August 23, 2024
Have an idea for a project? Thinking about that video you’ve been meaning to shoot? Considering a new perspective on a familiar idea? Squeaky Wheel is offering Equipment Access Grants to those looking to create specific projects that require the tools and time sometimes difficult or unavailable in daily life. Recipients will receive up to $1000 worth of equipment usage and facilities time. Amount: $1000 in-kind equipment rentals
Founded in 2020, the Stenclik Family Charitable Fund promotes the advancement of Buffalo Niagara through philanthropic commitments to the area’s most promising educational, cultural, scientific, and community initiatives. The Fund seeks to strengthen the region’s existing assets while clearing new paths for innovation that promote prosperity and vitality in our neighborhoods. They want to support projects that improve the lives of people now and make a lasting difference.
TPP support early stage grassroots volunteers, many of whom may have just a glimmer of an idea. Often, these ideas are seen as too small or too risky to attract other support.
The Daily Grant program makes $1000 micro grants 365 days a year. These grants are designed to kick start an organization or individual’s work and give them the lift they need to thrive and grow. accept applications from individuals, groups and startup not-for-profit organizations based anywhere in the world. To be considered, all applications must meet the following criteria:
- Your group/organization’s annual budget must be $50,000 or less.
- The total budget for your project must be less than $10,000. You can request up to $1,000 in seed funding from TPP.
- Individual, group and/or organization (including co-leaders and project team members) must not have received previous funding from TPP.
- Your group/organization must not have paid staff.
The Resilience & Recovery Fund (RRF) Grant exists to support projects designed by volunteers in the immediate aftermath of emergencies such as natural disaster, civil unrest, pandemic, or other unforeseen events. The RRF Grant provides expeditious, one-time funding of up to $1,000 to projects responding to an emergency.
The UB Communities of Care project seeks to commission new and original artwork from local artists. We are looking for work based on the theme “Communities of Care”: What meanings and implications does it have for you? How does it relate to social justice? What voices are left out of public conversations about communities of care? These and other questions and concerns may be addressed through the proposed work. We are especially interested in creative work that explores the intersections of care, community, race, disability, gender, and sexuality. Artists may work in any medium. “Care” and “community” can be defined in expansive and innovative ways in proposed projects. Individual Artist Grant offers up to $50,000.
Deadline: May 31, 2024
Through the Travel, Tourism & Outdoor Recreation program, EDA is focused on accelerating the recovery of communities that rely on the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation sectors. $750 million of EDA’s American Rescue Plan funds are allocated to support the following efforts:
State Tourism Grants: $510 million in non-competitive awards to help states quickly invest in marketing, infrastructure, workforce and other projects to rejuvenate safe leisure, business and international travel.
Competitive Grants: $240 million to help communities that have been hardest hit by challenges facing the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation sectors to invest in infrastructure, workforce or other projects to support the recovery of the industry and economic resilience of the community in the future.
Deadline: Rolling
Last updated: April 18, 2024
