OPEN CALL Artist Grants

Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution.

Crafting the Future (CTF) provides emerging, mid-career, and established artists of color with funding that will plant their roots in the craft community and propel their careers.

For 2025, we are excited to offer two tiers of grants, Micro and Special Project Macro Grants.

Crafting the Future's Artist Micro Grants are $500 unrestricted grants to support BIPOC artists in covering artistic and living expenses as they pursue careers in the arts. These funds may be used for art supplies/materials, travel, housing, application fees, tuition, utilities, studio fees, or any other expenses that support an individual's art practice. Five (5) Micro Grants are currently available. Eligible applicants are US-based visual artists aged 18+ who identify as Black and/or Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC).

Crafting the Future's Special Project Macro Grants fund new and pre-existing projects, which support artists of color to access opportunities for art education, career expansion, networking, and personal development. CTF Macro Grants are intended to support the careers of underrepresented BIPOC visual artists by helping to offset potential financial hardships associated with underfunded positions including internships, assistantships, residencies, workshops, and other projects with the potential to elevate the artist(s) in their field. We will prioritize proposals that aim to provide opportunities for or propel the careers of multiple POC artists. Projects should demonstrate a clear intention to support artists of color. Recipients to date have included youth arts organizations and individuals seeking to provide stipends to BIPOC mentors, interns, and assistants who would otherwise be unable to access these underfunded positions and learning opportunities within the arts. Overview: Grants of up to $10,000 are available. $30,000 will be awarded in total.

  • We prioritize projects based in visual arts including materials-based craft and folk/traditional arts. We are not likely to fund projects which focus on performance arts such as music, dance, and theatre.

We are accepting applications from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People Of Color)-identifying artists. This application opens on Wednesday January 15, 2025 and closes after March 15, 2025 at 11:59pm PST.

Decisions Announced: Apr 7, 2025