15 Programs Supporting Artists Worldwide

Another well-known resource for art organizations, the NEA’s Art Works Grant, is project-based and supports public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. Grants range from $10,000 to $100,000, and the NEA says that projects don’t have to be new or large, but they do have to make a difference.

The Warhol Foundation's Arts Writers Grant Program exists to support an under-funded area in the arts: criticism and general writing about the visual arts. Writers can receive grants to work on art essays, exhibition reviews, blogs, books that make a significant contribution to the field of contemporary visual art, and various other art-related projects. While the program isn’t geared toward artists in particular, it supports them by recognizing the financially precarious situation of arts writers and their indispensable contribution to a vital artistic culture.

In 2013, the Harpo Foundation announced that their policies were changing and that they would begin accepting proposals for grants from individual artists and non-profit organizations. The opportunity for under-recognized artists of any age to receive direct support up to $10,000 was a big change, and while it is only year two, we think the program is, and will continue to be, a valuable resource.

The Lincoln Motor Company raised $1.2 million last year to launch their Reimagine Project, a way to promote and fund art projects that share the company’s passion for creativity and thought leadership. Through partnerships with TED, Architecture for Humanity, and the Tribeca Film Festival, the program has helped artists realize worthwhile projects that have a positive impact on the lives of others and on the planet.

Founded in 2007, the ALISN’s purpose is supporting emerging artists and fostering community and collaboration between artist-led and other emerging art galleries and projects. Through talks, exhibitions, performances, and their annual conference in London, they encourage a dialogue about the arts and provide a platform for artists and organizations to work together on a global scale.

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice's Global Arts Fund provides funding for impactful art by LGBTQI people and organizations with limited access to resources, who use art as a tool for social transformation. Each year the grant has an interesting theme, last year’s being migration, transit, and movement experienced by marginalized LGBTQI communities in the U.S., Global East, and Global South in the face of exploitations wrought by globalization, imperialism, and neocolonialism. There are not many programs like it in the world, and its mission is an important one.

Supported by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, the BAC gives around $30,000 a year to hundreds of artists in Brooklyn with projects that involve the public and that actually take place in Brooklyn. From public art installations and exhibitions to concerts and filmmaking workshops, the projects that have received funding are diverse, and the BAC says that 30-40 percent of applicants usually receive funding at some level.

This fellowship program was established in 1925 in memory of the son of the U.S. Senator John Simon Guggenheim. The Senator wrote in a letter that year that the purpose of the Foundation would be to add to the educational, literary, artistic, and scientific power of this country, and also to provide for the cause of better international understanding. The Foundations has upheld that mission for the past nine decades. There have been over 4,700 Fellows in the Creative Arts category since 1925 and over 17,000 total throughout the Foundation’s other programs. Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Ken Burns, and Donald Judd are among the list of past fellowship recipients.

Since its creation in 2005, the NALAC’s Fund for the Arts (NFA) has awarded over $1 million to U.S.-based Latino artists and organizations that demonstrate artistic excellence in pursuit of social justice through the arts. There are several funding categories including NFA Artist/Ensemble Project Grants, NFA Master Artist Grants, and NFA General Operating Support Grants. Priority is given to individuals and groups with projects that invest in the cultural assets and human and social capital of Latinos in the U.S. and that exhibit a high level of artistic excellence and innovation. Awards range from $1,000 for smaller projects, up to $20,000 for “master artist” level grants.

Singapore’s National Arts Council has announced that $1.5 million dollars will be given this financial year to support artists and arts companies that produce quality performances and exhibitions for the enjoyment and edification of Singaporeans. Applicants are assessed on the artistic merit of their project, its benefit to the Singaporean community, and the applicants’ demonstration of good planning and sound budgeting. The program also specifies that projects that have clear community engagement outcomes will be eligible for higher funding consideration.

Art collector and philanthropist Robert Devereux established the charity in 2011 to act as a catalyst for the emergence and growth of locally managed and sustainable contemporary art organizations in Africa. With an emphasis on grassroots organizations, the Trust provides funding for a number of projects and uses including studio space, artist exchanges, exhibitions, workshops, travel, books, festivals, and education. They do not, however, fund individual artists. This year’s grantees included The Dakar Biennale, the Marrakech Biennale conference, and artist Marcia Kure’s residency with the V&A Museum in London.

Each year, the ArtSlant Prize Showcase awards thousands of dollars in cash and exhibition prizes to emerging and mid-career artists that exhibit great potential and commitment to their artistic practice, and whose work helps advance contemporary aesthetic, conceptual, and political discourses. Artists advance through the six rounds of the Showcase by juried selection, with a small group earning an exhibit at Aqua Art Miami. One winner receives a Purchase Award and has their art entered into the ArtSlant Collection.

For French artists or artists living in France, being awarded the Duchamp Prize is like catching the golden snitch or getting the keys to Willy Wonka’s factory. The prestigious prize comes with €35,000 in cash and up to an additional €30,000 towards a work of art to exhibited at the Centre Pompidou.

The international contemporary art prize was established in 2009 by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation to, as the name suggests, discover, recognize, and give long-term support to a future generation of artists. Artists under the age of 35 apply for the prize through an open call online, while others are nominated by a group of 200 curators, artists, critics, and tutors from around the world. 20 shortlisted artists show their work in an exhibition at the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev, and the winner receives $60,000 in cash and another $40,000 towards a new work.