Artist Funding Guide: $500K+ for March & April 2025
- Forbidden Fruit
- Mar 3
- 6 min read
What’s Available for Artists Early Spring 2025?
As spring approaches, this artist's funding guide highlights fresh opportunities across disciplines. March and April bring over $500K in exciting possibilities for creating new work, finding dedicated space for your practice, and sharing your artistic vision with broader audiences.
Remember :
Read the full guidelines – Requirements can change from year to year.
Check eligibility – Many grants have location or discipline-specific criteria.
Prepare your materials early – Some applications require work samples, proposals, or letters of recommendation.
Artist Funding Guide Spring 2025
Now is the perfect time to prepare your applications and position yourself for success. From emergency assistance to project funding, these grants offer critical resources to advance your artistic practice.
March Grant Deadlines:
March 11: Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants CYCLE 29 – Up to $5,000 for artists in the US facing unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies occurring after August 1, 2024. Available to artists creating in visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, or choreography.
March 15: Window of Opportunity (WOO) | Leeway Foundation – Up to $1,500 for Leeway grant and award recipients to help take advantage of time-sensitive opportunities that support art for social change practice.
March 15: The Seattle Prize – An exceptional $100,000 stipend over two years, plus free studio space, models, supplies, and expert mentorship for dedicated artists in classical, representational painting. Seattle is growing as an international haven for art, with 6-10 fellowships available.
March 27: Innovate Grants for Art + Photo (Winter Cycle) – Two $1,800 grants awarded quarterly to one visual artist and one photographer. Twelve honorable mentions will be featured on the website and join a growing community.
March 29: Black Women Photographers x Nikon Inc. Grants – In its fourth year, offering one $10,000 grant and five $5,000 grants to fund visual projects, plus five $3,000 grants for business expenses and more than $20,000 in Nikon gear.
March 31: SIA Foundation, Inc. – $1,000 to $15,000 for capital investments (facilities, equipment, real estate) for Indiana-based tax-exempt organizations, educational institutions, and governmental entities. Not for operating costs, events, artwork, software or vehicles; funds must be used within one year.
March 31: Decorative Arts Trust Publishing Grants – Supporting book-length academic publications including first-time authors and collections-based research that increases awareness of decorative arts.
April Grant Deadlines
April 1: The Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant – $5,000 to $36,000 for American painters aged 45 or older who demonstrate financial need. Awards include a cash grant and an exhibition at PAAM.
April 3: New York City Film Production Grant – Up to $30,000 for NYC-based early career film directors whose work expands, questions, or experiments with filmmaking.
April 8: WFF Housing Stability Grant for Artists – $30,000 distributed over three years to NYC-based visual artists seeking support for stable housing. Five artists will be selected in this inaugural cycle.
April 15: 2025 Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants – Up to $20,000 for environmental art projects led by women-identifying artists in the US and US Territories. Projects should inspire thought, action, and ethical engagement with environmental issues.
Rolling: The Adolf and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant (International) – One-time financial assistance (typically $5,000, up to $15,000) for qualified painters, printmakers, and sculptors facing unforeseen catastrophic incidents who lack resources to meet that situation.
Rolling: Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (International) – Grants up to $50,000 for painters, sculptors, and artists working on paper. Grant size determined by artist's circumstances, with consideration of exhibition history.
Residencies + Fellowships
Looking for uninterrupted time to focus on your work? These residencies and fellowships offer studio access, stipends, and space to experiment.
March 15: Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program – Providing six artists a place to live and work for a year in New Mexico, with a monthly stipend and solo exhibition opportunity at the Roswell Museum.
March 15: Bayard Rustin Residency at Penington Friends House – BIPOC artists and activists working on projects addressing systematic racism can apply for up to one year of room and board in Manhattan.
March 17: Somerset Artist Residency 2025 – 5-week residency for Somerset-based artists in East Quay's Studio 10 Project Space, during Somerset Arts Week's Open Studios Festival (September 13-28, 2025). Open to artists in all mediums with a €1200 stipend.
March 17: Sitka Residencies – Providing time and space for self-paced work and reflection in an inspiring natural setting for artists, writers, performers, scientists, educators and interdisciplinary practitioners.
March 18: MR ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE (AIR) – Supporting early career generative dance artists with 18 months of support including residency fees, free rehearsal space, professional development, and formats for investigative discourse for NYC-based artists.
March 31: New York Public Library Picture Collection Artist Fellowship – Supporting artists or scholars researching or developing new creative or scholarly work based on the Collection's holdings, with stipends from $2,000 to $5,000.
April 15: Media Artist + Activist Residency (MAR) | Leeway Foundation – $25,000 collaborative grants ($15,000 to artist, $10,000 to organization) for women, trans*, and gender nonconforming media artists working with social justice organizations in Greater Philadelphia. Requires collaborative application for year-long residency embedding artists within organizations to document, reframe, or amplify social justice campaigns.
Open Calls
Want to get your work seen? These open calls provide opportunities for exhibitions, publications, and performances.
March 15: Lexi Rudnitsky Editor's Choice Award – Open to poets who have previously published at least one full-length book of poems. Winner receives $2,000 advance and publication of their collection by Persea.
March 15: Cannonball Arts – Inviting West Coast artists and curators to apply to 20 different categories, from "Floating Sculpture" to "Indigenous Canoe Carvings" and "Soap Sculptures."
March 15: National Council on Aging (NCOA) "This is 75" – Photography contest celebrating 75 years of service to older adults, seeking images that redefine aging as a period of vitality, purpose, and connections. Awards include $1,500 first prize, $800 second prize, $600 public vote award, and seven $300 merit awards.
March 16: Art in Odd Places: Voice (International) – Call for proposals for the twentieth annual outdoor public visual and performance art festival in West Hollywood, taking place July 25-27, 2025.
March 19: Filter Photo Exhibition Open Call (International) – Welcoming all types of photography proposals for exhibition slots at Filter Space during 2026-2027, including stipend, opening reception, and programmatic event.
March 22: Prospect Art 4th-WALL International Video Biennial – Seeking video works for "Change/Exchange" programming in 2027, with opportunities for physical exhibitions in Los Angeles, Lisbon, and Budapest, plus online screenings.
March 31: She Built NYC Open Call for Artists – The City of New York seeks artists to create public monuments honoring women's history.
Ready to Apply?
Crafting a successful application is like telling a story where your artistic vision takes center stage and the funder is your audience. Here's how to make your narrative compelling:
Connect your past to your future: Show how this funding builds on your existing work while enabling new growth
Be specific about outcomes: Detail exactly what you'll create and how the support will make it possible
Address the "why now" question: Explain why this is the perfect moment for your proposed project
Demonstrate feasibility: Present a realistic timeline and budget that shows you've thought through the logistics
Show alignment with funder values: Research each organization's mission and highlight shared values without forcing connections
Before applying, carefully review each opportunity's full guidelines - many have specific eligibility requirements related to geography, career stage, or artistic medium. Remember that many funders are looking not just for artistic excellence but also for work that resonates with their specific mission or contemporary concerns.
Stay on the look out for our upcoming grant writing workshops to increase your chances of success. We'll share insider tips on crafting compelling proposals, managing deadlines, and telling your story effectively.
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