The Garden
Creative opportunities are often inaccessible, scattered or hidden. The Garden exists to make them easier to find.
A reservoir of opportunities for students, entrepreneurs and worldbuilding creatives.
Supports early-career ceramic artists with an unrestricted $5,000 award to recognize excellence, skill, and innovation. This year's award focuses on ceramics (medium rotates annually). Winner also receives a one-year JRACraft membership and the opportunity to present work at a JRACraft event.
Eligibility: Must be US-based. Must have completed a four-year academic program and/or self-directed equivalent training within the past five years (residencies, workshops, and apprenticeships count). Cannot have been curated into a major museum exhibition, such as the Renwick Gallery.
Deadline: August 23, 2026
Supports mural and public artists with a $10,000 prize to design and install a mural on the historic Spruill Smoke House in Dunwoody, Georgia, on display for the coming year. Winning artist completes on-site installation by November 19, 2026, with an unveiling celebration November 21, 2026.
Eligibility: Must be US-based, individual artists or art teams, 18 or older. Submissions accepted in any medium.
Deadline: August 28, 2026, 11:59 PM EDT
Project grants of up to $5,000 for California artists and cultural workers creating new ways to strengthen the arts through community, creative ownership, mutual support, and financial sustainability. Funding is available for projects at any stage—from early ideas to implementation.
Eligibility: California artists and cultural workers applying individually or as a team.
Deadline: August 28, 2026
Supports early-career visual artists with unrestricted funding to create or complete a new project inspired by the relationship between traditional, cultural, or historical influences and contemporary artistic practice. Up to five artists will each receive a $5,000 grant.
Eligibility: Visual artists with 2–10 years of professional practice. Applicants from any country may apply, but all application materials must be submitted in English.
Deadline: August 31, 2026
Supports artists of exceptional promise with a $93,000 stipend plus $5,000 in research funding to spend 10 months at Princeton pursuing independent creative work. No teaching is required.
Eligibility: For the current cycle, applications are accepted in dance, theater/music theater, visual arts and music. Applicants should have a strong record of artistic achievement. Advanced degrees and U.S. citizenship are not required.
Deadline: September 8, 2026
A fully funded artist residency giving creatives dedicated time and space to work independently. Fellows spend 2–8 weeks at MacDowell in New Hampshire with a private studio, accommodations and three meals per day.
Eligibility: Artists 21+ from around the world working in architecture, film/video, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theater or visual arts. Most currently enrolled students are not eligible.
Deadline: September 10, 2026
A fully funded, year-long fellowship for accomplished artists, writers, journalists, scholars, and public intellectuals pursuing an original project. Fellows receive time, funding, office space, and access to Harvard's interdisciplinary community to focus on their work.
Eligibility: Established artists, writers, journalists, scholars, and public intellectuals who meet the fellowship's discipline-specific requirements. Independent applicants are welcome—you do not need to be affiliated with a university.
Award: $78,000 stipend + $5,000 for project expenses
Deadline: September 10, 2026 (Humanities, Social Sciences, Creative Arts, Nonfiction & Journalism)
A global open call for photographers, video artists, and multimedia creators age 18+. Three grants totaling $12,000 awarded across: $6,000 Outstanding Vision Grant, $4,000 Vision Grant, and $2,000 Rising Voice Grant. Selected artists also receive exhibition at the PhotoVogue Festival and potential publication across Vogue's global editions. Free to apply.
Deadline: September 11, 2026
60 seconds. One mic. Up to $30K. Pull Up & Pitch is YOUR shot to grow your business. Events across the nation.
Eligibility: Black women, artists and creative founders.
Next event: September 12th, Washington D.C.
Provides $15,000 in unrestricted funding to contemporary visual artists in the Boston area. Three artists will be selected, and there is no application fee.
Eligibility: Contemporary visual artists who have lived and worked in eligible Boston-area counties for at least two consecutive years. Applicants cannot currently be enrolled in an art-related degree program.
Deadline: September 15, 2026
Supports African writers working on a new full-length book with £18,000, paid monthly over 12 months, giving writers dedicated time to complete a first draft.
Eligibility: Writers working in English who were born in Africa or whose two parents were born in Africa. Applicants must submit previously published prose from a book, journal or magazine that was offered for sale.
Deadline: September 22, 2026
Provides $6,000 project grants to 10 Los Angeles County artists creating publicly accessible work that engages with a social, cultural or geographic community outside traditional exhibition spaces.
Eligibility: Artists 18+ living in LA County who are not currently enrolled in college. Individual artists and artist collectives may apply.
Deadline: September 23, 2026
A national competition supporting young artists with cash awards from $250–$10,000, mentorship, professional development and ongoing opportunities through the YoungArts community.
Eligibility: U.S.-based artists ages 15–18 or in grades 10–12. Disciplines include classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing.
Deadline: October 6, 2026, 8 PM ET
Urgent funding for individual experimental artists facing sudden, time-sensitive opportunities or unexpected emergencies. Amounts vary. Eligibility: Individual artists working in dance, music/sound, performance art/theater, poetry, and visual arts. Apply 8–10 weeks before your public presentation date.
Deadline: Rolling until November 30, 2026
Unrestricted grants for professional visual artists — painters, sculptors, and artists working on paper — with recognizable artistic merit and demonstrable financial need. Funds can be used for new work, studio space, supplies, exhibition prep, residencies, or living expenses. International applicants welcome.
No deadline. Applications accepted year-round.
Support for Black-owned small businesses/stores through a $2M fund providing grants between $500–$2,000.