Currently open federal, state, and other arts and culture grants/opportunities.
Questions regarding a particular opportunity should be directed to the organization listed with the opportunity. Inclusion here should not be interpreted as an endorsement.
Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA)
Nominate Hawaiʻi State Poet Laureate
Do you know an exceptional Hawaiʻi based poet? Nominate the Hawaiʻi State Poet Laureate! Nominations are open through August 20, 2022. Learn more on the SFCA website: SFCA.Hawaii.gov/PL.
Apply for Culture Fellowship
$25,000 awards for active individual artists and practitioners in Hawaiʻi for a project-based community impact arts and culture fellowship. Applications open through July 31, 2022. Learn more on the SFCA website: SFCA.Hawaii.gov/CF.
Apply for Creative Workforce Grant
For eligible Hawaiʻi nonprofit art and culture organizations, to support staff salaries and/or contractual personnel within the organization. Intent to Apply open July 1 – 30, 2022. Learn more on the SFCA website: SFCA.Hawaii.gov/CWG.
State Foundation on Culture and the Arts: Visual Art Consultant
Participate in making decisions about artworks for the SFCA Art in Public Places Collection. Informed community panelists make decisions at the SFCA regarding artwork purchases and gifts. Participate by volunteering as a Visual Art Consultant! Application on the SFCA website: https://sfca.hawaii.gov/programs-for-artists-presenters/volunteer-to-select-artwork/.
Calls for Artists in Hawaiʻi
Open calls on Call for Entry
The Call for Entry (CAFE) website can be searched by state (choose the “sort by” menu on the left side of the screen). Search the CAFE website: Artist.CallForEntry.org.
- Plein Air Perspectives 2022: The 3rd Annual Hawaiʻi Statewide Jury Exhibition, sponsored by the Hawaiʻi Island Art Alliance and open to all Hawaiʻi based artists. Entry deadline 9/16/2022.
- Abstract Only! Exhibition, sponsored by Hawaiʻi Island Art Alliance. Entry deadline: 7/08/2022.
- 2022 Pacific States Biennial North American printmaking exhibition. Entry deadline: 8/21/2022.
Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden Art Contest for Kids
The Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden celebrates its 40th anniversary with an art contest for kids ages 3-17. Deadline to submit entry: July 20, 2022. Learn more on the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation website: Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden Community Calendar.
Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance
The Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance (HAA) is seeking a full-time Executive Director. Applications accepted through July 31, 2022. HAA is a statewide nonprofit arts advocacy organization based in downtown Honolulu. For more information, please visit the HAA website: HawaiiArtsAlliance.org/hiring.
Hawaiʻi’s Creative Industries and the US Patent and Trademark Office
Path to a Patent: learn more about intellectual property and how to protect what you’ve created! July 14 – August 18. Learn more on the Hawai’iʻs Creative Industries website: cid.hawaii.gov/main/learn-more-about-intellectual-property-and-how-to-protect-what-youve-created.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)
- OHA recently announced awarding more than $600,000 in grants to support Native Hawaiian education and community events so far this year. This is the first of four grant award cycles that OHA will conduct over the course of the year for the ‘Ahahui Grants program. OHA awarded some $16 million in grants to community organizations last fiscal year, a record for the agency. OHA’s Grants Program represents the largest chunk of the organization’s yearly budget and supports Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit organizations that have projects, programs and initiatives that serve the lāhui in alignment with the agency’s Mana i Mauli Ola strategic plan. Learn more about OHA Grants Program on the OHA website: OHA.org/grants.
- OHA is now hiring for several positions including Grants Manager, Grants Officer, Public Policy Advocate (Community Engagement), Research Analyst, and Strategy Management Analyst. Learn more on the OHA website: OHA.org/jobs.
USArtists International
USArtists International supports in-person and virtual performances by American artists at engagements at international festivals and global presenting arts marketplaces outside of the United States. The program funds individuals and ensembles across all performing arts practices and disciplines. Applications open in July. Learn more on the Mid-Atlantic Arts website: MidAtlanticArts.org/grants-programs/grants-for-artists/#usartists-international.
Library of Congress
Community Collections
The Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center are excited to open applications for the second round of funding in the Community Collections grant program. These grants will support individuals or non-profit organizations in producing cultural documentation–photographs, interviews, audio or video recordings about their community from the community’s perspective. Materials gathered through this program will become part of the Library’s permanent collection, while locally-held copies can enhance (or seed) community archives. This exciting program is part of the larger Of the People initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation that creates dynamic opportunities for more people to engage with the Library. All activity under the initiative will expand the Library’s efforts to ensure that our historical record reflects a diversity of experiences, thus weaving a more inclusive American story. Grants will be up to $50,000, and will support projects of up to 12-months in length. Applications due August 1, 2022. Learn more on the Library of Congress website: Community Collections Grant Program.
Connecting Communities Digital Initiative Grants
The Library of Congress is pleased to open applications for the second round of funding in the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative grant program. These grants will support libraries, archives, museums and higher education institutions to create projects that remix and reuse the Library’s digital collections in creative and imaginative ways. In addition, these projects must center the lives, experiences and perspectives of Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander and/or other communities of color in the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, territories and commonwealths (Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands). This program is part of the larger Of the People initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation that creates dynamic opportunities for more people to engage with the Library. Applications due September 30, 2022. Learn more on the Library of Congress website: Connecting Communities Digital Initiative.
Be a Virtual Volunteer: help transcribe Library of Congress documents online
Volunteers create and review transcriptions to improve search, access, and discovery of these pages from history. Get started on the Library of Congress website: crowd.LOC.gov.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is the only arts funder in the United States—public or private—that provides access to the arts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. jurisdictions. Each year, the NEA awards thousands of grants to provide everyone in the United States with diverse opportunities for arts participation. Learn more about how to apply, the process, and more on the NEA website: https://www.arts.gov/grants.
New Program: Independent Film and Media Arts Field-Building Initiative
Currently convened by the National Endowment for the Arts with the Sundance Institute, the Independent Media Arts Group (IMAG) hosts field-building activities and shares resources focused on building collective power and collaborative relationships to promote equity and career sustainability for individuals working in the film and media arts industry. The network is free to join from the IMAG page (sundance.org/imag). All organization types, networks, artists, and collectives from across the United States are welcome to join!
The National Endowment for the Arts is seeking proposals for an organization to implement the Independent Film & Media Arts Field-Building Initiative, which will provide a continuation of the Independent Media Arts Group (IMAG) through knowledge exchange and peer learning activities, with a focus on equity, career sustainability, and strengthening connectivity across regional and national film and media arts communities. Info session: Thursday, June 30, 3:00-4:00 p.m. EDT. Deadline for proposals: Tuesday, August 9, 2022. Learn more on the NEA website: arts.gov/program-solicitation-independent-film-and-media-arts-field-building-initiative.
2023 Our Town Guidelines
Through project-based funding, the program supports activities that demonstrate a specific role for arts, culture, and/or design as part of local efforts that strengthen communities. Our Town projects advance local economic, physical, or social outcomes in communities, ultimately laying the groundwork for systems change and centering equity. These projects require a partnership between a nonprofit organization and a local government entity, with one of the partners being a cultural organization.
Competitive projects often pilot new proposed activities and establish new or deepen existing cross-sector partnerships (e.g., agriculture and food, economic development, education and youth, environment, health, housing, public safety, transportation, workforce development).
Part 1 deadline: August 4, 2022. Learn more on the NEA website:arts.gov/grants/our-town.
Program Solicitation: 2023 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students
The purpose of this Program Solicitation is to select an organization (“Cooperator”) to coordinate and administer the 2023 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students in conjunction with the NEA. This organization will manage all aspects of the program, including the development and dissemination of online educational materials and information about the program to engage potential applicants and encourage them to apply, as well as coordination of the interactive learning sessions and competition, and production of a performance featuring the winning songs. Proposal deadline: July 28, 2022. For more information, please visit the NEA website: arts.gov/program-solicitation-nea-musical-theater-songwriting-challenge.
Volunteer to be a National Endowment for the Arts Panelist
Arts Endowment panelists play a central role in reviewing applications for funding. The NEA relies on panels composed of individuals who represent a broad range of artistic and cultural viewpoints, as well as wide geographic and ethnic diversity, to provide advice about the artistic excellence and artistic merit of proposals in a variety of funding categories. Panels are composed of both arts professionals and knowledgeable laypersons. Most panelists are arts professionals who are qualified by their activities, training, skills, and/or experience in one or more art forms. Every panel also includes a layperson – someone knowledgeable about the arts but not engaged in the arts as a profession either full- or part-time. Learn more on the NEA website: arts.gov/form/volunteer-to-be-a-national-endowment-for-the-arts-panelist
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
NEH Media Projects program supports the development, production, and distribution of radio programs, podcasts, documentary films, and documentary film series that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Open to organizations. Application due August 10, 2022. For more information, please visit the NEH website: neh.gov/program/media-projects.
SFCA Email Newsletter
An excerpt from this calendar was published in the July 2022 SFCA email newsletter.