Calls for artists, jobs, grants, and other opportunities (December 2024)

A list of 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. 

Student Art Competitions

• 2025 Naomi Rabb Winston Scholarship for 2-D visual artists ages 16-22
  Applications are open for the 2025 Naomi Rabb Winston Scholarship, offering $16,000 in awards for artists aged 16-22. Hosted by the National Society of Arts and Letters Hawai’i Chapter, the competition provides local and national recognition, with winners advancing to compete for additional awards up to $1,500. Submissions are due by February 1, 2025. For details, rules, and forms, visit arts-NSAL.org or contact Cheri Rauckhorst at [email protected] or 808-777-0151.
• 2025 Hawaiʻi Regional Scholastic Student Art Awards: the entry portal for the 2025 Hawaiʻi Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition is now open! Submissions are due by December 15, 2024, through the Scholastic Art Awards portal. Hawaiʻi students grades 7-12 (ages 13 and up) are eligible to enter. Gold Key award-winning artworks will be displayed at Capitol Modern February 22 – March 22, 2024. For more information and to enter, please visit ArtAndWriting.org/regions/HI001A.
• 2025 NASA Student Art Contest, December 1 – 31, 2024. Open to children who are residents of the United States and currently in grade K-12. Learn more on the NASA Langley Research Center website: ArtContest.larc.nasa.gov.
• NOAA Annual Marine Debris Program Art Contest, submissions due by December 13, 2024. Students grades K-8 from the United States and U.S. Territories. For details, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website: MarineDebris.noaa.gov/annual-noaa-marine-debris-program-art-contest-and-calendar.
• Science Without Borders 2025 International Student Art Contest, open to primary and secondary school students 11 – 19 years old. Entries must be received by March 3, 2025. For more information and application instructions, please go to the Living Oceans Foundation website: LivingOceansFoundation.org/education/science-without-borders-challenge.
• ʻŌlelo Community Media Youth Xchange Statewide Student Video Competition categories for Hawaiʻi students K-12, K-8, high school and college. Submissions due by March 25, 2024. Learn more on the ʻŌlelo Community Media website: olelo.org/yxc2025/contest.
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission K-12 Art Contest celebrating Civil Rights Act: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is inviting K-12 students across the country to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act through original art projects. EEOC encourages submissions in all mediums, including drawings, paintings, photos, dance, songs, videos, poetry, essays, etc. The contest is open to all students grades K-12 who are residents of the United States. Submissions due by January 20, 2025. Additional information and application on the EEOC website: eeoc.gov/history/60th-anniversary-1964-civil-rights-act-art-contest-visual-performing-literary-and-media.
• New York Times Student Contests
  • New York Times Tiny Memoir Contest for Students, November 6 – December 4, 2024. Students ages 13-19 in middle school or high school. International. For more information, please visit the New York Times website: NYTimes.com/2024/08/08/learning/tiny-memoir-contest-for-students-write-a-100-word-personal-narrative.html.
  • New York Times Where We Are: Photo Essays About Community, December 4, 2024 – January 15, 2025. Students ages 13-19 in middle school or high school. International. For more information, please visit the New York Times website: NYTimes.com/2024/07/25/learning/our-2024-25-student-contest-calendar.html.
  • New York Times My List: A Different Kind of Review Contest, January 15 – February 12, 2025. NYTimes.com/2024/07/25/learning/our-2024-25-student-contest-calendar.html.
  • New York Times ʻHow to…ʻ: An Informational Writing Contest. February 12 – March 12, 2025. Students ages 13-19 in middle school or high school. NYTimes.com/2024/08/08/learning/how-to-an-informational-writing-contest-for-teenagers.html.
  • New York Times Open Letters: Our Opinion Writing Contest. March 12-April 16, 2025. Students ages 13-19 in middle school or high school. International. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/learning/open-letters-our-opinion-writing-contest.html.
  • New York Times Audio Stories: Our Podcast Contest. April 16-May 14, 2025. Make an original podcast of five minutes or less that informs or entertains listeners. Students ages 13-19 in middle school or high school. International. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/learning/our-student-podcast-contest.html

Calls for Artists and Exhibitions

• Call for Entry (CaFE). 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 Café website: Artist.CallForEntry.org.
• Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance Engagement Survey: the Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance (State Captain for the national arts advocacy organization Americans for the Arts) would like your input and involvement as they embark on new initiatives. Take the five-question survey online: Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance Engagement Survey.
• Call for Hawaiʻi Island choreographers: aspiring, emerging and established choreographers across Hawaiʻi Island are invited to apply to the Hawaii Island Choreographers Concert, hosted by West Hawaii Dance Theatre. Applications accepted December 1, 2024 to January 20, 2025. For more information, please visit the West Hawaii Dance Theatre website: whdt.org/hicc.
• Call for Pacific Northwest artists with multi-generational ties to both Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Northwest: Wing Luke Museum (Seattle, WA) “DISplace” exhibition telling the ongoing story of the communities that connect Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Northwest, with a particular focus on Native Hawaiian and Asian American histories. Learn more and apply: “DISplace” at Wing Luke Museum – Visual Art Application.
• Call for artists: Pacific New Media “16^th Annual Contemporary Photography in Hawaiʻi Exhibition” Submissions due by December 2, 2024. Free Zoom session for help with entries November 12, 2024. Exhibition at Downtown Art Center (Honolulu) February 6-24, 2024. For details, please visit the Pacific New Media Lab website: pnmlab.com/2024/10/01/contemporary-photography-in-hawaii-2025-submissions.
• Call for artists: Kahilu Exhibits “ʻOni: Disturbances & Resilience” entry deadline December 13, 2024. Open internationally. For more information, please go to the call on CallForEntry.org: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=14294
• Artist residency: Joshua Tree Highlands Residency 2025-6. Seven-week artist residencies in Joshua Tree, California include visual art and writing. Submission deadline December 15, 2024. For more information, please go to the call on Call For Entry: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=13121
• Hui Noʻeau call to artists: 2025 Annual Juried Exhibition. Artwork receiving day January 7, 2025. Open to artists over the age of 16, working in all media. For more information, please visit the Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center website: HuiNoeau.com/exhibitions/2024/1/2024-annual-juried-exhibition.
• Kahilu Exhibits call for artists “ʻOni: Disturbances & Resilience”. Submission deadline December 13, 2024. Open internationally to artists 18 or older. For details, please go to the posting on CallForEntry.org: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=14294&.
• 2024 Hawaiʻi Regional Scholastic Art Awards Competition and Exhibit open to Hawaiʻi students grades 7-12, ages 13 and up. Submissions are due by December 15, 2024, through the Scholastic Art Awards portal. Hawaiʻi students grades 7-12 (ages 13 and up) are eligible to enter. Gold Key award-winning artworks will be displayed at Capitol Modern February 22 – March 22, 2024. For more information and to enter, please visit ArtAndWriting.org/regions/HI001A.
• Sheraton Kaʻanapali (Maui) “Meet the Artist” program applications to showcase and sell your work in the hotel lobby. Application form: Meet the Artist application.

Job Opportunities

• Bishop Museum is seeking a President and Chief Executive Officer. View the position description on the Morris & Berger website: MorrisBerger.com/searches/. Bishop Museum also has job postings for Senior Curriculum and Educational Design Consultant and Asia Pacific Educator. Learn more on the Bishop Museum website: BishopMuseum.org/careers.
• Honolulu Museum of Art has job postings for Fiber Arts Studio Programs Teacher, Registrar, Tour Programs Manager, and Associate Director of Learning and Engagement. Learn more on the Honolulu Museum of Arts website: HonoluluMuseum.org/pQ3viv/opportunities.

Volunteer Opportunities

• Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) Seeks Grant Review Panelist Volunteers with a professional background in culture and the humanities to join our grant review panelist roster. Panelists must be Hawaiʻi residents with experience in Heritage & Preservation, Community Arts, Arts Education, and Presentation & Performing Arts. We encourage those with a background in Arts and Healing, Community Development related to arts and culture, cultural practitioners of all disciplines, and new and emerging members of the arts and culture community to apply. Contact the SFCA grants program at [email protected].

Federal Grants

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

• NEA Big Read is a grant of up to $20,000 to help bring communities together around the shared activity of reading and discussing the same book. Programming for the 2025-2026 grant cycle will center around the theme “Our Nature: How Our Physical Environment Can Lead Us to Seek Hope, Courage, and Connection”. Applicants will facilitate book discussions, writing workshops, and creative programming activities that explore this theme and celebrate the unique aspects of their communities. Interested organizations must submit an Intent to Apply by January 23, 2025. For more information, please visit the Arts Midwest website: ArtsMidwest.org/get-support/nea-big-read.
• NEA Literature Fellowships: Translation Projects, FY2026. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) supports projects for the translation of specific works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English through fellowships to published translators. The work to be translated should be of interest for its literary excellence and merit. The NEA encourages translation projects that feature languages, perspectives, and writers that are not well represented in English, as well as work that has not previously been translated into English. For more information please go to the NEA website: arts.gov/grants/translation-project-fellowships. Application closing date January 16, 2025.

National Park Service (NPS)

• NPS Save America’s Treasures Grants are available to fund two types of projects: “Collections” and “Preservation”. Collections projects must be determined to be of national significance based on the supportive description of its significance within the application. Collections include artifacts, documents, sculptures, and other works of art. Preservation projects fund planning and “bricks and mortar” preservation/conservation work on historic buildings and structures. Application closing date December 12, 2024. For more information, please visit the NPS website: nps.gov/articles/000/save-america-s-treasures-grant-opportunity.htm.