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.
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.
- Call for artists: Artist Climate Action Residency program by the Hawaiʻi State Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission. Residency will include an exhibit at Capitol Modern (the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum) in the fall of 2025. For more information and to apply: Climate.Hawaii.gov/art.
- City of Redondo Beach (California) Request for Qualifications for a Pre-Qualified Mural Artist Roster: The City of Redondo Beach, CA Public Art Program (City) is seeking experienced artists or artist teams (Artist) to be included in a Pre-Qualified Mural-Artist Roster (Roster). The Roster will be used to identify Artists to invite for future competitions, either exclusively or in combination with an open call, if necessary. Entry deadline: November 15, 2024. For more information and to apply, please visit the posting on CallForEntry.org: https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=11490
- DLNR DOFAW “Nā manu nahele origami project” call for submissions, open to Hawaiʻi grade school students. Learn more on the Dept. Of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DLNR DOFAW) website: dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw/manu/origami.
- Downtown Art Center Artists of Hawaiʻi 2024 call to artists, August 10 – September 23, 2024. Professional and amateur artists living in the State of Hawaiʻi are eligible, including minors (with parental permission). For more information, please visit the Downtown Art Center website: DowntownArtHI.org/artistsofhawaii.
- Hawaiʻi Surrealist Exhibit 2024: in honor of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Surrealist Manifesto, Wailoa Center will be producing a surrealist exhibit in October 2024. Entries due September 6, 2024. Exhibit dates: October 4 – 24, 2024. For more information and to submit entries, please go to the call for artists post on CallForEntry.org: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=12599.
- Kauaʻi Society of Artists (KSA) “Wings and Woodlands: A Tribute to Native Birds and Forests 2024” exhibit call for artists. In partnership with Birds, Not Mosquitoes and Kamehameha Schools, KSA will be hosting an art show at the KSA gallery November 1 – 8, 2024. Artists of all ages and experiences are encouraged to create and submit art inspired by Native Hawaiian manu and their forest habitat. Entry day: October 25, 2024. For more information and entry forms, please go to the Google Docs document for the exhibit: KFBRP Art Exhibit Guidelines 2024 – Google Docs.
- Lei Pua ʻAla project call for story submissions about the diverse histories of gender and sexuality in Hawaiʻi. Submissions may include essays, interviews, short stories, poems, and photo essays. Submissions due by October 1, 2024. Contact: Lani Teves, [email protected]. QueerHistoriesOfHawaii.org.
- Maui Public Art Corps, Request for Proposals. Application open August 9 – September 8, 2024. For more information and to apply, please visit the listing on CallForEntry.org: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=13961.
- College Radio: KTUH FM Monday Night Live, 9:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. Local bands can schedule an appearance on the University of Hawaiʻi’s radio station by contacting the KTUH Live Director at 808-956-5288. Leave a message with your name, your band’s name, and your phone number. https://ktuh.org/
- Kumu Kahua Theatre “Go Try Playwrite” monthly playwriting contest in collaboration with Bamboo Ridge Press. Submission due dates are the last day of the month. Learn more on the Kumu Kahua website: KumuKahua.org/gotryplaywrite
- Loʻi Gallery at American Savings Bank (downtown Honolulu) is taking applications for exhibits. Learn more and apply on their website: asbhawaii.com/loigallery.
- 2024 Pacific States Biennial North American printmaking exhibition open to all artists 18 years or older presently residing anywhere on the North American continent, its islands, and outlying US territories. Entry deadline: August 18, 2024. For more information, visit the call information on Call For Entry: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=13097.
- Waimea Arts Council calls for art:
- “Hawaiian Guides and Proverbs” deadline August 25, 2024
- “40th Annual Founders Juried Exhibition” (Waimea Arts Council members only) entry dates September 27 and 28, 2024
- “Square One, an All-Island juried art competition” entry dates October 1 – 13, 2024
- For more information, please visit the Waimea Arts Council website: WaimeaArtsCouncil.org/2024-calls-for-art.
Job Opportunities
- Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (DOE) job postings currently include Grade 6-8 CTE Arts and Communication Teacher, Kealakehe Intermediate. For more information, please visit the DOE job opportunities website: www.schooljobs.com/careers/hawaiipublicschools
- University of Hawaiʻi System job postings currently include Music and Entertainment Learning Experience lecturer, Honolulu Community College; Digital Media Art lecturer, Hawaiʻi Community College; and Art and Creative Media lecturer, University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu. For more information and additional job postings, please visit the University of Hawaiʻi System career opportunities website: www.schooljobs.com/careers/hawaiiedu
- Bishop Museum job opportunities currently include Grants Manager. For more information, please visit the Bishop Museum website: BishopMuseum.org/careers.
Volunteer Opportunities
- Bishop Museum Volunteer Opportunities: current volunteer opportunities include botany volunteer, donor research intern, exhibit greeters, and wayfinders. For more information, please visit the Bishop Museum website: BishopMuseum.org/volunteer.
- Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) Volunteer Program: HoMA offers a variety of volunteer roles, such as engagement with the public around current exhibitions, facilitating art activities with families and children at Family Sunday, guiding tours through museum galleries and more. For more information, please visit the HoMA website: HonoluluMuseum.org/volunteer-program.
- ʻIolani Palace Volunteer positions currently include greeters, stewards, and palace shop kōkua. For more information, please visit the Iolani Palace website: IolaniPalace.org/contact/volunteer.
- 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].
Grants and Resources
Federal Grants and Programs
Library of Congress
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. https://crowd.loc.gov/
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
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 applications close August 14, 2024. This program supports collaboration between media producers and scholars to develop content grounded in humanities scholarship and prepare documentary films and television, radio programs, and podcasts that engage public audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. NEH makes Media Projects awards at two levels: Development and Production. For more information, please visit the NEH website: https://www.neh.gov/program/media-projects
- NEH Public Humanities Projects application close August 14, 2024. This program supports projects that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences through in-person, hybrid, or virtual programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. For more information, please visit the NEH website: https://www.neh.gov/grants/public/public-humanities-projects
- NEH Public Scholars applications close August 28, 2024. This program is open to individuals and offers grants to individual authors for research, writing, travel, and other activities leading to the creation and publication of well-researched nonfiction books in the humanities written for the broad public. It encourages non-academic writers to deepen their engagement with the humanities by strengthening the research underlying their books, and it encourages academic writers in the humanities to communicate the significance of their research to the broadest possible range of readers. For more information, please visit the NEH website: https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/public-scholar-program
This post was last updated on August 13, 2024.