Grants & Fellowships for Artists
A curated directory of grants for artists across every discipline and career stage. Includes national funders like the NEA, state and regional arts councils, private foundations, discipline-specific fellowships, and emergency relief funds for artists in crisis.
Grants underwrite specific projects. Fellowships recognize a body of work with unrestricted funds. Both are competitive — most successful applicants apply to eight to twelve opportunities per year and treat rejection as data. Use this list to build a rolling application calendar rather than chasing one deadline.
Every link is human-verified. We remove dead programs, flag one-time-only funds, and add new opportunities each quarter.
Fund Your Work — US Grants & Fellowships
Fund Your Work — International Grants
About grants & fellowships for artists
How competitive are artist grants?▾
Acceptance rates for major grants (NEA Fellowships, Guggenheim, Creative Capital) run 2–5%. Regional and state arts council grants are more accessible — often 10–25%. The pattern that works: apply to a mix of high-competition and mid-competition opportunities every cycle, keep artist statement and CV updated, and reuse the same core narrative across applications.
Do I need to be a full-time artist to apply?▾
Rarely. Most grants define 'working artist' by evidence of practice — exhibitions, publications, performances, sales — not by whether it's your day job. Read eligibility carefully; some programs require citizenship, geographic residency, or a minimum years-of-practice threshold, but full-time status is almost never a requirement.
What's the difference between a grant and a fellowship?▾
A grant is usually project-based: you apply with a proposal, timeline, and budget, and the funder pays for that specific work. A fellowship recognizes an artist's overall body of work with unrestricted funds you can use however you need — living expenses, materials, time. Fellowships are typically more competitive and more prestigious.