Open Call: Quick Support for Artists (United States)

All arts disciplines are accepted, and artists at any stage of their career may apply.

Funding Information

• Quick Support for Artists grants are available for up to $1,000.

Eligible Projects

• Artist-focused projects:
  • Creating new work: supplies or equipment, space, research, artist’s time, day care costs, etc.
  • Sharing your work: framing, recording, editing, portfolio production, website, etc.
  • Artistic or professional development: one-on-one study with a mentor or attending a workshop, class, or conference
• Community-focused projects:
  • Connect with your community to help them experience art in a new way, developing knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts

Ineligible Projects

• The following requests and activities are NOT eligible for these grants:
  • Projects that do not have an art focus.
  • Equipment requests not specifically tied to the proposed project.
  • Activities of a for-profit project or business or projects intended for mass-market distribution.
  • Credits or materials necessary to fulfill degree requirements for students, including tuition, class projects, and school-related exhibits, performances, or shows.
  • Projects that primarily involve developing curriculum plans, teaching materials, or other related activities intended to advance your professional teaching career; or applications that are primarily educational projects within a school system.
  • Requests for new building construction or purchase of real estate.
  • Fundraising events. Grant funding should allow projects to break even, not make a profit.
  • Activities essentially for the religious socialization of the participants or audience.
  • Activities that attempt to influence any state or federal legislation or appropriation.
  • Applications submitted for the purpose of regranting, lobbying, or scholarships.
  • Projects in which funds are to be used to match other SMAC grant projects.
  • Requests for funds to account for deficits in projects begun prior to the project earliest start date. In other words, payment of debts incurred before the grant activities begin or outside of the grant project scope of activity

Geographical Focus

• The Quick Support for Artists grant program is open to permanent residents within the SW MN Arts Council service region, consisting of eighteen counties (Big Stone, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Swift, and Yellow Medicine counties) and two tribal nations (Pezihutazizi/Upper Sioux Community, Cansayapi/Lower Sioux Community). They acknowledge that the Southwest Minnesota region occupies the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of the Dakota people.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be a region resident for at least six months prior to submitting an application and remain a resident throughout the contract period. Applicants may be asked to provide proof of residency, which must be demonstrated by the following, each showing an eligible address:
  • A valid MN state ID/driver’s license or other federally recognized documentation and
  • Bills for utilities or mortgage/rent.
• Age Requirement: Applicants must be at least 18 years old by the time of signing their grant contract.
• Other SMAC Grants for Individuals: Artists may only have one pending SMAC grant request at a time, across all grant programs for individuals. Artists with a current SMAC grant project in progress may not apply for another individual grant until reporting on the first grant is completed. Applicants with overdue final reports are not eligible to apply.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Conflicts of Interest: Artists who will be acting as grant review panelists in a particular round cannot apply in that round. SMAC Board Members are not eligible to apply during their tenure on the Board or until two years following their resignation from the Board. SMAC staff and the immediate family members (children, parents, or spouse/domestic partner) of SMAC staff or SMAC Board members are ineligible to apply.

For more information, visit Southwest Minnesota Arts Council.