It’s a new month and a new opportunity for you to make moves that can advance your career as an artist!
We’ve curated the best free opportunities for you to take advantage of this September. Don’t sleep on them. As long as it’s relevant to your practice, apply before the end of the month. You never know which door will be opened up for you 🙂
To support your efforts, we have also put out a free guide titled “Winning Artist Opportunities: How to Answer 5 Frequently Asked Grant & Residency Application Questions” that breaks down how to practically answer grant & residency questions with several examples.
Interested? You can get the free guide here.
GRANTS/AWARDS
Boghossian Foundation Art Prize
Reflecting its mission to bridge East and West through the arts, the Boghossian Foundation launches an international Prize to celebrate artists whose work fosters a better mutual understanding among cultures.
The Prize is intended to pay tribute, each year, to three winners for their work promoting a dialogue between civilisations, a principle that lies at the heart of the mission of the Boghossian Foundation. There is no age limit for the Prize.
Chaired by Jean and Albert Boghossian, the international jury will reward artists in the fields of visual arts, design and crafts, and jewellery.
The Visual Arts Prize will be awarded to a piece of art inspired by cultural dialogue. The Design and Crafts Prize reflects the importance of reconsidering everyday objects through the lens of ancestral Eastern craftsmanship. The Jewellery Prize seeks to explore modern jewellery by borrowing from the vast heritage of the world’s cultures.
Amount: € 12,000 euros each for 3 winners in visual art, design and crafts, and jewellery making.
Deadline: September 15, 2024
Application Fee: Free to apply
You can learn more about this prize and apply here.
The Vital Impacts Environmental Photography Grants and Mentorships
Vital Impacts is dedicated to supporting visual storytellers who capture compelling, solutions-focused environmental stories at the local level.
We are excited to offer one (1) $20,000 grant and six (6) $5,000 grants to help bring these vital stories to life.
Grant recipients will have twelve months to develop their projects, with support from Vital Impacts to publish and showcase their work.
Additionally, ten (10) emerging photographers will be chosen to participate in an intensive mentorship program, designed to nurture their growth and enhance their craft.
All applicants are also welcome to join our comprehensive online mentorship series, which provides valuable insights and guidance to all who are interested.
Vital Impacts is seeking out local photographers deeply embedded within their communities, possessing both the knowledge and passion to report on environmental issues, particularly those relevant to their own surroundings. We’re on the lookout for individuals who can convey the complexities of environmental or conservation challenges, along with potential solutions.
It is imperative that grant recipients focus on documenting a story within their own community. Our goal is to bolster local journalism, so we’re specifically targeting photographers rooted in the communities they aim to spotlight. We won’t be considering applications from photographers outside of the respective community or country.
Amount: (1) $20,000 grant and six (6) $5,000 grants
Deadline: September 15, 2024
Application Fee: Free to apply
You can learn more about this grant and apply here.
Foundwork Artist Prize
This year’s honoree will receive an unrestricted $10,000 grant and remote studio visits with each of the esteemed jurors. The honoree—and three shortlisted artists—will also be invited for interviews, as part of our Dialogues program, to further public engagement with their practices.
To be considered, artists will need to register and maintain a published profile on Foundwork, with at least 6 artworks and an artist statement published on your profile page, throughout the 2024 selection period: 11:59 pm PT, September 26–11:59 pm, December 31
Amount:
$10,000 unrestricted grant
Deadline: September 26, 2024
Application Fee: Free to apply
You can learn more about this prize and apply here.
COMPETITIONS & OPEN CALLS
Tuwaiq Sculpture 2025 Open Call
Applications are open to artists from around the world who have at least five years of experience in sculpting and exhibiting in outdoor spaces and galleries. Artists are invited to send their proposals in response to the curatorial theme ‘From Then to Now‘.
Following a rigorous review process, 30 local and international sculptors will be invited to participate in the symposium, where they will create large-scale sculptures in a live setting, made from Saudi-sourced granite of three different colors.
Participating artists will be invited to stay in Riyadh throughout the creation period, with materials, tools and assistants being provided to them. In addition to an artist fee, the following will be provided for each participating artist:
– Roundtrip economy flight ticket (including 2 checked bags)
– Visa
– Ground transportation to and from the airport, as well as between the hotel and the symposium site
– Hotel accommodation and meals (three meals a day)
Deadline: September 8, 2024
Award: SAR 37,500 (~$10,000)
Application Fee: Free to apply
You can learn more about this open call and apply here.
Open Theme International Art Competition
Open to all artists, worldwide.
All mediums and styles are acceptable.
(2-D and 3-D media work must be documented and submitted in jpg/jpeg form).
This is an “OPEN THEMED” competition. All works are eligible for submission.
Deadline: September 10, 2024
Awards:
First Prize Award | $300-$1,000
Runner-Up Prize Award | $100-$300
Merit Prize Award | $25-$100
Honorable Mention Award
Finalist Award
Application Fee: Free to apply. Only those accepted as finalists must pay the $35 finalist fee.
You can learn more about this open call and apply here
SPIE International Day of Light Photo Contest
The SPIE International Day of Light Photo Contest is held annually to raise awareness about the International Day of Light and to demonstrate the impact that light has on cultural, economic, and political aspects of our world. Amateur and professional photographers alike are encouraged to submit photos for a chance to win cash prizes.
The 2024 contest is open! This year’s theme is “The Power of Light,” which aims to showcase the transformative and awe-inspiring impact of light on our lives, communities, and planet. Two technology-specific divisions, “Technology-Made Images” and a “Technology Around the Globe,” are also available for entry.
Examples of content include, but are not exclusive to, artistic images that depict:
- Various properties of light and how it interacts with the atmosphere, nature, and materials
- Light technology such as lasers, LEDs, etc.
- Images created with light technology such as telescopes and microscopes
- People interacting with light and/or light technology
- The betterment of the human condition with light
Help us capture the brilliance of our world!
Deadline: September 16, 2024
Awards:
- First Prize: US $2,500
- Second Prize: US $1,000
- Third Prize: US $500
- Technology and Science Prizes: US $750
Application Fee: Free to Apply
You can learn more about this open call and apply here.
RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
The Hodder Fellowship
The Hodder Fellowship will be given to artists and writers of exceptional promise to pursue independent projects at Princeton University during the academic year.
Potential Hodder Fellows are composers, choreographers, performance artists, visual artists, writers, translators, or other kinds of artists or humanists who have “much more than ordinary intellectual and literary gifts”; they are selected more “for promise than for performance.”
Given the strength of the applicant pool, most successful Fellows have published a first book or have similar achievements in their own fields; the Hodder is designed to provide Fellows with the “studious leisure” to undertake significant new work.
Hodder Fellows spend an academic year with Princeton, but no formal teaching is involved. A $92,000 stipend is provided for this 10-month appointment as a Visiting Fellow. Fellowships are not intended to fund work leading to an advanced degree. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen to apply.
Deadline: September 10, 2024
Application Fee: Free to Apply
Stipend: $92,000
You can learn more about this fellowship and apply here.
Radcliffe Fellowship
Radcliffe fellows are exceptional scientists, writers, scholars, public intellectuals, and artists whose work is making a difference in their professional fields and in the larger world.
Based in Radcliffe Yard—a sanctuary in the heart of Harvard University—fellows join a uniquely interdisciplinary and creative community. A fellowship at Radcliffe is an opportunity to step away from usual routines and dive deeply into a project. With access to Harvard’s unparalleled resources, Radcliffe fellows develop new tools and methods, challenge artistic and scholarly conventions, and illuminate our past and our present.
Throughout the year, fellows convene regularly to share their work in progress. Coming from diverse disciplines and perspectives, they challenge each other’s ideas and support each other’s ambitions. Many say that it is the best year of their professional lives.
Deadline: September 12, 2024
Stipend: $78,000 plus an additional $5,000 to cover project expenses.
Application Fee: Free to apply
You can learn more about this residency and apply here.
McColl Center Artist-in-Residence Program
McColl Center’s Artist-in-Residence Program is an internationally acclaimed program that serves as a catalyst for artistic growth for emerging and mid-career artists.
Artists-in-Residence receive private housing adjacent to McColl Center, a large-scale private studio in our historic building in Uptown Charlotte, curatorial guidance, marketing and PR support, and a generous stipend. While in residency, our artists have the freedom to fully focus on artistic research, exploration, and creation while also engaging with McColl Center’s Igniters community and the local creative sector. While in residence, artists also have access to our shared labs and studios including:
- 3D Lab (3D printer and laser cutter)
- Ceramics + Sculpture Studio
- Darkroom
- Media Lab with a large-scale printer
- Woodshop
Artists-in-Residence participate in a group exhibition and lead one to two community engagements centered around their practice.
An Artist-in-Residence at McColl Center is a moment to think big, take risks with your creative practice, and explore ideas within the context of Charlotte.
Deadline: September 25, 2024
Perks:Reimbursement of qualified expenses, such as airfare, ground transportation, supplies, and meals
Application Fee: Free to apply
You can learn more about this residency and apply here.
We hope you found this curated list of opportunities helpful!
As always, sharing is caring, so be sure to send this to a friend who would also find it valuable!
