Fellowship Grants for Artists
- Individual artist fellowship grants are very competitive. Artists have the best chance to be selected for a fellowship grant when they thoroughly research the grant application process and deadlines, and execute each requirement of the application process faithfully. Each fellowship has its own set of requirements, including letters of recommendation, artist portfolios, artist statements and more. Some grant awards are intended for general support of the artist, while others are project-based grants.
- Many states fund and maintain an arts commission or cultural council organization for the purpose of making grants in the arts, including individual artist fellowships. The Massachusetts Cultural Council makes artist fellowships grants, rotating the categories for funding with each grant cycle. Fiscal year 2011 grants of $7,500 were made to four artists in the category of sculpture and installation, with additional grants of $500 for another four sculpture artists. The Illinois Art Council offers two grant programs to individual artists, with grant amounts of up to $2,500. Not all states offer individual artist fellowships.
- The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) makes artist fellowship grants in the Folk and Traditional Arts with National Heritage Fellowships of $25,000. This one-time lifetime honor award recognizes artistic excellence and conservation of America's cultural heritage for future generations. National Heritage Fellowships have gone to artists in the range of disciplines from Native American crafts to blues performing artists. Notable recipients include musicians Bill Monroe and B.B. King. NEA individual fellowships are also available in the fields of literature, jazz and opera.
- Some private nonprofit foundations make individual artist fellowship grants. The Pew Fellowship in the Arts makes grants of $60,000 to Philadelphia area artists working in the visual arts, literature and the performing arts. The awards are intended to boost the careers of established artists as they reach their peak. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awards fellowships to artists demonstrating outstanding creative ability, as well as to those demonstrating excellence in scholarship in the arts. The Guggenheim Fellowships are very competitive, with about 220 grants awarded each year from a field of 3,500 to 4,500 applicants. Grant amounts vary.
