To be good at art, one needs commitment and enough time to practice, but we are sometimes short of the right materials to create that next big concept.
Opportunities are everything for a creative, especially for African artists who are willing to leave their comfort zone to explore and navigate exciting spaces. It is important to remember, however, that organizations have provided valuable resources for artists to carry out projects and provide services to support them in their practice. Although they are highly competitive, grants have many advantages and have changed the lives of many.
Here are nine programs for African artist and those in the diaspora.
Beautiful Bizzare Art Prize
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, now in its 5th year, is an annual non-acquisitive international art prize that celebrates diversity and excellence in the representational visual arts. It includes all static mediums including Traditional Art media, Digital Art media, and Photographic media; and all styles from realism and hyperrealism to pop surrealism and lowbrow. The Prize seeks to inspire creatives from around the world to pursue a life and career in the arts, and to help careers grow through funding and increased exposure of their work to galleries, collectors and media globally.
What you Get:
- Share in over US$57,000 worth of cash, services and product prizes
- Exhibit in the prestigious annual Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition alongside 80+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists at Modern Eden Gallery, in San Francisco, CA USA
- Receive exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work
- Enjoy global exposure through Beautiful Bizarre Magazine‘s 1 million+ social media followers across multiple socials platforms, plus additional exposure through our partners, friends and supporters
- See your work published in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine + an in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine & Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize websites
- Enjoy 3 – 12 month social media advertising packages
- Receive a year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
- + most importantly, receive worldwide exposure!
Eligibility: All traditional and digital 2D + 3D artists, and photographers
Application fee: $40
Status: Close till 2023
For more information, find them here
L’atelier
The Absa L’Atelier is a leading Pan-African art competition. The Absa L’Atelier, which has been running for 36 years, is hosted annually by Absa in partnership with the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA).
What you get: There are four prizes for the competition: the main prize for the winner of each group, and the Gerard Sekoto Award for a South African entrant that continues to demonstrate growth in their art production.
Eligibility: Artists, aged 21 to 40, who are citizens, permanent residents and residing in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, are eligible to enter for the competition.
Status: closed till 2023
For more information, find them here
Boynes Emerging Artist Award
The Boynes Emerging Artist Award is a dedication to emerging artists all over the world. The goal is to grow larger communities and in turn support and opportunity for talented emerging artists, from your fellow artists. This award was created to support, promote, connect and most of all give opportunities to emerging artists all around the world, enhancing the profile of young and/or undiscovered talent. Whether it be a financial support through the art award or a career changing opportunity, we will work with all our artists to heighten their practice.
Eligibility: The Boynes Emerging Artist Award is open to all living artists regardless of age, country of origin/residence, sex or religion.
What you get:
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of the 7th Edition will win a one (1) month residency in the Italian Alps, Italy through the RUC Residency Program. The program and partnership provides the artist with the following :
- International exhibition prioritization: Winners will be prioritized to submit a proposal for an exhibition at the U.S based Future Tense Gallery.
- Group exhibition in the final week of the residency locally
- Accommodation at RUC art residency for the time period of the residency
- studio space
- residency assistance
- optional cultural activities, connection and networking with local and international artists
The residency period for next year is between the 1st August, 2023 and 31st August, 2023.
Digital marketing, social media marketing, an artist interview and marketing on our website are awarded to the three (3) winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd).
The finalists are awarded social media marketing, digital marketing and a published artist interview on their artwork. Both winners and finalists, will also receive winner/finalist certificates.
- Social Media and Digital marketing will be discussed and agreed with the individual artists to facilitate different wants and needs.
- The Boynes Emerging Artist Award marketing team will be available permanently to assist with marketing and promotion of any future accomplishments; exhibitions, publications, etc. The team will also be available to advise on any art related marketing issues as needed.
Status: Closed until 2023
For more information, find them here
Hopper Prize
The Hopper Prize offers artists direct and unrestricted financial assistance. The aim is to support individual artists to advance the careers in the arts grants and an opportunity to be seen. Grants are awarded annually to artists selected through open calls. Awardees are selected by guest jurors holding prominent curatorial positions at major institutions.
Eligibility: The program welcome artists of all ages and experience levels working in any and all disciplines, including painting, photography, sculpture, drawing, video, documentary, performing, experimental, conceptual, and installation practices.
What you get: During each open call, 2 artists will receive $3,500 and 4 artists will receive $1,000. In addition to grant recipients, our curators select a shortlist of 60 artists annually (30 in Spring & 30 in Fall) to have their work archived alongside grant winners.
Status: Closed till 2023
For more information, find them here
Elizabeth GreenShields Foundation
The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant is one of the most prestigious grants for emerging representational artist. It was created in 1955 by Charles Glass Greenshields, Q.C., a distinguished Montreal lawyer and amateur artist, in memory of his mother, Elizabeth. It is one of the longest standings, with an illustrious history of recipients spanning more than half a century. It is available to students and artists around the world.
Eligibility: The foundation will only fund young artists who are pursuing their studies or are in the early stage of their career, are working in a representational style of painting, drawing, sculptor or printmaking, and demonstrate the determination and talent to pursue a lifetime career in their art practice.
What you get: First grants are up to CAD $17,000 each. Subsequent grants are up to CAD $20,000 each. Grants are made directly to beneficaries.
Status: There is no deadline for filing application.
For more information, find them here
Africa No Filter- Emerging Artist Program
The program is part of Africa No Filter’s mission of supporting storytellers in Africa and the Diaspora whose work shifts stereotypical narratives of the continent. The artists will get funding and mentorship to help develop and produce career-defining projects.
Eligibility: Emerging creative practitioners living in Africa and its diaspora
What you get: mentorship, peer to peer skills sharing and new networks through monthly fellow-led seminars throughout the year. Fellows will also be supported with a $5000 grant to assist in executing the proposed project, documenting findings and establishing new creative methodologies that can be presented and taught to a wider audience.
Status: Closed
You can learn more about this grant here
The African Arts Trust
The African Arts Trust is a body that provides support for the visual arts, with an emphasis on grassroots organisations that support professional practicing artists trying to make a livelihood in the visual arts.
Eligibility: They provide funding for arts organisations, Studio spaces, Workshops and residencies, Project funding, Exhibitions, Competitions/awards. Only on special merit will they fund Books/Publications, Video/Radio and Festivals/Biennales.
What you get: Below $5,000 – $20,000 depending on your project
Status: The African Arts Trust does not operate specific grant application deadlines. You are welcome once you have checked the criteria to download a questionnaire and fill it in at any point during the year.
You can learn more about this grant here
The Awesome Foundation
The Awesome Foundation is an ever-growing worldwide community devoted to forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe. Created in the long hot summer days of 2009 in Boston, the Foundation distributes $1,000 in grants every month, no strings attached to projects and their creators. At each fully autonomous chapter, the money is pooled together from the coffers of ten or so self-organizing “micro-trustees” and given upfront in cash, check, or gold doubloons.
Eligibility: International
What you get: $1000
Status: Rolling (Applications accepted every month)
You can learn more about this grant and apply here
African Culture Fund – Project Fundraising
The African Culture Fund is an initiative that defends Africa’s desire to write new narratives and take its rightful place on the world stage through the voice of its unique culture. The Fund’s mission is to encourage creativity, production and throughout the value chain of the creative and cultural industries, thereby helping to ensure access to decent jobs and to sustainably improve the living conditions of artists, professionals and their immediate environment.
What you get: The maximum budget to be granted per selected project is USD $10,000.
Eligibility: Be an African artist or cultural actor or from the African diaspora, an artistic or cultural organization or association established in Africa or cooperating on African projects with at least one African organization and having at least three years of experience, have a structure or be a member of an artistic or cultural organization or association, have a legal status (organizations) and present a structuring project in response to the call for projects.
You can learn more about this grant here
