Individual Artists Receive $10,000 UNRESTRICTED Grants!

Here is another state grant program for the individual artists! What is also great about this particular grant program is the fact that the grants are unrestricted - which means that the artist can use their grant money for anything!

50 local artists have received individual grant awards of $10,000 for creating work of exceptional quality in a range of disciplines. According to a spokesperson, "Individual artists are really the foundation of everything else that happens in the arts in our state. We feel strongly that as a state agency we continue to foster the work of our exceptional range of individual artists across the state. This is an important investment in the state’s creative sector. Artists are the backbone of our state's creative economy These programs give talented individuals the freedom to develop work that will be shown, sold and performed all over the world.
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This financial funding program recognizes the unique contribution made by artists to the cultural vitality of the commonwealth and provide direct assistance to artists of the state to recognize excellence and creative ability and support further development of their talents.


The program awarded $10,000 unrestricted grants to 33 artists and distinguished 17 others as finalists with $1,000 grants. They were selected from more than 1,200 applicants in the areas of film and video, music composition, photography, sculpture and installation, playwriting and crafts.

Some of the winners of $10,000 grants include:

• a filmmaker
  

• a playwright
  

• a sculpturer
  

• a crafter

The artists’ submissions were reviewed according to artistic quality and creative ability. The program is highly competitive with only about four percent of the applicants receiving recognition.

Submissions must have been completed within the past four years.

Next year, the program will accept applications in painting, drawing choreography, drawing, painting, fiction and creative nonfiction, poetry and traditional arts. Awards are based on recommendations by independent panels of experts who practice in the disciplines they review.


A total of $347,000 was awarded to individual artists! Funding for the grants comes from the cultural council’s general budget appropriated by the state legislature.

The full list of awarded artists is posted on line at the program's website.

$100.000 Grant Program For Filmmakers! One state's film commission has announced that up to $200,000 may be made available to filmmakers who partner with the media arts department at one of the state's universities or the film, radio and television department of one of their technical colleges. Each partnership will be eligible to receive up to $100,000 to create a short film through the a state production fund. The goal of the production fund is to instill collaboration between filmmakers and the state's institutes of higher education that have film production programs resulting in the professional development of our students and professionals alike. The fund was created as part of the state's incentive to further develop the motion picture industry within the state itself. The final projects should be capable of competing in film festivals around the country. All filmmakers are encouraged to enter this competition. According to one spokesperson for the program, "We encourage all filmmakers to enter this competition. This is a real opportunity to demonstrate the skills and talents resident within our state.” A public meeting to discuss the program and the application process will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 12th, 2009 at one of the state's universities. The application process has been streamlined this year and will incorporate the skills of feature film industry professionals throughout the process to ensure participants better understand the working environment of a feature film. This will better organize the production, further develop individual skills, and continue to develop a job-ready work force that is ready to capture the high-paying jobs that this industry creates. Sept. 18th is the deadline for the first round of applications, which includes a script and a project overview.