About Us
funds in action
One of our primary goals is to directly support artists financially. Through our "Funds in Action" initiative, Black Artist Forward provides artists with the funding they need to thrive. We also offer honorarium awards to simplify the application process. By reducing the bureaucratic hurdles, we encourage African American artists to apply for our program and to pursue other grants available to them in the future.
2023-24 Recipients
These Black Artists were selected from our first Funds in Action distribution during our 2023-24 fiscal year. $1,000 in funds was distributed based on the value and impact of the project that each artist submitted.
2024-25
funding criteria
Application dates TBA
01
Community Impact
Black Artist Forward is looking for African American artists who are creating projects, bodies of work, or supporting their career as professional artists who can show how funding them will create an impact on the local community. This can be through creating jobs, building community connections, beautification, advocacy or activism, and more.
02
03
Creativity
Proof of Concept
We are looking for new and creative ideas to fund. This can be a spin on a traditional idea or a new exploration of an artistic discipline.
If you're looking for funding to support your professional career as an artist you can use this section to demonstrate the way you are creative in your work.
Don't let this scare you. Proof of concept does not mean that you have created or done this before. While that helps, if you can show research where this idea shows merit or success elsewhere it will also help. You can also show your past work or projects that can be different but still show a history of your success as an artist. If you're an emerging artist who hasn't done this before you can use examples from other similar projects done by other artists in your field.
