The Career Opportunity Grant Program supports Oregon arts practitioners across all disciplines and career stages in taking advantage of timely and concrete opportunities that can significantly enhance their artistic careers.
Donor Name: Oregon Arts Commission
State: Oregon
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/11/2026
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Recognizing that stipends or payments from these opportunities often fall short of covering all expenses, the Oregon Arts Commission provides this grant to ensure arts practitioners can fully participate without financial burden. This program ensures that Oregon artists and arts practitioners can benefit from and engage in career-building opportunities as they arise.
All proposed opportunities require proof of invitation to apply. Proposed opportunities must be unique and of limited duration. The applicant must be invited to, selected for, and/or reviewed by peers or industry specialists (such as a curator, editor, program director, jury) for the opportunity in question.
Categories
Opportunities should represent a natural, meaningful step in the applicant’s career, offering potential for significant impact in one or both of the following categories:
- Introducing work to new audiences
- These are opportunities to present the artist’s work in a significant way to new audiences or raise their artistic profile such as exhibitions, performances, or screenings.
- The development of new skills
- These are opportunities to develop a new artistic skill or further enhance one’s practice through participation in activities such as conferences, artist residencies, workshops, fellowships, master classes or apprenticeships.
Funding Information
- Additional funding of up to $9,000 may be available.
- Awards range from $500 to $2,000 depending on the scope and nature of the opportunity.
Grant Period
May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026.
Eligible Expenses
Career Opportunity funding requests must directly align with the opportunity, and may include:
- Travel associated with the opportunity;
- Hired professional services to fulfill/engage in the opportunity (such as lighting/sound or costume);
- Preparation, freight and/or shipping costs;
- Equipment purchases or materials needed to fulfill/engage in the opportunity;
- Rental of equipment, instruments, or facility integral to the opportunity;
- Professional fees needed to fulfill/engage in the opportunity;
- Registration fees associated with the opportunity;
- Costs associated with documentation of the opportunity; and/or
- Childcare costs that are necessary for you to take advantage of the opportunity.
Eligibility Criteria
- At the time of the application deadline, all applicants must:
- Be 18 years of age or older;
- Have not received funding from the Career Opportunity Program in the past three (3) cycles (calculated from application deadline month to application deadline month);
- Have been domiciled in Oregon for at least 12 months prior to application deadline;
- Not be enrolled (either part- or full-time) in a degree-granting program; and
- Submit an individual application.
- In addition to the above eligibility requirements, applicants requesting additional funds from The Ford Family Foundation must meet the following criteria:
- Currently producing work in the fields of visual arts writing, curation, visual arts, or contemporary craft;
- Have been domiciled in Oregon for 36 months prior to the application deadline;
- Provide evidence in the professional resume or biography of five (5) or more years of active professional participation in the field.
For more information, visit Oregon Arts Commission.
