The National Performance Network’s Southern Artists for Social Change program provides $75,000 project grants to artists and culture bearers of color living, working, and engaging in social change in urban, rural, and tribal communities of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Donor Name: National Performance Network
States: Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $75,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The National Performance Network’s Southern Artists for Social Change (SA4SC) program envisions a world in which people of color living, working, and organizing for community change in the South have the power, resources, and opportunities to thrive. NPN’s mission is to contribute to a more just and equitable world by building artists’ power, advancing racial and cultural justice in the arts, fostering relationships between individuals, institutions, and communities, and working toward systems change in arts and philanthropy.
The grant is part of the Surdna Foundation’s Radical Imagination for Racial Justice initiative, which has partnered with eleven organizations nationwide to support artists of color working to advance racial justice within their local communities.
Project Period
Grant activity period runs from September 2023 until September 2025.
Type of Projects
SA4SC supports civic practice projects that bring artists and culture bearers of color into collaboration and codesign with community partners and local residents of color around a community-defined vision. This program supports artists who collaborate with their community members to identify a community challenge or needs, imagine a different future, and practice, test, or design approaches toward that future that center racial justice.
Eligibility Criteria
Artists and culture bearers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) living, working, and engaging in social change in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be residents of the following states: Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi for at least five years and 18 years of age or older by the application deadline.
Who and What are Eligible
- Artists and culture bearers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) living, working, and engaging in social change in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
- Artists and culture bearers with demonstrated practice in artistic disciplines.
- Individual artists, as well as artist collectives, may apply. Artist collectives must have a demonstrated history of creating new work collectively for at least two years, and all collective members must meet the eligibility requirements individually.
- Applicants must be residents of Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi for at least five consecutive years at the time of both application and payment and must provide a valid state ID.
- Projects should demonstrate a civic practice process to (1) identify a specific community challenge or need, (2) imagine a different future for the community, and (3) practice, test, or design approaches toward that future that center racial justice.
- Projects must include at least two community partners (individuals, agencies, and organizations) who share in decision-making, shaping the project and project outcomes.
- Grants may support any project phase (research, development, production, etc.), including new initiatives or ongoing work, and a portion of funding should directly support the artist(s).
Who and what are not eligible
- Nonprofit organizations, corporations, or other businesses
- Schools (elementary and high) or institutions of higher learning (e.g., college, university, technical and business school, or similar institutions offering a post-secondary level associate or higher degrees)
- Previous Southern Artists for Social Change recipients
- Recipients of NPN’s Creation Fund in the last three years (2021, 2022, or 2023)
- Artists under 18 years of age at the time of the application
- College or graduate students currently enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of application or during the grant period.
- Current NPN staff, board members, or NPN Partners
- Curators and researchers
- Projects solely focused on creating new work for artists
For more information, visit National Performance Network.
