The Catalyze program helps individual artists take their careers to the next level.
Donor Name: Mid-America Arts Alliance
State: Arkansas
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/03/2025
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
It provides them with money, strategic guidance, and mentorship to help them achieve their goals.
What Catalyze provides?
- Money: Catalyze practice-based fellowships of $10,000 are awarded annually to 25 artists, who may choose how best to use the funding in support of their creative practices. Practice-based funding includes the ability to use grant funds for items such as childcare, rent, travel, equipment, and other items that are defined by the artists’ creative goals.
- Mentoring: Ongoing support is provided through one-on-one coaching sessions throughout the following year. Program alumni join future Catalyze cohorts at the professional development retreat weekend to share their experiences and extend their ever-broadening network of peer support.
- Management: Grantees actively work under the guidance of Artist Peer Facilitators to formulate their self-determined ideals of success and strategically plan how best to utilize the grant funding to achieve their goals in an amplifying professional development retreat weekend.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply for a Catalyze grant, an artist must:
- Be at least 21 years of age by the application due date.
- Be a full-time resident of the State of Arkansas and have established a minimum of one-year residency by the application due date in one or more of the following central Arkansas counties: Arkansas, Chicot, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Drew, Faulkner, Garland, Grant, Greene, Hot Spring, Jefferson, Lee, Lonoke, Mississippi, Monroe, Perry, Phillips, Poinsett, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, St. Francis, Van Buren, White, and Yell.
- Remain a resident within the thirty-one county region for the entire grant period (April 2026 through April 2027).
- Create work in any artistic discipline, including but not limited to dance, film, literary, music, theatre, and visual art.
- Have a resume that demonstrates at least three years of engagement in a creative practice prior to the application due date. The creative practice is not required to have taken place during consecutive years. Virtual activities are considered creative practice. For the purposes of defining eligibility, “three years of engagement” refers to when the applicant began their creative practice independent of activities required in pursuit of an academic degree or other certification.
- Commit to participating in peer-to-peer strategic planning activities during the grant year, including the Catalyze Retreat at the Marriott Hotel in Little Rock, AR, from 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, 2026 through 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, 2026 (meals and private lodging provided).
- Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or have non-resident status and provide a valid Social Security Number if selected for funding.
- Be in good standing with Mid-America Arts Alliance, with no delinquent reports and/or grant documents.
- Not have received a grant of $1,000 or more through any other M-AAA granting program during its 2026 Fiscal Year (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026).
- May not have previously received a Catalyze grant.
- May not be a currently enrolled student in an undergraduate or graduate program.
- May not be a full-time employee of Mid-America Arts Alliance or an immediate family member of a full-time employee of Mid-America Arts Alliance.
For more information, visit Mid-America Arts Alliance.
