Grants for Creative Individuals in Massachusetts

The Grants for Creative Individuals Program mission is to equitably advance creativity throughout the Commonwealth with unrestricted grants to individuals who demonstrate achievement of creative expression and commitment to their artistic/cultural practice.

The $5,000 grants are awarded after a review process that considers Funding Priorities, Geographic Distribution, and input from reviewers from the Massachusetts creative/cultural community.

Funding Prioritization

Mass Cultural Council seeks to broaden and diversify the range of persons who benefit from its grant programs. To that end, it will seek to prioritize funding under this program to persons who may not have been, or had a fair opportunity to be, beneficiaries of Mass Cultural Council programs. By “prioritize,” mean that applicants who meet the priorities as delineated below will receive a modest ratings advantage in the review process. Prioritization will include the following:

• Applicants who have not received a direct Mass Cultural Council grant in the last six fiscal years which spans from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2024.
• Applicants who have been historically underfunded by similar programs:
  • People who identify as BIPOC — Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Latine, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, and all other ethnicities of color.
  • People who identify as a person with a disability.
  • People whose creative practice has been limited by poverty. To receive this priority, applicants will need to provide proof of current participation in one of the following programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) formerly known as Food Stamps; MassHealth/Medicaid; MassHealth CarePlus/Medicaid Expansion plan; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC); Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC); federal and state subsidized housing programs.
  • Veterans of the United States Armed Forces. To receive this priority, applicants need to attest that they meet the Massachusetts Office of Veterans Affairs’ definition of “veteran”.  Mass Cultural Council reserves the right to require further verification of veteran status, including proof of a DD214 discharge form or other verifying documentation, when grant selections are made.
• Culture bearers or traditional artists. Applicants will self-identify as meeting definition of a culture bearer or traditional artist. For this program, the definition of “culture bearer or traditional artist” includes individuals whose creative/artistic practice sustains a living tradition within a specific community and is reflective of that community’s aesthetics, practices, values and/or beliefs. Their community may be defined by ethnic, geographic, tribal, spiritual, or trade/craft-based heritage. Most commonly (but not always) traditional arts are learned orally or by observation, passed down from generation to generation, rather than in an institutional or academic setting.

Eligibility Criteria

An artist, culture bearer, or creative practitioner active in any artistic/creative discipline. For this program, the definition of “artist/culture bearer/creative practitioner” includes individuals whose creative expression is based in: community-based arts, crafts, dance, design, digital, film/video, folk/world/traditional arts, native/indigenous arts, literature, music, performance, photography, theater, and visual arts.

AND you meet all the following requirements:

• You are 18 years of age or older.
• You are a full-year resident of Massachusetts for calendar year 2024 continuing through June 2025. This means you maintain your “legal residence” in Massachusetts, and you meet the definition of a “full-year resident”. Both terms are defined in the Massachusetts tax code.
• You are not currently enrolled at a college or university as a full-time undergraduate student or as a graduate student in the arts.
• You did not receive a Grants for Creative Individuals grant, Cultural Sector Recovery Grant, Artist Fellowship grant, or a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant over $2,000 in 2022, 2023, or 2024.
• You are not a governor-appointed Mass Cultural Council member. Mass Cultural Council staff and family are likewise ineligible to apply.

For more information, visit Mass Cultural Council.