working artist project grant

The NEA-ARP Working Artist Project Grant program provides project grants of up to $2,500 to individual artists. Funding is intended for projects happening within six months of the grant start date. The criteria for this program include artistic excellence and merit of both past and current work, and the ability of the artist to complete the work. This grant is funded through the National Endowment for the Arts with American Rescue Plan funding.

Applications open six weeks prior to the deadline.

Our staff is available to help you sort through your ideas, give feedback on your application, as well as encourage you.

Feel free to contact our staff to receive feedback. Our Director of Grants and Outreach can serve as a sounding board for all parts of the process. We’re also happy to help you navigate through the application and any technical questions that come up.

If you are unfamiliar with us, the staff serves as advocates for all artists. Decisions about the grants are made by panels of artists and ARAC Board members.

We are here to help and assist you with the application process.

CRITERIA: Artistic Excellence and Merit, both of past work and of the proposal presented. Ability to carry out the project. ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible to apply for this program, you must be at least eighteen years old, a U.S. citizen or have permanent resident status, and be a resident of Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, or St. Louis County for at least six months, and remain a Minnesota resident for the duration of the project. If you have already received funding from this program once you cannot receive funding again.

HOW TO APPLY: Please read the following guidelines completely before beginning your application, and feel free to contact the Director of Grants and Outreach with questions.

NEA-ARP Working Artist Project Grant Guidelines Applications must be completed and submitted using the ARAC Grant Portal. Submissions in any other format, including email, will not be accepted. Instructions for navigating the online system can be found by clicking on the ‘Apply Now’ button on our website.

The online application process will walk you through submitting your application.

To be eligible, your application must include all materials listed as required in the online application.

Applications must be received into the online system by 4:30 p.m. on the deadline date. Applications received after this time are ineligible and will not be reviewed. There are no exceptions to this policy.