Where to find opportunities and support for artists?

Scholarships, grants, residencies, mobility programmes, open calls, awards, artistic commissions – there are plenty of opportunities, but information about them is scattered across different sources. That is why it is worth not only looking for a specific grant, but also creating your own system for regularly monitoring available opportunities.

tekst: Olga Klip
fot.  Brooke Cagle / Unsplash

Don’t limit your searches to the word “grant”. It’s also worth looking for:

open call, residency, fellowship, mobility grant / mobility funding, project funding, production grant / production support, commission, award, artist opportunity.

Build a simple routine:

• choose a few key platforms and check them regularly;
• subscribe to newsletters;
• follow institutions you are interested in;
• keep a record of opportunities you find, including their deadlines;
• before starting an application, carefully check the formal eligibility criteria.

You don’t have to apply for everything. The most important thing is to find opportunities that genuinely match your artistic practice, career stage and what you want to do next.

SEKKTOR – a platform bringing together information about opportunities for artists and people working in the cultural sector. You’ll find grants, residencies, professional development programmes, open calls and other forms of support. Particularly useful for those working in Central and Eastern Europe.

Res Artis – an international network of artist residencies. A good starting point if you’re looking for opportunities to work and develop your practice in another country.

On the Move – one of the key sources of information on international mobility for people working in the cultural sector. It publishes open calls and guides to funding opportunities in individual countries and regions. It’s worth exploring not only the current opportunities but also the Funding Guides section, which provides information on thousands of funding programmes, grants and residencies.

Culture Moves Europe – a mobility programme funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. It supports artists and cultural professionals who want to carry out a project with a partner in another country participating in the Creative Europe programme.

For programmes of this kind, pay particular attention to the legal residence requirement, not just citizenship. This means that some European opportunities may also be available to migrant artists living in Poland.

Follow the websites and subscribe to the newsletters of cultural institutions, NGOs, foundations, galleries, residency programmes, and local and national public institutions.

It’s also worth following industry-specific social media accounts and groups. Some smaller open calls and local opportunities are announced there.

Yes, but it’s worth looking beyond programmes explicitly labelled “for migrants” or “for refugees”. In many competitions, the key criteria are place of residence, where you carry out your work, artistic discipline, career stage or the nature of your proposed project – rather than citizenship. So always check the Eligibility / Who can apply / Requirements sections.