Opportunities
October 2023 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists
Image © Bernhard Lang
Every month, Colossal shares a selection of opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. If you’d like to list an opportunity here, please get in touch at [email protected]. You can also join our monthly Opportunities Newsletter.
BLINK Cincinnati Call for ArtistsFeatured
With the highly anticipated return of its massive public art spectacle, BLINK, Illuminated by ArtsWave, is calling for artists working in light-based experiential installation, murals, projection mapping, digital art, or animation to submit proposals for the October 17 to 20, 2024, event. BLINK plans to commission 12 to 15 new murals, 30 to 40 temporary lighted installations, and 30 to 35 projection/digital animation installations, and applications are open to artists from anywhere in the world.
Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Open Calls
BigCi Environmental Awards 2023 (International)
Two winners will receive $4,000 and a four-week BigCi residency. Artists working in visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, filmmaking, curating, are welcome to apply. There is a $35 entry fee.
Deadline: October 2, 2023.
City of Milwaukee Vel R. Phillips Plaza Commission (International)
In recognition of one of the leading Black woman jurists, politicians, and civil rights leaders, Vel R. Phillips, Milwaukee will commission an artist to transform a parking lot into a new social space. The project budget is $600,000.
Deadline: October 9, 2023.
Passepartout Photo Prize (International)
Open to photographers at any stage of their careers, the Passepartout Photo Prize is accepting submissions for its seventh edition. Winners receive exhibition and publication opportunities, with one 500 Euro award. There is a 25 Euro entry fee.
Deadline: October 10, 2023.
All About Photo Magazine 35 Colors
Color is the theme of this competition, and photographers are encouraged to submit a cohesive body of work exploring or related to pigment. Winners receive $1,000 cash and magazine coverage. There is a $30 submission fee.
Deadline: October 10, 2023.
Open Source Gallery: Exhibition Open Call (International)
Artists working with experimentation, sustainability, and social engagement are invited to submit exhibition proposals for 2025. Chosen applicants receive W.A.G.E.-certified fees, a production budget, and support in planning, production, and communication.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 13, 2023.
#CreateCOP28 (International)
CreateCOP28 invites creatives aged 14 to 30 to submit work that sparks conversations about the climate crisis and the need for action, particularly at COP28, the United Nations’ annual climate summit. Eight artists will win prizes of $10,000, $5,000, or $2,000.
Deadline: October 16, 2023.
Booooooom x Capture Photography Festival: Public Art Open Call (International)
For Capture Photography Festival, Booooooom is seeking submissions for a public art installation at Broadway-City Hall Canada Line Train Station in Vancouver. The work will be up from April to August 2024, and the artist will receive a $665 CAD stipend. There is a $15 entry fee.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PST on October 23, 2023.
Loewe Foundation Craft Prize (International)
The prestigious Loewe prize is accepting entries from artists and craftspeople. One 50,000 Euro award will be given to the top artist, with other winning works exhibited in Paris in spring 2024.
Deadline: October 25, 2023.
Arte Laguna Prize 18 (International)
This prize is open to artists working in painting, sculpture and installation, photographic art, video art and short films, performance and acting, and digital. Chosen applications will exhibit in Venice at the Arsenale Nord and win €10,000.
Deadline: October 26, 2023.
Beam Center NYC Open Call (International)
The center seeks proposals for public artworks that will be realized by a community of more than 100 young people in NYC. Artists receive a $5,000 award and $15,000 fabrication budget.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on November 6, 2023.
The 10th International Landscape Photographer of the Year (International)
This contest awards winners $10,000 in cash prizes, inclusion in a photo book, and NiSi filter outfits and tripods. Entry is free until November 8.
Deadline: November 15, 2023.
Third Annual Festival Dei Lumi Open Call (International)
Video artists working on pieces that explore the intersection of art, nature, and ecological thinking are encouraged to submit to this annual festival. There is a €10 submission fee.
Deadline: November 22, 2023.
Prisma Art Prize (International)
Open to emerging painters and artists, this quarterly competition awards €2,000 in cash and €3,000 in services annually, plus exhibition opportunities. There is a €29 submission fee.
Deadline: January 11, 2024.
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2025 (United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands)
This portrait competition is open to all media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, textiles, video, performance art, and digital or time-based art. One winner will receive $25,000 and a commission to portray a remarkable living American for the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. Other prizes range from $1,000 to $10,000, and all finalists will be included in an exhibition. There is a $50 entry fee.
Deadline: Midnight MT on January 26, 2024.
Sony Future Filmmaker Awards (International)
The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards elevates voices that bring a fresh perspective to storytelling. The shortlisted filmmakers are flown to Los Angeles for an exclusive four-day event to gain unparalleled insight into all aspects of the filmmaking process to advance their careers.
Deadline: February 15, 2024.
Grants
Monument Lab Re:Generation Initiative (U.S.)
Monument Lab’s Re:Generation supports teams of two or more individuals working together to create a new or expand an existing public-facing project. Each selected Re:Generation team will receive a total of $100,000 in unrestricted funding toward their commemorative campaign or project.
Deadline: October 2, 2023.
Creative Equations Fund (Brooklyn)
This fund offers $10,000 grants to community-engaged artists, organizations, cultural entrepreneurs, and researchers who are focused on social issues.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 8, 2023.
Alex J. Ettl Grant (U.S.)
This $5,000 grant is awarded by the National Sculpture Society each year to an established figurative or realist sculptor.
Deadline: October 9, 2023.
The Rbhu Gives Back Grants (International)
Rbhu Engineering offers artists in need of engineering $12,000 worth of free services.
Deadline: October 16, 2023.
Bronx Council on the Arts Community Engagement Grants (Bronx)
The Bronx Council on the Arts currently has three funding opportunities open: New Work, Arts Fund, and Community Arts grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 31, 2023.
California Documentary Project Grants (California)
This grant supports documentary film, audio, and digital media projects about California. Funding is available for research and development (up to $15,000), production (up to $50,000), and in DP NextGen Grants (up to $15,000).
Deadline: November 1, 2023.
The Adolf and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant (International)
The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant program provides one-time interim financial assistance to qualified painters, printmakers, and sculptors whose needs are the result of an unforeseen catastrophic incident and who lack the resources to meet that situation. Awardees typically receive $5,000, up to $15,000.
Deadline: Rolling.
Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund (Ukraine or refugee)
Adobe’s Creative Residency Community Fund commissions visual artists to create company projects on a rolling basis. Awardees will receive between $500 and $5,000.
Deadline: Rolling.
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (International)
The foundation welcomes applications from actively exhibiting visual artists who are painters, sculptors, and artists who work on paper, including printmakers. Grants are intended for a one-year period. The foundation will review expenditures relating to an artist’s professional work and personal expenses, and amounts range up to $50,000. The size of the grant is determined by the individual circumstances of the artist, and professional exhibition history is taken into consideration.
Deadline: Rolling.
Residencies, Fellowships, & More
Eyebeam Fellowship Open Call (International)
Artists interested in technology and decolonization, reframing history, language, and care are invited to apply for this six-month fellowship. Selected artists receive a $20,000 stipend.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 1, 2023.
Bruce Museum Artist-in-Residency Program (International)
Open to all disciplines, this nine-month residency starts in November 2023 and includes studio space, a $35,000 stipend, and ran $8,000 materials budget.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on October 7, 2023.
Art Omi Residencies (International)
Architects, artists, and writers are eligible for this round of Art Omi’s residencies, which provide food, lodging, and studio space.
Deadline: October 15, 2023.
2024 RAIR Open Call (International)
Applications are open for two Recycled Artist in Residency (RAIR) programs: The Standard is a four- to six-week traditional residency, while The Biggie Shortie is project-based. Both grant access to Revolution Recovery’s waste stream and RAIR’s staff. There is a $25 application fee.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 22, 2023.
Queens Museum Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Artists (New York)
This fellowship grants two emerging artists $20,000 each, studio space, and mentorship as they work toward a 2025 exhibition.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 29, 2023.
Moab Arts Reuse Residency (International)
For artists interested in waste management and sustainability, this residency offers housing, studio space, project and community facilitation, a stipend, and access to materials at local waste disposal sites.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. MT on October 31, 2023.
A.I.R. Fellowship Program (New York)
Six underrepresented and emerging women and non-binary artists will be awarded a year-long fellowship to develop and exhibit a project at A.I.R. Gallery. Selected applicants receive a stipend, access to gallery space, and support.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on November 1, 2023.
