ARTIST SUPPORT GRANTS PROGRAM

The 2024 – 2025 North Carolina Arts Council Artist Support Grant for Avery, Madison, Mitchell & Yancey Counties is now open! Fill out the form at the link below to receive the portal access link.

Guidelines and Information

The Artist Support Grant is a regional grant program to support individual artists in all phases of their career. The grant funds professional and artistic development for emerging and established artists to enhance their skills and abilities to create work or to improve their business operations and capacity to bring their work to new audiences.

Artists representing visual, craft, performing, traditional, and interdisciplinary art forms are encouraged to apply. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to spending a significant portion of their time on their work as artists. The Artist Support Grant will support projects from 1/1/2025 – 12/31/2025. Awards may range from $250 – $1000. Applicants may receive full or partial funding.

Eligibility

• Individuals and Artist Collectives — Both individual artists and small, unincorporated groups of collaborating artists are eligible to apply.
• Residency — Artists should have lived continuously in the region where they are applying for at least one year before the consortium’s application deadline. An applicant must be at least 18 years old and either a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident alien. The consortium may require proof of residence and status. Artists who live in more than one region should apply only where they spend most of the year. All members of a collaborating team must be North Carolina residents, live in the region in which they are applying, and meet the other eligibility requirements. Résumés documenting residence for all team members should be included with the application.
• Multiple Awards — Artists who are sole proprietors of organizations that have already received funding for FY 2024-2025 from the N.C. Arts Council are ineligible to apply. Awardees must also wait at least two years after the award year before becoming eligible to reapply.
• Conflict of Interest — Current board and staff members of the consortium partner organizations and their family members are not eligible to apply for the award.
• Student Status — The Artist Support Grant is intended for adult, nonstudent artists. Artists enrolled full-time in undergraduate or associate degree-granting programs may not apply for the grant. Artists in certificate programs are generally eligible. Artists pursuing graduate degrees in subjects other than their art form may be eligible if they meet the other eligibility criteria. Other questions and special circumstances should be discussed with N.C. Arts Council staff.

Eligible Projects and Costs

Up to 50 percent of the grant amount may be used for artist fees.

• Completion/Presentation of a New Work — Cost of resources necessary to complete or present a significant new work (e.g., purchasing art supplies or equipment (digital may qualify) or space rental)
• Career Promotion — Projects aimed at advertising artists’ work and/or demonstrating their skill level (e.g., websites, portfolios, audio-visual documentation, and online presentation)
• Training — Costs to attend a class or workshop (in-person or virtual) aimed at either enhancing the artist’s skill level or professional development (e.g., a master class or workshop taught by acknowledged authorities in the applicant artist’s medium)
• Travel — Costs of transportation, lodging, and food for training, professional conferences, or research.
• Ineligible Projects and Costs
  • Scholarships for undergraduate- or graduate-level education
  • Projects that support or oppose a particular candidate for public office
  • Projects that are exclusive to members of a particular religious faith group
  • Projects that do not have a direct effect on the applicant’s growth as an artist (e.g., the promotion of other artists’ work)

Deadline

Applications must be completed and submitted online through the GoSmart Portal by September 1, 2024 at 11:59pm. You will receive a link to the portal upon completion of this application.

Evaluation Criteria

• Overall excellence of the applicant’s artwork as demonstrated by work samples
• Feasibility of the proposed project
• Contribution of the proposed project to the advancement of the applicant’s professional artistic development and practice

Review Process

All completed Artist Support Grant applications will be judged by a multi-county panel of established artists, arts professionals, arts educators, and administrators who will review and evaluate the applications and allocate funds for selected projects.

Information and Assistance

For more information, please contact Alena Applerose, Community Outreach Coordinator Toe River Arts, alena@toeriverarts.org, 828-765-0520 or Erich Hubner at Madison County Arts Council, madcoarts@gmail.com, (828)649-1301

Toe River Arts, Madison County Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council congratulate the recipients of the 2023 – 2024 NCAC Artist Support Grant:

• Kurt Anderson, Mitchell
• Shae Bishop, Mitchell
• Josh Cote, Mitchell
• Courtney Dodd, Mitchell
• Kristopher Drummond, Yancey
• Nickolaus Fruin, Mitchell
• Carmen Grier, Mitchell
• Ivaylo Gueorgiev, Yancey
• Lori Johnson, Mitchell
• Tiffany Narron, Madison
• Sean O’Connell, Mitchell
• Jordan Reeves, Mitchell
• Celia Shaheen, Mitchell
• Liz Zlot Summerfield, Mitchell
• Joy Tanner, Mitchell
• Christina Tyler, Yancey
• Adam Whitney, Mitchell
• Lily Wilkins, Mitchell

Toe River Arts is pleased to congratulate the recipients of the 2022 – 2023 North Carolina Arts Council Artists Support Grant: 

• Rickie Barnett, Mitchell

• David Harper Clemons, Mitchell

• Brady Connelly, Mitchell

• Andrew Dohner, Mitchell

• Claudia Dunaway, Yancey

• Allison Edge, Yancey

• Daniel Garver, Mitchell

• Julia Harrison, Mitchell

• Heather Hartley, Madison

• Morgan Hill, Mitchell

• Lynne Hobaica, Mitchell

• Jamie Karolich, Mitchell

• Kiesa Kay, Yancey

• Amber Marshall, Mitchell

• Jack Mauch, Mitchell

• Eleanor Richards, Mitchell

• Melanie Risch, Yancey

• Iris Anna Rountree, Yancey

• Lauren Rutten, Madison

• Julie R Wiggins, Mitchell

Toe River Arts is pleased to congratulate the recipients of the 2021 – 2022 North Carolina Arts Council Artists Support Grant: 

• Diana Alexander – Yancey 
• Adam Atkinson – Mitchell 
• Molly Bernstein – Mitchell 
• John Geci – Mitchell 
• Michael Hayes – Mitchell 
• Everette Hoffman – Mitchell 
• Rachel Meginnes – Mitchell 
• Maria Nunez – Mitchell 
• Susan Patrice – Madison 
• Kit Paulson – Mitchell 
• William Ritter – Mitchell 
• Connie Sales – Mitchell 
• Hannah Mitsu Shimabukuro– Mitchell 
• Jack Sorokin – Madison 
• Bretta Walker – Mitchell 
• Heather West – Madison 

We encourage you to check out their websites and support their artistic endeavors.

About the North Carolina Arts Council 

The North Carolina Arts Council builds on our state’s longstanding love of the arts, leading the way to a more vibrant future. The Arts Council is an economic catalyst, fueling a thriving nonprofit creative sector that generates $2.12 billion in annual direct economic activity. The Arts Council also sustains diverse arts expression and traditions while investing in innovative approaches to art-making. The North Carolina Arts Council has proven to be a champion for youth by cultivating tomorrow’s creative citizens through arts education.