Early-Career Artist Project Grant
Early-Career Artist Project Grant supports early-career Minnesota artists creating new, freely accessible public artwork to deepen their practice and contribute to community and civic life.
Funder: Jerome Foundation
Due Dates: August 13, 2026 (Applications open) | October 18, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. CDT (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Two grants of $8,000 each for January 1, 2027–November 30, 2027
Summary: Supports early-career Minnesota artists creating new, freely accessible public artwork that advances their practice and contributes to community and civic life.
Key Information: Projects must be artist-initiated, not commissions or client work, and applications require site-permission documentation.
Description
Administered by Forecast Public Art and supported by Jerome Foundation, this grant funds temporary or permanent public artwork anywhere in Minnesota. It supports early-career artists realizing ideas they conceive and lead, rather than responding to a predetermined site, theme, or commission. The program seeks new public art that may be difficult to fund through other means while helping artists innovate, deepen their practice, and expand their public-art careers.
Forecast defines public art broadly, including installations, performances, gatherings, interventions, murals, sound work, social practice, community meals, festivals, and storytelling. Work may occupy public or private property, but must be free and accessible to the public. Projects can foster enjoyment, beautification, belonging, civic engagement, or meaningful collaboration. Freely accessible work in traditional arts venues is eligible, though projects reaching beyond traditional arts audiences or venues tend to be more competitive.
