Taking the place of long-running programs such as the Artist Fellowship, Cultural Sector Recovery Program, and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships, the Grants for Creative Individuals program seeks to “equitably advance creativity throughout the Commonwealth with unrestricted grants to individuals who demonstrate achievement of creative expression and commitment to their artistic/cultural practice.”
Eligible applicants can apply for unrestricted grants of $5,000, which will be awarded to “artist[s], culture bearer[s], or creative practitioner[s] active in any artistic/creative discipline… [who] demonstrate achievement of creative expression and commitment to their artistic/cultural practice.”
Who Can Apply
MCC encourages you to apply if you are:
An artist, culture bearer, or creative practitioner active in any artistic/creative discipline. For this program, the definition of “artist/culture bearer/creative practitioner” includes individuals whose creative expression is based in: community-based arts, crafts, dance, design, digital, film/video, folk/world/traditional arts, native/indigenous arts, literature, music, performance, photography, theater, and visual arts.
If you have any questions about whether your work is eligible for this grant, contact the MCC.
AND you meet all the following requirements:
You are 18 years of age or older.
You are a full-year resident of Massachusetts for calendar year 2023 AND when grants are awarded in Spring 2024. This means you maintain your “legal residence” in Massachusetts, and you meet the definition of a “full-year resident”. Both terms are defined in the Massachusetts tax code.
You are not currently enrolled at a college or university as a full-time undergraduate student or as a graduate student in the arts.
You did not receive a Cultural Sector Recovery Grant, Artist Fellowship grant, or a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant over $2,000 in 2021, 2022, or 2023.
You are not a governor-appointed Mass Cultural Council member. Mass Cultural Council staff and family are likewise ineligible to apply.
Additional Information
As this award is made directly to the individual, submission through Emerson College and coordination with ORCS is not required.
The Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation recently issued its 2024 call for applications for Fellowships of Higher Education of Present and Prospective Teachers.
The primary purpose of the fellowship is to enable teachers (with an emphasis on present teachers at the college or university level) to study abroad or at some location other than that with which they are most closely associated. The aim is to stimulate and broaden the minds of teachers so as to improve and enhance the quality of their instruction.
Grants are primarily for travel and related expenses (salary, scholarships, and equipment are not allowable on these grants). In 2023, the average award was $6,105.
If you intend to apply, please complete and submit an ORCS Pre-Approval Request no later than Friday, December 8 (instructions for using the pre-approval form can be found here). The final application documents must be delivered to ORCS at least three business days before the sponsor deadline of January 5, 2024.
Forms and templates for the program can be downloaded here. The application consists of the following:
Project Description (three pages maximum)
Curriculum Vitae showing the application to be a university or college teacher
Detailed budget indicating the estimated travel expense to be incurred in carrying out the project
Completed Candidate Information Form (see attached document)
Two letters of recommendation from fellow faculty members or professors. One of these must be from your department chair The supporting letters must be on official letterhead.
ORCS will officially submit all proposals for Whiting fellowships on behalf of the applicants and the College. All resulting awards will be made to the College, which manages the funds on behalf of the awardees.
Award winners will be notified by email on Monday, April 8, 2024. Grants typically do not exceed $6,000 and may begin as early as the Summer of 2024. Projects must be completed no later than May 31, 2026. Applications received after January 5, 2024 will not be considered by the Foundation.
If you have any questions about this opportunity or the application process, please contact Eric Asetta or Diana Potter.
The following fellowship opportunity was forwarded to ORCS from our friends in Iwasaki Library. We are sharing it with faculty for whom it may be of interest.
If you are interested in applying, or have any questions, please contact eric_asetta@emerson.edu.
The Lang Fellowship is a two-year program designed to animate humanities teaching and equip educators at liberal arts colleges and small universities in the United States to enlarge their students’ historical sensibilities through bibliographically informed instruction with original historical sources. The deadline to apply is Friday, 17 November 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
an annual stipend of $1,500 for travel, housing, course books, and other costs related to the Fellow’s RBS course attendance
and the opportunity to apply for matching funds of up to $1,000 each year of the fellowship to further the Fellow’s efforts to foster book-historical humanities teaching at their home institution
RBS will be hosting an informational Zoom session about the program on Wednesday, 25 October at 7 p.m. ET. You may register to attend by filling in this form. The session will be recorded and shared if you miss the live stream.
Rare Book School (RBS) is an independent, non-profit, and tax-exempt institute supporting the study of the history of books and printing and related subjects, governed by its own board of directors. Founded in 1983, it moved to its present home at the University of Virginia in 1992.
RBS is committed to supporting diversity and to advancing the scholarship of persons of every race, gender, sexual orientation, creed, and socio-economic background, and to enhancing the diversity of the professions and academic disciplines it represents. RBS is also currently accepting applications for its scholarships (due 1 November) and Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography: Junior Fellows Program (due 17 November).
The following funders have announced application cycles for artist residency programs and other opportunities. ORCS has compiled this list for faculty in School of the Arts who may have in an interest in such programs. Most of these residencies take place in the summer or winter break, or have flexible start dates.
These opportunities are primarily individual, direct-to-applicant awards. ORCS may be able to provide some application assistance, pending staff availability. Contact orcs@emerson.edu for more details.
The Buinho Residency program is designed for individuals hailing from diverse creative and research backgrounds. Running 2 weeks – 2 months, we empower our residents to delve into an array of cutting-edge technologies, including 3D Printing, Lasercut, CNC, and more.
Based in Buenos Aires, Exploration Residencies provide accompaniment, research resources and local contacts for carrying out projects. All of our residents receive tutoring and mentoring, accompaniment and work critiques from the ´ace team and specialized professionals. This program is aimed at professional and emerging artists from any discipline who want to work on visual, sound or performance art research, or who wish to have a space for reflection to create, investigate or write.b 4-8 weeks.
We offer solo residencies of 1-3 weeks in a well-appointed cottage in deep woods above Hammersley Inlet on Puget Sound. The cottage is five miles from Shelton, a small logging town. The place is good accommodation for writers, visual artists, academics, playwrights and artists in other fields.
The Studios is a unique residency housed in MASS MoCA – one of the world’s largest contemporary art museums. The Studios residency hosts artist and writers within the museum’s factory campus and is surrounded by the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. Operated by MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program, the residency runs year-round and hosts up to 10 artists at a time. Artists of any nationality can apply for stays of 2-8 weeks.
Located in the heart of Savannah’s Starland District at Sulfur Studios, the ON::VIEW Artist Residency provides a free, high visibility studio space for artists in all media to complete a new project, to continue an in-progress endeavor, or to conduct research exploring conceptual, material, performative, and social practices.
Chulitna Lodge Wilderness Retreat seeks to provide the time, space, clarity and facilities for all forms of creative professionals or enthusiastic hobbyists to make and meditate. From visual artists, to writers, to scientific researchers, music, dance and more we encourage all to apply for our various programs. 1-6 weeks.
The following funders have announced film grant opportunities for Fall 2023. ORCS has compiled this list for School of the Arts and VMA faculty who have expressed interest in finding funding for film and media projects.
Some of these funders make awards to individual artists; some may require a fiscal sponsor. Emerson can serve as a fiscal sponsor many of those cases. Please contact us at orcs@emerson.edu for more details.
The Episodic Lab is open to any emerging writer applying with a completed draft of a half hour or hour-long television pilot they wish to workshop during the program. The teleplay should have a scientific, mathematical and/or technological theme and storyline or have a leading character that is a scientist, engineer or mathematician.
Hatched provides support to US-based filmmakers who are nearing completion or have recently completed a documentary film and who have plans to strategize, build, and launch an impact campaign.
The Climate Story Fund supports compelling storytelling and impact campaigns from around the world that move us closer to a climate just and biodiverse future. We are looking for creative nonfiction projects that can complete production this year with support from the Fund. Awards will range between $20,000 and $100,000.
The New Filmmaker Program loans digital camera packages (based on availability) to filmmakers for student thesis films and low-budget independent features.
The Ford Foundation seeks to reduce inequality in all of its forms, and artist-driven documentary and emerging media projects are crucial to this effort. As part of the Creativity and Free Expression program, JustFilms funds social justice storytelling and the 21st-century arts infrastructure that supports it.
The National Endowment for the Humanities currently has two open grant opportunities that may be of interest to faculty. Emerson College may submit more than one application to each program, so long as the applications do not contain overlapping activities or costs. If you are interested in applying, please contact Diana Potter or Eric Asetta. All applications must be submitted by Emerson College via ORCS.
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Media Projects (Deadline: January 11, 2024)
The Media Projects program supports the development, production, and distribution of radio programs, podcasts, documentary films, and documentary film series that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Projects must be grounded in humanities scholarship and demonstrate an approach that is thoughtful, balanced, and analytical. Media Projects offers two levels of funding: Development and Production.
Development awards (up to $75,000 total funds; $48,077 after overhead) enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and other program elements. Awards must result in a script or detailed treatment(s). You may also use a Development award to plan for outreach and public engagement.
Production awards (up to $700,000; $448,718 after overhead) must result in the production and distribution of radio, podcast, television, and documentary film projects.
Projects may include supplementary components such as discussion programs or websites.
All Media Projects proposals should be intended for national or regional distribution, and must:
build on sound humanities scholarship
deepen public understanding of significant humanities questions
approach a subject analytically, presenting a variety of perspectives
involve humanities scholars in all phases of development and production
involve appropriate media professionals
employ appealing and accessible formats that will actively engage the general public in learning
A pre-recorded webinar on the program can be viewed here. Additionally, a draft proposal may be submitted to NEH for feedback by November 29, 2023.
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Public Humanities Projects (Deadline: January 11, 2024)
The Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas of the humanities to life for general audiences through public programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. Awards support projects that are intended to reach broad and diverse public audiences in non-classroom settings in the United States.
Public Humanities Projects supports projects in three categories (Exhibitions, Historic Places, and Humanities Discussions), and at two funding levels (Planning and Implementation). Proposed projects may include complementary components: for example, a museum exhibition might be accompanied by a website or mobile app.
Project topics may be international, national, regional, or local in focus, but locally focused projects should address topics that are of regional or national relevance by drawing connections to broad themes or historical questions.
Planning awards ($40,000 total; $25,641 after overhead) are available only to Exhibitions and Historic Places applicants. These awards provide up to 24 months of support for projects that have completed preliminary work resulting in the identification of possible analytical themes and interpretive methods that you will further explore during the planning period.
Implementation awards support projects that are in the final stages of preparation to “go live” before the public. Activities may include final scholarly research and consultation, design, production, and installation of a project for presentation to the public. The period of performance must include the required minimum exhibition time. Implementation awards range from $50,000 to $400,000 ($32,051 to $256,410 after overhead) with a period of performance from 12 to 48 months.
You can watch the Applying for Public Humanities Projects webinar here. Additionally, a draft proposal may be submitted to NEH for feedback by November 29, 2023.
In partnership with the Graduate Student Association and the Office of Graduate Studies, the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship (ORCS) is again soliciting proposals to support Graduate Research Assistants to work with and be mentored by a faculty member for the 2023-24 academic year. The intent is to extend the student’s classroom learning, expose them to current challenges in their discipline, build analytical skills, and provide a meaningful work experience that will also benefit faculty in the development of their research and scholarship agenda. Through this program, we also hope to encourage faculty to submit external grant applications that include graduate research assistants.
Funds are available to support a limited number of GRA positions for this academic year. If you are interested in mentoring a GRA this year, please submit a completed proposal, using the GRA Application Form, by October 20, 2023.
Note: Proposals that do not use the required Google Form application will not be reviewed.
Deadlines
The application deadline for the FY2024 GRA grant will be on October 20, 2023.
Upcoming Grant Period
Grants awarded in FY2023 must be conducted between November 1, 2023 and June 15, 2023.
GRA Funding
The maximum award will be $2,000 per student, though amounts awarded are dependent on the number of applications received and availability of funding. The funds can be used to hire a graduate student assistant at a recommended hourly rate of $15.25. Additionally, a portion of the amount requested may be allocated to the costs associated with a mentored GRA attending a relevant academic or professional conference.
Proposals need to include a clear and concise description of the project, the expected outcomes, and how the work will be evaluated and/or disseminated. Applicants should outline how this work benefits their discipline, their professional research/scholarship agenda, and the student. Applicants should include a short job description for the Graduate Research Assistant position, including responsibilities, required skills, and any other pertinent aspects that will be used when the open position gets posted on the Student Employment website. If the application includes funds for conference travel, the applicant must identify the conference, its location and dates, and explain how it will enhance the student’s learning and academic growth.
Eligibility
FOR FACULTY Full-time term and tenured/tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply.
FOR STUDENTS
Students must be enrolled in Emerson graduate courses during the academic year, and not be employed by the College as a teacher or affiliated faculty member.
Eligible Projects
Examples of Eligible Projects:
Support for a student to assist in research, literature review for a book or other project
Support for a student to assist in development or curating of curricular or scholarly materials
Support for a student to assist in data collection, cataloging, and analysis
Support for a student as a film or production assistant
Support for the student to attend an academic or scholarly conference related to their field of study (alongside student wages)
Ineligible Projects Examples of Ineligible Projects:
Support for a student to provide general clerical and administrative assistance for regular academic and teaching duties
Projects that do not clearly demonstrate a meaningful work and learning experience for students
Compensation or support for regular curricular, credit-bearing activities, such as coursework, theses, or directed studies
Requests for travel/conference funds that do not also include student wages
Criteria & Considerations Proposals must include:
A clear and concise description of the project
The expected outcomes of the project or research
How the work will be evaluated
Outline how this work benefits your discipline, your professional research/scholarship agenda, and the student
Include a short job description for the Graduate Research Assistant position, including responsibilities, required skills, and any other pertinent aspects that will be used when the open position gets posted in Workday
If the application includes funds for conference travel, applicants must identify
The name of the conference
The dates and location of the conference
An explanation of how the conference will enhance the student’s learning and academic growth
The maximum award will be $2,000 per student at a recommended hourly rate of $15.25/hour.
GRA Application Form
Eligible faculty members can access the FY2023 GRA Application Formhere. Applicants can fill out the application and make changes to the form until the deadline date of October 20, 2022.
