Emergency Grants for Experimental Artists
(Monthly Rolling Funding)
If you’re an artist facing a last-minute opportunity or unexpected cost tied to a completed work, the Emergency Grants program from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts is one of the most responsive funding sources out there.
What This Grant Is
Emergency Grants support artists who either:
Have a confirmed upcoming exhibition or performance (typically within ~10 weeks), or
Face unexpected, unbudgeted costs to complete a near-finished project (foundationforcontemporaryarts.org)
Funding Amount
💰 Typically $500–$3,000
Average award is around $2,000–$2,500
Partial funding is common (foundationforcontemporaryarts.org)
What They Fund
Eligible expenses include:
Artist fees
Travel and lodging
Materials and fabrication
Shipping and production costs
Other direct project expenses
They do not fund:
Rent, personal bills, or living expenses
Work-in-progress or residencies
Conferences, trainings, or publications
Projects without confirmed public presentation dates (foundationforcontemporaryarts.org)
Who Can Apply
Individual artists (not organizations)
Artists working in dance, music, performance, poetry, and visual art
Must be U.S.-based or U.S. territories-based
Must have a confirmed presentation date and venue
Must apply roughly 8–10 weeks before the event
Process
Applications are submitted via rolling Submittable intake
Reviewed monthly by panels of working artists
Typical response includes funding decisions within the cycle
Why This Grant Is Worth Knowing
This is one of the few grants that truly functions as real-time artistic emergency support — not long-cycle institutional funding.
It’s especially useful when:
A performance opportunity appears quickly
Costs spike late in production
There’s no time for traditional grant timelines