FloridaRAMA and Creative Pinellas have a new funding opportunity for artists creating uniquely Florida art. The recently launched FloridaRAMA Fund is one of four Creative Pinellas artist grant programs accepting applications through September 16th.
The nonprofit Gobioff Foundation is accepting artist applications through September 1st for the current funding cycle of its microgrant program, which offers up to $500 per project. The City of Clearwater is accepting applications for its public art grant program, which gives business and property owners in the city the option to select their artists for murals and other projects. Grant funds are paid directly to artists.
Creative Pinellas artist grants
FloridaRAMA, formerly Fairgrounds St. Pete, is an immersive art museum in the heart of the St. Pete Warehouse Arts District “featuring captivating playful installations that celebrate weird, wacky, wonderful Florida.” Creative Pinellas, the county’s nonprofit arts agency, supports local artists through various grant programs. They’re a natural match to partner on a grant program for artists creating Florida-inspired art.
The FloridaRAMA Fund provides up to “$5,000 to create art celebrating Florida’s unique cultural, natural, and artistic environment, culminating in a premier exhibition or performance at FloridaRAMA.”
Creative Pinellas also accepts applications for its Arts Impact Fund, Arts Ignite Fund and Sixtar Performance Art Fund grant programs through September 16th. Arts Impact provides between $2,000 and $5,000 to create and present work in Pinellas County. Arts Ignite provides up to $500 “to bridge a small but important gap for arts supplies, materials, or a project budget item.” The Sixtar Performance Art program awards up to $1,000 “to create original, contemporary performance art in Pinellas County.” The “resulting live, county-bridging performances will be showcased at both Sixstar Arts Studios in St. Petersburg and the Gallery at Creative Pinellas in Largo. The grant programs are open to individual artists who live in Pinellas County.
During a July 31st panel discussion on arts funding following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of all state arts grant funding, Creative Pinellas CEO Margaret Murray says the local arts agency’s grant programs “are very foundational to artists’ success here.”
“To us, that is very important, the funding of artists and giving them the freedom to go ahead and work on their artistic endeavors,” Murray says during the event at the Palladium Theater in St. Pete. “That is first and foremost what’s important.”
For more information, go to Creative Pinellas artist grants.
Gobioff Foundation
The Gobioff Foundation’s microgrants provide up to $500 to individual artists for projects and events in Pinellas and Hillsborough. The competitive grant program has four application cycles each year. During the latest cycle, Gobioff Foundation microgrants have funded artist Dylan Perry’s “Abstract Brunch” on August 11th at Rooster & the Till; Lucy Hauras’ “Sirenia Fashion Collection” at Sacred Pepper in Tampa in October; Kaitlin Crockett’s ‘Print Party: A free community celebration of all things print!” at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in St. Pete on November 9th; and Lisa Bagley’s “Hopes and Fears: My Diary of Cancer” on January 17th, 2025 at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg.
Cycle three applications for the microgrant program are due September 1st. Applications for this year’s fourth and final grant cycle are due December 1st.
For more information, go to Gobioff Foundation microgrants
Clearwater public art grant
Over the last several years, there’s been a push to spruce up Clearwater’s downtown core and the city’s street corners with public art. City government has commissioned artists to adorn paint businesses, parking garages and the rebuilt Coachman Park with mural art. The nonprofit Clearwater Arts Alliance has launched and expanded a signal box art program.
The city’s public art program is part of that effort. Applicants may apply for up to $10,000 annually for murals, mosaics and other public art. The design has to receive approval from the city’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Division and comply with the city’s sign ordinance. Property and business owners interested in the program may ask the city’s assistance in selecting an artist or submit their chosen artist. The city pays the grant directly to the artist. The city selects the next round of grant recipients in December.
For more information, go to Clearwater public art grant.
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