Over the next year, A Blade of Grass will distribute $25,000 to artists and creative practitioners working throughout the country with 50 grants of $500 each. Field Funds supports both the public components of a project and the often unseen work that makes collaborative creative practice possible such as research and relationship-building. We are piloting this program with three funds to support specific needs common to socially engaged art: Artist-led Gatherings, Accessibility & Translation, and Documentation & Archiving.
We believe all parts of the creative process are valuable—from seeding new ideas to sharing work with audiences and archiving fleeting experiences. So, we designed a process where all eligible applications have the same chance of being funded. For this reason, there is no need for applicants to make a case for why a project is deserving of support, instead we ask applicants to speak directly and concisely to how they will specifically use $500.
All applications will be reviewed for eligibility. All eligible applications will be automatically assigned a number, and a number generator will make final selections randomly. 4-5 applications will be selected for funding each cycle. Our intention is to create a nimble process that can be responsive to feedback and the changing needs of practitioners.
Open Call: Documentation & Archiving
Applications Open October 1—31, 2024 11:59PM ET
To be eligible to apply for this opportunity, practitioners must:
- Be currently located in the United States and able to receive taxable income;
- Propose a use for $500 that would support creating documentation of projects or practices and/or tending to archives of existing documentation or materials.
- Be an individual artist or collaborative with a demonstrated history of creating socially engaged art* (Field Funds does not accept applications from nonprofit organizations or commercial businesses.)
*Field Funds uses the terms artist and socially engaged art, but we understand that not all practitioners identify with the same language. Regardless of how they describe their work, eligible applicants will be able to show in their application that their practice:
- Applies creative strategies and interventions that make society more just, kind, safe, and free.
- Involves and builds relationships with communities and collaborators in ways that are meaningful to those they work with.
- Uses processes and skills beyond those used to create studio artwork or traditional performance—including advocacy, dialogue, facilitation, organizing, and research.
For more information, please see full Frequently Asked Questions at the bottom of this page.
Open Call: Documentation & Archiving
What costs related to documentation & archiving does this fund support?
Creating a record is particularly important for socially engaged projects which tend to center ephemeral events or exchanges. While this work is often meant to be experienced directly, documentation is useful to practitioners in pursuing opportunities for funding or partnership. This cycle of Field Funds is designed to support practitioners to document their practices and/or tend to the archives of their work.
This is an opportunity to enhance the documentation of ongoing work or invest in the preservation of existing documentation. This is not an opportunity to create new work, exhibit, or publish documentation. This is not an opportunity to fund new projects, exhibitions, publications, or other presentations of documentation.
This cycle can support expenses for practitioners to:
Create documentation
- Commission photo, video, or audio documentation of a project
- Commission written documentation or reflection on a project
- Commission image descriptions, audio descriptions, captioning or other accessibility work for documentation
Tend to archiving
- Pay for support to design, create, or contribute to an inventory system of files or materials
- Digitize analog media or documents
- Buy supplies needed to house archival materials
- Pay for web hosting, inventory management, database subscriptions, or storage
- Pay other administrative costs for accessing and maintaining archival materials
When should my proposed activities take place?
Selected applicants will receive funds as early as November 10. All proposed expenses should be spent by April 30, 2025.
What kind of proposals are not eligible?
Proposals from nonprofit organizations or commercial businesses, proposals for events or projects that are not initiated and led by artists, proposals to support the creation of studio work, books, exhibitions, or other presentations, and proposals for activities that take place after April 30, 2025.
Could requested support go towards a larger project or event that is already planned?
Yes, proposals should describe how these funds would support documenting an existing or planned project and/or the organization and maintenance of existing archival materials.
Open Call: Documentation & Archiving Schedule
October 1 – Applications open
October 31 – 11:59 PM ET – Applications close
November 7 – Selected applicants notified. Applicants who do not hear from us by 6:00 PM ET on November 7 have not been selected.
November 11 – Funds distributed to selected projects
November 11 – April 30, 2025 – Proposed documentation and archiving work takes place
May 15, 2025 – Follow up survey* due
*Selected applicants will agree to complete a brief follow up survey after completing their proposed activities. The survey asks for some documentation that the proposed activities took place (1-5 photos, screenshots, web pages, etc.), and 5 short answer questions asking: Did you complete your proposed activities? Did it go as planned? What did the $500 support? Did anything surprising, exciting, or otherwise noteworthy come out of this experience? Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your experience?
Documentation & Archiving Resources
Archiving & Preservation: Artists’ Legacy Toolkit, Dance/USA
Career Documentation for the Visual Artist, Co-edited by Shervone Neckles-Ortiz and Kay Takeda (The Joan Mitchell Foundation)
Workbook and Resource, Artists’ Studio Archives
Five Tips for Organizers, Protestors, and Anyone Documenting Movements, The Blacktivists (Sixty Inches From Center)
Video Preservation Resources, XFR Collective
Office Hours
Our team will host open hours on Zoom for folks to drop in with questions about their applications or the process. Feel free to join any of these calls at any point during the hour. Please note, other applicants may be present.
October 16 – 2:00-3:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM-12:00 PM PT (register here)
October 24 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET / 10:00-11:00 AM PT (register here)
October 29 – 3:00-4:00 PM ET / 12:00-1:00 PM PT (register here)
Open Call Cycles
Artist-led Gatherings: Applications open May 15—June 30, 2024 (Closed Cycle)
Accessibility & Translation: Applications open August 1—August 31, 2024
(Closed Cycle)
Documentation & Archiving: Applications open October 1—October 31, 2024 (Closed Cycle)
Partner Cycles
To expand the reach of Field Funds and help us refine the program to meet the needs of practitioners working across disciplines and in different locales, A Blade of Grass will partner with peer organizations who will host closed application cycles exclusively for their communities. This year, our partners are artist-founded organizations deeply rooted in specific communities, regions, or disciplines. We understand that there is not one, easily defined field of socially engaged practice, and we look forward to learning about the communities our partners serve.
If your organization would be interested in partnering with us, or you would like to nominate an organization in your community, please write to programs@abladeofgrass.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why $500?
We are working to support practitioners at a range of scales, from Field Funds to the A Blade of Grass Fellowship. Making these grants $500 maximizes the resources we have to reach the most people. We do not expect Field Fund recipients to produce a public event or completed project with these funds. Instead, we hope to help recipients develop, enhance, and document the important work they’re already doing.
How will proposals be selected?
A Blade of Grass staff will review applications to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria. Eligible applications will automatically be assigned a number. Grantees will be selected using a random number generator. This process means all eligible applications have the same chance of being funded. For this reason, there is no need for applicants to make a case for why a project is deserving of support, instead we ask applicants to speak directly and concisely to how they will specifically use $500.
Why randomly select who gets supported?
We chose to randomly select recipients because we believe that all eligible requests are deserving of support. All eligible applications are automatically assigned a number, and a random number generator makes the final selection. By forgoing an extensive review process and we can pay out funds within a week of applications closing.
How should collectives or collaborative groups apply?
To propose collaborative or group activities, one member should apply on behalf of the group. We will not consider multiple applications for the same project. Members of the same collective or group may each apply for their own distinct projects.
How does this program think about the diversity of who it supports?
Using a randomizer to select from eligible applicants reflects back the makeup of the application pool overall. As we pilot this program, we opted to work on building an applicant pool that includes practitioners representing many geographic regions, disciplines, practices, and identities. To do this, we are partnering with artist-founded organizations throughout the year to host funding cycles for their communities.
Why support artist-led gatherings, accessibility & translation, and documentation & archiving?
We’ve spent the last year in conversation with practitioners about their needs, which pointed to these categories as a starting point for introducing Field Funds. As we pilot this new program, we hope to continue learning what support would be most helpful. We invite applicants to share other needs this program could support in the application form.
