Overview & Guidelines

2024 Collective Power Fund grants are project-based and distribute $60,000 in funding as follows:

• (1) $10,000 (Artist Team or Arts Collective)
• (8) $5,000 (New Work/Projects)
• (5) $2,000 (Research + Development)

Individual artists, who live in King County, are able to apply for the $2,000 or $5,000 tiers. The $10,000 tier is exclusive to artist teams or artist-run collectives within unincorporated and incorporated King County.

New Work/Project Grants ($5,000)
​​Support the creation and presentation of visionary, artist-driven new work/projects.

Research & Development Grants ($2,000)

Research Grants funds can be used to compensate for intellectual labor and idea development, to pay other artists and thinkers for their time and contributions, and/or for costs associated with gaining access to specific resources.

Artist Team or Artist Collective Grant ($10,000)

Support the creation and presentation of visionary, new work/project created by an artist team or arts collective.

Project Criteria (for Individuals)

• Projects must function around a visual arts context
• Applicant must be the primary creator of the project and related work
• Projects must have a publicly accessible component
• Proposals must be for the development, completion, and/or presentation of a project
• Applicant must have creative control and rights of the proposed project
• Applicant can only submit one project per grant cycle
• Individual artists may apply to complete a body of work as long as part of their project expands beyond their own solo practice
• Funded projects must be completed by July 30, 2025

Preference will be given to projects that achieve one or more of the following:

• Exemplifies equity and collectivity
• Provides energy, visibility, and/or solidarity around social justice issues
• Gives back to the community and nurtures our creative ecosystem
• Develops an unconventional approach or perspective to the arts/culture in our region

What types of projects are not eligible?

• Projects seeking to get support retroactively or seeking reimbursement
• Existing or ongoing programming such as an exhibition series, or regularly occurring project
• Projects solely focused on individual studio practices or to fund solo exhibitions
• Projects that are work-for-hire

Project Criteria (Artist Teams & Artist-Led Collectives)

If you are applying as an artist team or arts collective, you will need to choose one person to serve as the project’s lead organizer. The artist team or arts collective will need to have completed at least one arts-related project with the person you chose as the lead organizer.

The lead organizer will be the primary contact for the project during the application and granting process. You can choose to list up to six additional collaborators on the application. The collaborators you list should be people who share organizing responsibilities on the project. Artists who are supported through your project, but do not have organizing responsibilities, do not need to be listed as collaborators in the application.

Artist-led curatorial initiatives are eligible, and visual artists who are interested in organizing and collaborating with other creatives they’ve worked with before are encouraged to do so.

Note: Artists and arts collectives may use a fiscal sponsor for their project, though it is not required. Projects fiscally sponsored by NWFF cannot use NWFF as a fiscal sponsor for this grant cycle, but artists may apply as individuals.

Eligibility Requirements

Who is eligible to apply?

To be eligible for this grant, applicants must:

• Reside in King County (incorporated or unincorporated, proof of residency upon finalist status);
• Create work that is grounded in the visual arts or has a strong visual context;
• Be the main creator of the project and work;
• Be either an individual artist, artist team, or artist-run collective;
• Be 21 years of age or older;
• Be able to receive income in the U.S.

Eligible disciplines: 3D art, architecture, animation, ceramics, craft, design, drawing, digital art, folk art, film, illustration, installation, murals, naive art, new media, painting, performance art, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video, sound art, and social practice, tech-based art, traditional art, and video games.

In order to be eligible, disciplines not listed above must demonstrate a strong visual context and are ​​encouraged to form collaborations with visual artists to achieve this end.

We strongly encourage artists to apply who identify as either disabled, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color), LGBTQ2IA+, or who live in rural areas. 

Who is ineligible to apply?

Ineligible applicants for this grant are:

• Members of the NWFF Board of Trustees, their business partners, or family members
• Northwest Film Forum staff members, interns, their business partners, or family members
• Individuals who are submitting as curators, managers, or aggregators of other artists’ work
• Incorporated entities such as C-corp, S-corp, or 501c3s (LLCs are eligible to apply)

If you have any questions about your discipline, eligibility, or anything else, please feel free to email our Grants Manager at mikayla@nwfilmforum.org.

Application Checklist

• Discipline Statement (max 300 characters)
• Biography (max 800 characters)
• Project Overview
• Project Narrative (max 2100 characters or 2 minute video)
• Project Budget
• Visual Support Materials
• Visual Support Material Descriptions (max 1,000 characters)
• Artist Profile and Contact Info

Application Materials

For sections that allow written or video/audio, applicants must choose one format per response. Combined or multiple formats will not be reviewed.

To be eligible for this grant, applicants are required to submit the following materials:

Discipline Statement (300 characters) – A discipline statement describes your artistic practice. It can be as simple as “I am a visual artist” or give a more nuanced explanation of your practice.

Biography (800 characters or less)  – Please provide a short bio. For artist teams/collectives, provide a bio for the lead organizer, as well as any key collaborators and artists (up to 5 bios, max 300 characters each). Focus on experience relevant to this project.

Project Overview

• Title of Project
• Estimated Project Start Date
• Estimated Project Completion Date
• Amount Requested ($2,000, $5,000 or $10,000)
• Project Budget
• Project Summary (300 characters or less)

Project Narrative (2100 characters /2 minutes or less)

Please clearly answer the following questions to help the reviewers understand your project’s vision and approach.

• Why is it important for this project to occur?
• How does your project speak to your larger artistic practice?
• Where will the project ideally take place?
• Who is your primary audience?
• Why are you the right person to make this project?
• What component of your project will be accessible to the public?

Project Budget

Applicants should submit visual support materials (work samples) that support the project they are proposing. It is recommended that applicants provide work samples from similar projects they have completed within the last 5 years so the Award Selection Committee has an understanding of what a successfully completed project from them looks like.

Applicants can also submit work samples that depict the progress of their current project to complement their work samples from completed projects. We suggest submitting more work samples from completed projects than in-progress projects.

Applicants can chose to submit 2 of the 3 options.

• Images (up to 8 total, max 2MB each — .jpeg, .jpg, .gif and .png are accepted)
• Website URL (up to 1 total — must be relevant to the project and offer additional information on your ability to realize the proposed project)
• Video (up to 1 total, reviewed for a max of 5 minutes — video files must be hosted on a video platform such as YouTube or Vimeo; include a password in the description section if your account is private)

Note: Applicants can upload their visual support materials in the order they would like or they can rearrange them once they are uploaded.

Visual Support Material Descriptions

For each media item that you upload you will be asked to complete a Label Media section. Please make sure you include the following:

•  Title of the media file
• Date you completed the individual work, body of work, series, or performance
• Your role in the creation of the work sample (such as “I was the filmmaker and editor” or “I developed the mural idea for our team” or just “I painted this”)
• Additional details (up to 1,000 characters)
  • If image-based, include medium, materials, and dimensions
  • If time-based, include duration of larger body of work and (if needed) each work sample

Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on:

• Artistic strength of project idea, vision, and originality
• Demonstrated capacity to complete the proposed project within the timeline and budget
• Accessibility of the project to the public
• Potential impact on and relevance to the local arts and culture landscape, and/or the artist’s growth
• Challenge of mainstream methods of thinking, creating, and/or presenting art
• Significance of impact that funding and support would provide for the project and creative practice

Following the submission deadline, NWFF will conduct an eligibility check. Eligible applications will then be reviewed and scored by our Award Selection Committee (ASC). The ASC includes a diverse panel of four (4) recognized artists and/or arts professionals, with varying expertise and backgrounds and one (1) arts professional within the Andy Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program. The names of the panelists will be announced with the recipients.

Application Feedback

Applicants can receive pre-panel feedback on their application if they email their application materials to Grants Manager Mikayla Nicholson (mikayla@nwfilmforum.org). Complete or partial application materials will both be accepted, but please note that sharing some kind of work sample(s) will help us maximize the quality of feedback.

Pre-panel feedback from our Grants Manager will be emailed back to applicants and include:

• An eligibility check to make sure the application aligns with the guidelines
• General suggestions on how to strengthen your application materials for the selection panelists

Important: Artists who receive pre-panel feedback will still need to submit their applications before the deadline.

Terms

Northwest Film Forum and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts bear no legal responsibility for any work submitted in response to this Call for Proposals, or any outcomes connected to realized projects.

Northwest Film Forum and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts reserve the right to use submitted images, with credits, for the purposes of promotion and fundraising.

Privacy & Security

As an applicant, your data and content will be viewed by members of the Northwest Film Forum team and the selection panel. We will publicly be announcing the grant recipients, plus showcase artists/collectives that make it to the final round.

About the Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program

The Regional Regranting Program was established in 2007 to recognize and support the movement of independently organized, public-facing, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes but that lies beyond the reach of traditional funding sources. The program is administered by non-profit visual art centers across the United States that work in partnership with the Foundation to fund artists’ experimental projects and collaborative undertakings.

The 32 regranting programs provide grants of up to $10,000 for the creation and presentation of new work. Programs are developed and facilitated by organizations in Alabama, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Knoxville, Newark, Oklahoma, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix & Tucson (AZ), Portland (OR), Portland (ME), Providence, Raleigh & Greensboro (NC), San Francisco, San Juan, PR, Seattle, and Washington D.C. 

Have Questions?

Check out our FAQ page, our Application Guide, and/or email our Grants Manager Mikayla Nicholson at mikayla@nwfilmforum.org for any questions about applying.