Grants

HUGs (Helpful Unfettered Gifts) are $250 strings-free micro-grants – aka “Love Bombs of Cash” – awarded monthly to non-profit and for-profit creative initiatives in Charlotte to help propel the project forward or remove a small obstacle to its overall success. This is real money, making a real difference. All of it is at work today in the Queen City.

Myma artist grant is a monthly juried grant that provides an unrestricted $500 award to one artist each month. In addition to the winner, our independent jurors recognize 5 artists as honorable mentions for each edition. We publish a written or video profile of the selected artists on myma's spotlight page and social channels.

Submissions for each edition are open through the end of each month. To ensure accessibility and inclusivity, applications are free.

Artist Support Grants fund professional development and artist development for emerging and established artists to enhance their skills and abilities to create work or to improve their business operations and capacity to bring their work to new audiences. ASC is accepting applications from creatives living in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln and Rowan Counties.

Artists representing visual, craft, performing, traditional, and interdisciplinary art forms are encouraged to apply. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to spending a significant portion of their time on their artistic work. The Artist Support Grants will support projects occurring between January 1, 2027 and December 31, 2027 but all funds should be expended by June 30, 2028.

Must be aligned to one of the funding categories:
Completion/Presentation of a New Work — Cost of resources necessary to complete or present a significant new work (e.g., purchasing art supplies or equipment)
Career Promotion — Projects aimed at advertising artists’ work and/or demonstrating their skill level (e.g., websites, portfolios, audio-visual documentation)
Training — Costs to attend a class or workshop (in-person or virtual) aimed at either enhancing the artist’s skill level or professional development
Travel — Costs of transportation, lodging, and food for training or professional conferences

The Gibbes Museum and Society 1858’s Prize for Contemporary Southern Art is awarded to an artist whose work contributes to a new understanding of art in the South. Presented annually, the Prize recognizes the highest level of artistic achievement and welcomes applications from artist working across any media. The winning artist will receive a $10,000 unrestricted monetary award and have an artwork exhibited at the Gibbes Museum for an entire year. Artists who reside, work in, or are from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia are encouraged and eligible to apply.

Innovate Grant distributes (2) $1,800.00 grants each quarter, to one Visual Artist and one Photographer.

Our grant cycles are open (4) times a year (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall) giving you more opportunities to access the support you need.

The Venue Access Grant is designed to alleviate financial barriers for Mecklenburg County’s creatives, enabling them to utilize publicly and privately owned venues for cultural programming rooted in arts, science, history, or heritage. This grant supports projects that directly lead to increased public engagement with arts, science, and history in accessible and appropriate spaces.

Awarded monthly. Emergency Grants provide urgent unrestricted funding for visual and performing artists who: * Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
* Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates