Art and Change Grant

Art and Change Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Leeway Foundation
Amount: Up to US $2,500
Last Updated: August 12, 2025

Summary

The Art and Change Grant offers up to $2,500 to women, trans, and gender nonconforming artists in Greater Philadelphia for projects that foster social change. This grant emphasizes collaborative processes with a Change Partner, promoting community engagement through various artistic mediums. Eligible applicants must be at least 18 years old and demonstrate a commitment to social justice. The initiative seeks to empower artists to create impactful work that challenges societal norms and inspires transformation.

Overview

Art and Change Grant The Art and Change Grant (ACG) provides grants of up to $2,500 to fund art for social change projects by women, trans, and/or gender nonconforming artists and cultural producers living in Greater Philadelphia. The grant is project-based and open to artists and cultural producers working in any medium, including traditional and nontraditional as well as multimedia and experimental forms. Change Partner Leeway believes art for social change work happens through relationships — working with others collaboratively, often in community. Because of this, we ask artists to submit an application together with a Change Partner that affirms your grounding in a community-based process. Change Partners cannot benefit financially from the grant. A Change Partner is: someone the applicant has built a relationship with who is a member of the community that the project seeks to engage or in which it takes place; or a person, organization, or business that has a connection to the project in some form. Eligible Change Partners can live within or beyond the Greater Philadelphia Area and may include mentors, editors, art spaces, theaters, nonprofit organizations, dance studios, radio stations, production companies, etc. – or anyone who can support the project. Your Change Partner Form must be completed and signed by your Change Partner. Art for Social Change: What We Mean Leeway supports artists and cultural producers involved in art for social change that positively affects and engages communities and audiences. Creating social change must be integral to the ideas, beliefs, and goals that are woven throughout your art and your process of creating and sharing your art. IMPACT OF ART WITH VISION Art for social change is art with a vision and an intentional analysis. It is an artistic or creative cultural practice that may operate in traditional or nontraditional mediums, modes, or disciplines. Art with a vision impacts people in many ways. It can: Raise consciousnessAlter how we think about ourselves, our society, or our cultureCreate a vision of a more just worldBe a tool or strategy for organizing and movement buildingPreserve or reclaim traditional cultural practices using your artistic practice as a form of resistance or empowermentCreate space for expression and build a sense of communityChallenge racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism, or other oppressionsQuestion mainstream culture and beliefsShift or transform the perception of power and/or privilege and the dynamics associated with justice, equality, and/or accountabilityValue healing justice practices focused on strengthening communities, not just individualsEngage and utilize a reciprocal process — where there is teaching and learning simultaneously and the consent for engagement is mutual, as is the benefit for yourself as an artist and the community you are engaging Social Change Intent/Vision We ask you to identify at least one but no more than three social change categories that best describe the intent or vision behind your project. There is no correct or incorrect way to choose; you should pick one that resonates with you as the core intent or vision of your work. You will have an opportunity to define further what that vision is for you in question 3 of the application. Cultural preservation/restorationDecarcerationDemilitarizationDisability justiceEconomic justiceEnvironmental justiceFeminismHousing justiceImmigration justiceIndigenous sovereigntyLGBQA social movementsRacial justiceTransgender justice/gender self-determination

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. We encourage you to apply if you are a woman, trans, and/or or gender nonconforming artist who:Has an art for social change project or opportunity that impacts a larger group, audience, or community.Has a project supported by or in collaboration with a Change Partner (a person, organization, or business that is a part of the project in some way).Lives in Greater Philadelphia: Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia County Are at least 18 years oldLeeway is a trans-affirming organization committed to gender self-determination, and we use the term “trans” in its most inclusive sense, as an umbrella term encompassing transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, Two-Spirit people, and anyone whose gender identity or gender expression is nonconforming and/or different from their gender assigned at birth.

Eligible Change Partners include:mentors,editors,collectives,art spaces,theaters,nonprofit organizations,dance studios,radio stations,production companies, or anyone who can support the projectApplicants are only allowed to submit one application per grant cycle.You may apply for and receive an Art for Change Grant, Transformation Award, and/or Media Artist + Activist Residency in the same year.You may apply collaboratively with other artists for the Art and Change Grant. We understand that most projects are done in collaboration with others, so you are only required to submit an application with a collaborator if you are playing similar leadership roles for the project

Ineligibility

The Art and Change Grant is not for organizations, corporations, or fundraising activities.The Art and Change Grant cannot be used for activities completed prior to when the grant is announced.The Art and Change Grant is not intended to support the creation of residencies/apprenticeships unless it is clear how it will (1) move the applicant’s own artistic practice forward and (2) engage the community-at-large with a socially engaged project.Art and Change Grants are not intended to fund the same project for which you received a prior Leeway Grant. However, you may apply for different phases of a previous funded project.You may not apply if you:Are a full-time student in an arts degree programDo not have a Change Partner (see below)Have an active Art and Change Grant projectHave recieved a 2022 Media Artist + Activist ResidencyHave received a 2022 Leeway Transformation AwardHave not turned in all reports due from previous Leeway grants and awardsChange Partners cannot benefit financially from the grant.