Grants for Creative Individuals

The Grants for Creative Individuals program by the Mass Cultural Council offers unrestricted $5,000 grants to support artists, culture bearers, and creative practitioners in Massachusetts. This initiative aims to promote creativity and cultural expression across diverse disciplines while ensuring equitable access. The grants are awarded based on a review process that prioritizes geographic diversity and the needs of historically underfunded communities. Eligible applicants must be 18+, residents of Massachusetts, and not enrolled in full-time education.

Mass Cultural Council
We serve the Commonwealth and all who live, work, visit, and play here by amplifying creativity, providing resources, expanding relationships, and championing transformational changes that maintain and grow a thriving creative and cultural ecosystem.
The Grants for Creative Individuals program mission is to equitably advance creativity throughout the Commonwealth with unrestricted grants to individuals who demonstrate achievement of creative expression and commitment to their artistic/cultural practice.
The $5,000 grants are awarded after a review process that considers Funding Priorities, Geographic Distribution, and input from reviewers from the Massachusetts creative/cultural community.
Geographic Distribution
To ensure geographic diversity, grants will be awarded by county in proportion to the county’s application demand. For example, if applications from Essex County make up 7% of the total applications received, Essex County will be allocated approximately 7% of the grants made.
Please note that Funding Prioritization is different from Eligibility. If you meet the Eligibility requirements listed below, you are encouraged to apply, even if you do not meet all, some, or any of the Funding Priorities.

Eligibility

We encourage you to apply if you are:
An artist, culture bearer, or creative practitioner active in any artistic/creative discipline. For this program, the definition of “artist/culture bearer/creative practitioner” includes individuals whose creative expression is based in: community-based arts, crafts, dance, design, digital, film/video, folk/world/traditional arts, native/indigenous arts, literature, music, performance, photography, theater, and visual arts.AND you meet all the following requirements:You are 18 years of age or older.You are a full-year resident of Massachusetts for calendar year 2025 continuing through June 2026. This means you maintain your “legal residence” in Massachusetts, and you meet the definition of a “full-year resident”. Both terms are defined in the Massachusetts tax code.You are not currently enrolled at a college or university as a full-time undergraduate student or as a graduate student in the arts.You did not receive a Grants for Creative Individuals grant, Cultural Sector Recovery Grant, or a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant over $2,000 in 2023, 2024, or 2025.You are not a governor-appointed Mass Cultural Council member. Mass Cultural Council staff and family are likewise ineligible to apply.