Investing in Artists: Tools & Equipment Grant

The Investing in Artists: Tools & Equipment Grant, offered by the Center for Cultural Innovation, provides funding between $1,000 and $5,000 for individual craft artists in the U.S. to purchase essential tools and equipment. This program aims to enhance the creative support system, enabling artists to produce object-based work and meet safety standards. Eligible applicants must demonstrate a commitment to their craft and have presented public artistic work within the last three years.

The Investing in Artists: Tools & Equipment program will award grants of $1,000–$5,000 to individual craft artists to purchase artistic tools and equipment that support their ability to make object-based work. This program is open to individual craft artists, folk and traditional artists, and craftspeople in the United States and its Territories, with geographic eligibility rotating over the 2024–2026 funding cycle.
The Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) established the Investing in Artists grant portfolio in 2007 to enhance the working lives of and strengthen the creative support system for California artists working in all disciplines. From 2007–2011, and with the support of the James Irvine Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Investing in Artists awarded grants to individual artists across disciplines to acquire tools and equipment, produce new work, and develop plans for marketing and presenting creative work. In 2024, with the partnership of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, CCI revived Investing in Artists’ support of tools and equipment, with a new focus on the disciplines of both craft and folk, and traditional arts, and with expanded geographic eligibility across the U.S. and its Territories.
Investing in Artists: Tools & Equipment will award funding through a competitive grant application process. Competitive applicants will present a clear request, demonstrate a sustained commitment to their craft discipline, and illustrate how funding will provide linchpin support, such as enabling the artist to meet demand, address safety requirements or other regulations, replace outdated or damaged equipment, or reach a higher standard of quality or craftsmanship. A total of $60,000 is available in the 2025 funding round.

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding consideration, applicants must meet the following criteria: Identify as an individual working craft artist.Align with CCI’s definition of craft.For the 2025 Round: Eligible applicants must reside full-time in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, or Wisconsin.For the 2026 funding round, craftspeople residing full-time in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, or Virginia will be eligible to apply.In 2024, funding was available to craftspeople residing full-time in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, as well as American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.Presented artistic work in a public context—including online/digital platforms—within the last three years (i.e., since 2022).Are 18 years or older at the time of the application deadline.Examples of eligible requests:

• New or used tool/equipment purchases
• Repairs to broken equipment
• Installation of equipment
• Materials needed to build equipment
• Tool/equipment storage

Ineligibility

The following applicants/requests are ineligible for funding consideration: Artist collectives, coops, or collaboratives;Nonprofit or fiscally sponsored organizations;Recipients of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Craft, administered by United States Artists;Incomplete applications and those with inaccessible work samples or other required files;Full-time or matriculating students;Applicants who submit more than one application;Requests to support training in or experimentation with a new medium;Requests for routine art materials or supplies;Requests for fixed costs (e.g., studio rent, equipment/tool insurance or ongoing maintenance, utilities);Requests to support capital improvements or repairs, purchases made before the award of the grant, consultant fees, personal compensation, or payment of debts, credit cards, loans, or other financial responsibilities; andApplicants who have a conflict of interest (family or financial relationships) with the boards, staff, and directors of CCI or the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation.