Lightning Fund Artist Grant

Lightning Fund Artist Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions
Amount: US $6,000
Last Updated: August 21, 2025

Summary

The Lightning Fund Artist Grant, presented by LACE, is an annual opportunity for artists residing in Los Angeles County. This year, 10 project grants of $6,000 each will be awarded to support innovative and socially relevant art initiatives. Applicants must be 18 years or older and not enrolled in college. The grant encourages diverse artistic practices, including traditional and contemporary forms, ensuring accessibility beyond conventional art spaces.

Overview

NOTE:  One artist will be selected through the Lightning Fund application process for this honor of receiving the Jacki Apple Award. No additional application is required to be considered for this award. Here is the LACE: Jacki Apple Award page. Lightning Fund Artist Grant LACE is thrilled to announce our fifth LACE Lightning Fund open call, a regional regranting fund made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The LACE Lighting Fund is an annual grant for artists and artist-driven organizations, projects, and publications. In 2020 and 2021, the Lightning Fund provided emergency relief grants to over 100 LA-based artists. In 2022, the Fund pivoted to supporting artist projects. This year, LACE will award 10 artist project grants in the amount of $6,000. Only applicants that are LA County residents, are at least 18 years of age, and are not currently enrolled in a college program, will be considered. We are open to innovation, experimentation, and risk-taking in the field and are supportive of diverse approaches to visual art making. Lightning Fund project submissions should be innovative and socially relevant, as well as accessible to the public outside of traditional museum or gallery settings.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Qualified applicant artists are required to live in Los Angeles County and maintain a visual arts practice. We have an expansive definition of visual art practice: in addition to more traditional forms such as drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation, and similar mediums, we are also open to artists practicing in film/video, new media, sound art, performance art, and social practice.

Ineligibility

Artists whose practices are firmly rooted in dance, theater, music, or industry/feature filmmaking, and/or nonprofit organizations and LLCs established for commercial enterprise are not eligible to apply.