Southern Exposure's Alternative Exposure (AltEx) Grant

Southern Exposure's Alternative Exposure (AltEx) Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Southern Exposure
Amount: Up to US $5,000
Last Updated: July 15, 2025

Summary

Southern Exposure's Alternative Exposure (AltEx) Grant supports independent and artist-centered projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Launched in 2007, it has awarded over $1.2 million to 260 projects, fostering a national network of regional regranting programs. AltEx provides up to $5,000 for diverse visual arts initiatives, encouraging collaboration among artists. The current application round is open, inviting eligible artists to present their innovative projects to the public, enhancing local art scenes.

Overview

A Brief History Alternative Exposure was launched in 2007 in partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to recognize and support the movement of independently organized, public-facing, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes but that lies beyond the reach of traditional funding sources. Since then, AltEx has awarded over $1.2 million to 260 projects and The Andy Warhol Foundation has invested in the creation of a growing national network of 32 regional regranting programs. The Regional Regranting Program is administered by non-profit visual art centers across the United States that work in partnership with the Foundation to fund artists’ experimental projects and collaborative undertakings. Programs are developed and facilitated by organizations in Alabama, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Knoxville, New Orleans, Newark, Oklahoma, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix & Tucson (AZ), Portland (OR), Portland (ME), Providence, Raleigh & Greensboro (NC), Saint Louis, San Francisco, San Juan, PR, Seattle, and Washington D.C. SoEx is proud to be the inaugural member of this important and growing nationwide system of support! Alternative Exposure Round 19 Application Portal is Open! Alternative Exposure funds the presentation of Bay Area visual art projects by multiple artists. Selected projects receive awards of up to $5,000 to provide the seed funding to bring their vision into reality. Possible projects include: exhibitions; publications, zines, or print series; festivals or events with a visual component; public learning opportunities for visual artists; new or ongoing projects; non-institutional spaces for art and artists; performances; film screenings; web-based projects; and so much more! About Alternative Exposure Southern Exposure's Alternative Exposure (AltEx) grant program supports the independent, self-organized work of artists and small groups that play a critical and significant role within the San Francisco Bay Area arts community. AltEx provides monetary awards to foster the development and presentation of artist-led projects and programs that are open to the public and support the work of more than one artist.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. The lead organizer must have an address in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, or Sonoma County. For collectives or groups, additional collaborators may live outside of these counties but the majority of collaborators in the group must live in an eligible county and the project must be publicly presented in one of these counties. Resulting project activities must be accessible and presented to the public within at least one of the above areas. Funded projects must be completed before June 30, 2027 and after October 1, 2025. For projects or programs that are a part of an ongoing project, the work supported by Alternative Exposure should be completed within this timeframe. Applicants may be a lead organizer on more than one application, however, in these cases only one of their projects can be selected for funding. Applicants that have received Alternative Exposure grants from Rounds 1-16 (2007-2022) are eligible to apply again as lead organizers if the first project was successfully completed and the final report was submitted to Southern Exposure. Recipients of Alternative Exposure Emergency Grants in 2020 are eligible to apply for this round of project-based funding. Grantees from Rounds 17 (2023) or 18 (2024) are NOT eligible to apply again as lead organizers in Round 19. However, former grantees (both lead organizers and additional collaborators) from all previous rounds may participate in 2025 applications for new, unrelated projects as collaborators. Board members, staff, or curatorial council members of Southern Exposure are not eligible to apply as lead organizers of projects.

Ineligibility

Projects presented by established art spaces or 501c3 nonprofit organizations are NOT eligible to apply. LLC's, collectives, or art spaces with an annual operating budget of over $100,000 are not eligible. Work that is not based in the visual arts is not eligible. Traditional theatrical or dance performances, film productions, or purely sound/music performances without a visual component are not eligible. An individual artist seeking support to make their own work is not eligible. Individual artists whose work includes groups of people in its creation, but whose finished work is solely considered that of the individual artist’s, not the collaborative group as a whole are not eligible. Work that is presented at Southern Exposure is not eligible.