The XENO PRIZE for Performance Arts Grant

The XENO PRIZE for Performance Arts, awarded by Franklin Furnace, supports early-career LGBTQ+-identifying performance artists creating new work in 26 states with restrictive gender-affirming laws. This annual prize, established in 2023, offers $5000 to a selected recipient from proposals submitted for the Franklin Furnace FUND for Performance Art.

The XENO PRIZE for Performance Art and Artists’ Books
In pursuit of its mission to present, preserve, interpret, educate and advocate on behalf of avant-garde art, especially forms that may be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, cultural bias, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content, Franklin Furnace has since 2023 offered the annual XENO Prizes for Performance Art and Artists’ Books, named in honor of xenophiles, people who appreciate all people and cultures.

Eligibility

States include: AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, ND, NH, OK, OH, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, WY.Eligible ArtistsFranklin Furnace FUND for Performance Art supported artists are early career generative non-student performance artists who actively generate new original work. Eligible artists and collectives must meet all of the descriptors listed below.Career StatusEarly career performance artists who have yet to be substantially celebrated within their field, the media, funding circles, or the public at large and are in the early stages of their creative development.Student StatusAre NOT participating in any degree granting programs in any field including k-12, undergraduate, or graduate programs.Vocation StatusVocational Artists focused on generating new artwork.Authorship StatusArtists who actively generate new work and claim creative authorship and creative control in the creation of new work.

Ineligibility

Ineligible artists and collectives:Career StatusMid- / late- career OR established in any arts discipline.Student StatusAre or will be students enrolled in degree-granting programs during the grant period.Vocation StatusAcademic, amateur, educational, avocational, or hobby artists or managers administrators, builders, or technicians without a history of generating new artwork.Authorship StatusArtists who Interpret, perform, critique, report on, edit, or design the work of others (e.g., singers, musicians, screenwriters, dancers, actors, instrumentalists, vocalists, arrangers, editors, journalists, designers in sets/lights/costumes /sound, or critics) but do not generate new work.