Grants & Opportunities
The Madison Arts Commission (MAC) provides funding and opportunities for artists and arts organizations through the following avenues:
- Annual Grant Program, including Art Education Grants, Individual Artist Fellowships, Legacy Grants, and Project Grants
- Art in Public Places commissions
- BLINK temporary public art commissions
Annual Grant Program
All annual grant programs (Project, Legacy, and Individual Fellowships) use the same guidelines and application form:
| Annual Grant Program Guidelines |
| Annual Grant Program Application |
Grant Writing Assistance
To schedule a fifteen minute, one-on-one meeting for assistance, email madisonarts@cityofmadison.com.
Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations may apply directly. Individual artists, teams of artists or neighborhood groups may apply through a nonprofit fiscal receiver. A significant component of the project must be free and accessible to the public. Applications focused on arts education must fund projects that are either entirely free, or the grant funds must be used to support scholarships allowing free participation.
Successful applicants propose projects that do one or more of the following:
- Facilitate the involvement of Madison residents in arts and cultural activities;
- Expand an individual artists’ body of work or reach in the community;
- Provide an opportunity for the community to participate in the creative process;
- Support co-curricular and extra- curricular arts-based activities in PK-12th grade;
- Reach diverse, under-served students in PK-12th grade
- Provide arts and cultural programs that celebrate or enhance the identity of a specific neighborhood, ethnicity, organization or community.
Legacy Grants of $1,500 are awarded to organizations that have received MAC annual grant funding in three out of the last six years. MAC recognizes that many projects have proven over time to be successful and are now an integral part of Madison’s cultural landscape. We appreciate your organization’s long term commitment to providing enriching arts experiences, and we recognize a modest subsidy annually helps support your ability to provide new, creative, and affordable access to audiences.
Individual Artist Fellowship Awards of $1,000-$2,000 recognize the significant contributions of professional artists of all disciplines in Madison. These awards support continued artistic/professional development by enabling artists to create new work, complete work in progress, or pursue activities which contribute to their artistic growth. This grant supports professionally-active artists who reside in Madison and are producing original work (i.e., composers, choreographers, authors, visual artists). Preference will be given to proposals that include public access to the work funded by this grant.
Art in Public Places (AIPP)
AIPP funds permanent public art projects that are designed to last 10 or more years and cost $15,000 or more (including MAC funds). MAC leverages community funding and attention for major public art projects that have artistic merit and will make a positive, long-term impact on Madison.
Eligible applicants include recognized Madison neighborhood associations, organizations with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code (organized in the City of Madison), or City of Madison agencies or their associated non-profit foundation or friends group. Individual artists or ad hoc groups of artists interested in applying must partner with a neighborhood association, nonprofit organization, or City agency.
| AIPP Grant Summary |
| Sample Contract (a similar but custom contract will be developed for each AIPP project) |
BLINK Temporary Public Art Commissions
BLINK commissions support experimental, ad-hoc, temporary public works of art that sprout up throughout the community and vanish, leaving residents and visitors eager to see what is next. Madison neighborhoods and urban areas are open canvases. Creations in open spaces, construction sites, and public parks provide a glimpse of how the world looks through an artist's eyes.
Proposals for the BLINK program are due three times per year: Feb 1st, June 1st, and October 1st. At the MAC meeting following each deadline, commissioners review proposals and decide if they want to purchase the artwork for the City's BLINK program.
Artists should propose ideas for a temporary public art project that is modest in cost and is feasible, yet unique, bold and ambitious in impact. This is an accessible grant for short term projects. Some notable temporary opportunities may arise outside of the City of Madison where participation would benefit the Madison artist as well as the City of Madison community. In that case, MAC will periodically consider proposals outside of its geographic bounds. "Opportunity" BLINK grants will be considered on a case by case basis, and will likely be rarely distributed.
| BLINK Guidelines |
| BLINK Application |
Calls for Artists
Through the Percent for Art Ordinance and selective municipal exhibitions, the Madison Arts Commissions occasionally issues calls for artists or requests for qualifications. All calls will be posted below when available.
2023 Utility Box Art Program Call for Artists
Artists At Work Creative Workforce Development Grant
The Madison Arts Commission (MAC) awarded $450,000 to local arts
organizations through a special grant program called “Artists at Work.” MAC designed this grant opportunity to encourage non-profit organizations to generate, reinstate, and create arts industry jobs. Artists at Work subgrants are made possible by an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. Grants of $10,000, $15,000, and $25,000 were awarded to the following organizations and positions:
- Arts & Literature Laboratory Inc - Public Programs Coordinator
- Bayview Foundation Inc - Placemaking and Community Arts Specialist
- UW Madison [UW Community Arts Collaboratory Teaching Artist] - Arts Collab Teaching Artist
- Center for Black Excellence and Culture Inc - Director of Visual and Performing Arts
- Dane Arts Mural Arts Inc - Executive Director
- GEEX Inc - Social Media Intern
- IP Ministries Inc - Arts Administration Assistant
- Kanopy Dance Theatre Inc - Company Dancer and Outreach Teacher
- LunART Inc - Operations Manager
- Madison Ballet Inc - Artistic Director
- Madison Children's Museum Inc - Summer Outreach Coordinator
- Madison Circus Space Inc - Circus Arts Programs Coordinator
- Madison College, School of Business and Applied Arts - Exhibition Coordinator
- Madison Contemporary Dance Inc - Artistic Director
- Madison Public Library Foundation Inc - Wisconsin Book Festival Communications Creative
- Madison Youth Choirs Inc - Director of Education & Community Programs
- Make Music Madison Inc - Musician-in-Residence
- Overture Center Foundation Inc - Lullaby Project Lead Teaching Artist & Community Facilitator
- Preschool of the Arts Inc - Art Specialist
- Synergy Ventures Foundation Inc - Artist at Synergy
- Urban Community Arts Network Ltd - Artistic Innovation Coordinator
- Wisconsin Academy of Sciences Arts & Letters Inc - Exhibitions Coordinator
Contact
Madison Arts Commission
Madison Municipal Building
Department of Planning & Community & Economic Development
215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
P.O. Box 2985
Madison, WI 53701-2985
madisonarts@cityofmadison.com
Grantee Forms
Grant Proposal Revision Report
Project Evaluation Report
List Project Evaluators
Final Report Form for Project
Budget Template
Grantees must use the Wisconsin Arts Board logo in promotional materials.