A Blade of Grass (ABoG) is pleased to launch its inaugural “Field Funds” — a modest but meaningful grant initiative designed to support artist-led gatherings and collaborative practices across the United States.
Born out of a series of convenings and listening sessions conducted with artists and socially engaged practitioners, Field Funds responds directly to what creatives said they need most: resources to convene, connect, and build community. At a recent gathering in New Orleans, participating artists organized their responses to research questions — highlighting the very collaborative spirit the fund seeks to foster. (Photo by Mauricio Delfin)
What Is Field Funds
Each year, ABoG will distribute US$25,000 in the form of 50 individual grants of US$500. The goal isn’t to fund large-scale productions, but to support the often-invisible — yet essential — infrastructure of socially engaged artistic work: gatherings, relationship-building, research, documentation, translation, accessibility, and archiving.
Field Funds offers flexible support that acknowledges that socially engaged art isn’t just about creating finished works — it’s about sustaining communities, nurturing relationships, and giving space for ideas to grow.
Who Can Apply
Eligible applicants must:
- Be an individual artist or a collaborative group of artists/practitioners, not a nonprofit organization or commercial business.
- Be based in the United States and able to receive taxable income.
- Have a demonstrated history of socially engaged art. (Even if you don’t use those exact labels, your work should engage communities, build relationships, and use creative strategies beyond traditional studio or performance practices — such as facilitation, organizing, dialogue, advocacy, research, etc.)
- Propose a concrete use for US$500 that supports your creative practice and aligns with the open call’s theme.
What the Grant Supports
Field Funds will support a wide range of activities — especially those essential to collective and community-centered creative practice. Examples:
Gatherings & Collective Work
- Hosting artist-led gatherings (in person or online)
- Paying facilitator fees, venue rental, promotion, hospitality, food, travel, honorariums
- Supporting events already planned or underway — no requirement that a gathering be public
Accessibility & Translation
- Hiring ASL interpreters, CART providers, or other access coordinators
- Translating materials, providing image/audio descriptions, captioning documents or multimedia
- Paying for accessible transportation, website accessibility audits, or physical-space modifications
- Providing COVID-19 safety measures (masks, testing, hybrid or remote participation)
Documentation & Archiving
- Commissioning photo, video, audio documentation or written/reflective pieces
- Commissioning accessibility services for documentation (captioning, transcripts, image descriptions)
- Digitizing analog materials, building inventories, paying for web hosting or database subscriptions, and other administrative costs for archiving
What the Grant Does Not Support
- Applications from nonprofits or commercial businesses
- Projects not initiated or led by artists or practitioners themselves
- Creation of traditional studio art, exhibitions, books, or performances intended for “presentation” (though documentation is allowed)
- Activities scheduled more than six months after the grant distribution
Application & Selection Process
- Applications open: November 3
- Deadline: November 30, 11:59 PM ET
- Notification: Selected applicants will be notified by December 3, 6:00 PM ET. (If you don’t hear from ABoG by then, your proposal was not selected.)
- Funds distributed: December 10
- Project period: December 10, 2025 – June 30, 2026
- Follow-up survey due: July 15, 2026
Applicants only need to describe clearly and concisely how they will use the US$500. There is no need to justify why your project is more “deserving” than another — all eligible proposals get equal treatment. Final selections will be made randomly by number generator, underscoring ABoG’s commitment to equity and addressing unpredictability faced by socially engaged artists in times of crisis.
Why This Matters
Socially engaged art — from community-led gatherings to collaborative research — thrives on connection, relationships, and dialogue. But often, these essential practices go unsupported because they don’t result in traditional “artworks.” Field Funds recognizes that the infrastructure of care, trust, and shared labor is itself an act of creation. By offering small, flexible grants, ABoG empowers artists to build community, amplify voices, document histories, and steward culture in real time.
For many artists, a US$500 grant might cover transportation for collaborators, interpretation services, or archival materials — small expenses that nonetheless make or break inclusive, community-driven work. Field Funds signals a belief that these everyday building blocks deserve direct support.
Apply Now if You…
- Are based in the U.S.
- Work individually or as a collective in socially engaged art, community-centered projects, cultural organizing, or collaborative research.
- Need a small but flexible grant to host a gathering, increase accessibility, document past work, or build collaborative infrastructure.
- Value relationship, access, inclusion, and the often-invisible labor behind art that centers community.
For full details and to submit your proposal, visit the ABoG website. This is your chance to shape — and be supported in shaping — the networks, dialogues, and creative experiments that sustain socially engaged art.
Get more information: Click Here
