[CaliaMoko]

I live in Minnesota, which is pretty supportive of artists, so I've been able to get a couple grants for my musical activities. I've been wondering if anyone else on the forum has had any success applying for grants? I know most states aren't as supportive as Minnesota, but now I'm wondering about other countries.

Most forum members appear to be from England, so I did some searching. There are grants available for individual artists in England but it sounds like not many people apply for them AND only about half who apply get any money. If I apply in my local region, my odds are very good...not quite 100%. But the grant amounts are small, around $2000. If I apply on the state level my odds drop to somewhere between 25%-50%, but the amounts available are larger--up to $10,000.

England has the New Arts Council. Maybe you've heard of it? This year they have a grant program called "Developing Your Creative Practice". They have a "£14.4m fund for individual artists and creative practitioners in the early- and mid-stages of their creative careers." The website says, "Grants of between £2k and £10k will be available to individual creatives, or small groups of collaborators, to support research, the creation of new work or development of future ideas, training, networking or mentoring, or travel." It looks like the fund needs to last for three years of quarterly grant rounds.

Read all about it at https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/new-arts-council-england-fund-individual-creatives. Looks like they plan to have quarterly grant rounds and are already in the first quarter, which started in April. These grants do not require any matching funds, if I'm reading it right.

They also have National Lottery Project Grants (used to be called "Grants for the Arts") which do require matching funds and a public performance as part of the activities.

It does sound like the application process is difficult, confusing, and time-consuming, which may explain why there aren't more applicants. The new grant is supposed to be better, but I don't know if it is. I'm curious how the process has worked for anyone who has tried applying for any grants in England. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Vicki