You may apply for an Artist Fellowship if you are a professional artist producing work of high artistic quality.

Individuals are considered to be at the professional level if they:

• earn at least part of their annual income in their artistic disciplines,
• consider their artistic endeavors as a career,
• maintain a high level of artistic quality, and
• make a significant time investment in their artistic disciplines through practice, performance and production;

In addition the applicant must be:

• more than 18 years of age;
• not a full-time student; and
• a permanent, full-time, and legal resident of Mississippi at the time of application and throughout the grant period. Applicants may be required to show proof of residence (such as driver’s license, proof of domicile, homestead, utility bills).

Certain artistic disciplines in fellowship categories alternate every other year. Please select the appropriate category below:

Fellowship Categories for FY2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026)
Deadline to apply: March 1, 2025

• Literary Arts:
  • FY26 Categories: Creative nonfiction, screenwriting, and playwriting
  • FY27 Categories: Fiction and poetry
  • Staff contact: Kristen Brandt, 601.359.6075 or kbrandt@arts.ms.gov

• Multi-media and Filmmaking: This category is designated for media artists and filmmakers working in the disciplines of film, video, animation, narrative audio documentaries or features, web series, and other performative works that are presented through a mediating technology (not meant to be experienced live).  Photography artists should apply to the Visual Arts Fellowship (below).
  • FY26 and FY27 Categories: Multimedia and Filmmaking
  • Staff contact: Maria Zeringue, 601.359.6034 or mzeringue@arts.ms.gov

• Performing Arts:
  • FY26 Categories:
    • Music Performance
    • Solo Vocal or Instrumental
    • Theatre (Acting)
    • Storytelling Performance
    • Dance Solo Performance
    • Interdisciplinary Performance (integrating more than one arts discipline to form a single work)
  • FY27 Categories:
    • Music Composition
    • Dance Choreography
    • Theatrical Design
    • Theatre Director
  • Staff contact: Leslie Barker, 601.359.6529 or lbarker@arts.ms.gov

• Visual and Design Arts:
  • FY26 and FY27 Categories:
    • Visual arts (Painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography)
    • Fashion Design
    • Graphic Design
    • Public art (such as murals and sculptures commissioned for placement in public settings)
  • Staff contact: Victoria Meek, 601.359.6030 or vmeek@arts.ms.gov 
• Contemporary Craft: This category is designated for craft artists engaged in contemporary studio practice using materials such as clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, paper, stone, wood, or other mediums.
  • FY26 and FY27 Categories: woodworking, metalworking, pottery, glass, fiber, etc.
• Folk Arts:
  • FY26 and FY27 Categories:
    • Visual Folk & Traditional Arts such as basketmaking, woodcarving, weaving, beading, painting, quilting, pottery, creative assemblage etc.
    • Performing Folk Arts such as blues guitar, old-time fiddling, shape-note singing, traditional dance, etc.
  • Staff contact: Maria Zeringue, 601.359.6034 or mzeringue@arts.ms.gov
  • Folk & Traditional Arts F.A.Q.’s:  
    • What are the Folk and Traditional Arts? The folk and traditional arts are artistic expressions of community life. A community is a group of people held together by common bonds such as shared beliefs, language, identity, ethnicity, occupation, recreational interests, and regional affiliation. In short, folk arts often reflect the shared values, identity and aesthetics of a community.
    • Am I a Folk Artist? Folk artists work within a community-based art form and demonstrate a balance of individual creativity expressed within a collective arts tradition. Traditional artists usually learn informally through apprenticeships, imitation, and/or face-to face instruction, and folk arts are usually passed down from one generation to the next.
    • Examples of Folk Arts: Pine-needle basket weaving, Native American beadwork, bowl hewing, Gulf Coast boatbuilding, southern food traditions, storytelling, blues music, hip hop music and dance, leather working, blacksmithing, Chinese New Year celebrations, Our Lady of Guadalupe dance processions, and many other forms of community-based traditional art.

For Design, Literary, Media, Performing, Craft, and Visual Arts

Artist Fellowships are reviewed through an anonymous panel process. The review panel does not know the names of the applicants nor do they receive information about the artists beyond the information each artist includes in their artist statement and bio. The panel’s discussion and feedback is focused solely on the artistic excellence of the submitted work samples and the Fellowship impact statement. Artist Fellowship review panels determine an applicant’s artistic excellence by reviewing the following three components:

• Artistic Excellence (40 points) – The applicant’s statements and work sample(s) demonstrate a high level of intention and expertise in their creation and presentation.
• Originality and Vision (40 points) – The applicant’s statements and work sample(s) demonstrate a personal voice and artistic vision. The applicant demonstrates creative and original theories, ideas, and/or perceptions.
• Fellowship Impact (20 points) – The applicant demonstrates that the fellowship will have significant impact on their work and/or development as an artist in Mississippi.

For Folk Arts

Applicants in the Folk Arts Fellowship category are also reviewed through an anonymous process, but the panel receives the applicants’ personal narrative statement. This allows them to gain an understanding of the applicant’s connection to their artistic tradition.

The Folk Art review panel evaluates the applications using the following review criteria:

•  Artistic Excellence (50 points) – The applicant’s statements and work samples demonstrate a high level of intention, creativity, and expertise in their traditional arts form.
• Connection to Traditional Arts Form (30 points) -The artist’s work is connected to a community-based traditional arts form.
• Fellowship Impact (20 points) – The applicant demonstrates that the fellowship will have a significant impact on their work and/or development as a traditional artist in Mississippi.

For Design, Literary, Media, Performing, Contemporary Craft, and Visual Arts

Apply online using MAC’s E-Grant system. Faxed, mailed, or emailed applications are not accepted unless accommodations have been arranged. If you are new to E-Grant, please review the guides and video tutorials available on MAC’s Frequently Asked Questions page, then contact MAC staff if you have any questions.

Fellowship applications are blindly adjudicated by a panel of experts. These experts have access to an applicant’s Artist Statement and Artist Bio. The applicant’s name should not appear in the text responses. Please be prepared to submit the following information through the E-Grant system:

• An artist’s bio in which you discuss your development as an artist.
• An artist’s statement which provides insight on your work samples. Describe your vision and creative process. Please also include any relevant details on special processes or techniques you utilized to create the work. The statement should be written in first person and present tense. Do not include any biographical information or professional achievements in the statement.
• Your current artistic resumé (literary, multimedia, film, and performing artists only). This document should detail your work as a professional artist only. Please include information on any (arts-related) college level study or other advanced artistic training that you have completed. If you have had professional performances, screenings, readings, or other activities that show your level as a professional artist, please include them. Focus on providing information about your arts-focused work rather than submitting a business resume.
• A Fellowship impact statement in which you discuss why Fellowship funding is important at this time in your artistic practice and development. Your Fellowship impact statement can include, but is not limited to: how Fellowship funding would positively affect your career; what professional or artistic opportunities you would be able to take advantage of; and/or what artistic and/or professional practice(s) you would be able to deepen or expand.
• Appropriate work samples (see the appropriate work sample format listed below). The samples must have been completed within the last five years.
• Descriptions of submitted work samples. These descriptions should include the titles and completion dates of each work sample. If appropriate for the art form, please also include the medium and the approximate dimensions of each work. DO NOT include your name or any publication or exhibition information about the samples.

NOTE: 

Do NOT link to the applicant’s personal social media pages or website in the Artist Statement or Artist Bio. Areas of the application which include the applicant’s name will be disregarded in adjudicating applications and may result in the rejection of an application as incomplete.

For Folk Arts

Apply online using MAC’s E-Grant system. Faxed, mailed, or emailed applications are not accepted. Please contact MAC staff if you have any questions.

Please be prepared to submit the following information through the E-Grant system:

• An artist’s bio in which you discuss your development as an artist, including how you learned your traditional art form.
• An artist’s statement which provides insight on your techniques, cultural knowledge and work samples. Describe your methods, approach and creative process. Please also include an explanation of why your art is important to you and your traditional arts community. The statement should be written in first person and present tense. Do not include any biographical information or professional achievements within the statement.
• Appropriate work samples (see the guidelines below). The samples must have been completed within the last five years.
• Descriptions of submitted work samples. These descriptions should include the titles and completion dates of each work sample. If appropriate for the art form, please also include the medium and the approximate dimensions of each work. Do NOT include your name or any publication or exhibition information about the works in the list.

Work Sample Formats

Work samples are the most important component of an Artist Fellowship application. If you have trouble uploading the work sample files to E-Grant, please consult the tutorials available in MAC’s Frequently Asked Questions.

NOTE: Fellowship applications are blindly adjudicated by a panel of experts. These experts have access to an applicant’s Work Samples. The applicant’s name should not appear in the file name, the url (or the linked webpage), or content of Work Samples (including: credits in a video or document or the content of a linked webpage).

Do NOT link to the applicant’s personal social media pages or website. Submitted samples that do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered in the review process:

• Folk Arts:
  • Performing artists should submit audio files or links to audio files of multiple songs. The list of work samples should include the instruments, title, duration, the role of the applicant for each work and the date completed.  If additional performers are a part of the performance group, please identify the role of the applicant.
  • Visual Artists will be required to submit six digital images that feature work completed within the last five years. The images should be saved in JPEG format at 72dpi, with no image wider than 1240 pixels. Please submit the best quality images that you have available.
• Literary Arts:
  • Fiction; Creative Nonfiction; Playwriting and Screenwriting: 15-20 pages as a sample of your written work (1 long sample or various shorter samples)
  • Poetry: 5-10 pages (no more than one poem per page)
  • Applicants for screenwriting and playwriting may also include a cast of characters list.
  • If your sample is an excerpt from a longer piece, you may include a 1 page synopsis of the work as a whole.
  • Please note:
    • Submitted samples must be of a completed work. To be considered a completed work, the the submitted excerpt must be from a completed and revised manuscript. First drafts are not acceptable for Fellowship applications.
    • Published work must be submitted as a PDF or Word document rather than in published form. The sample must be formatted using a 12-point standard font with one-inch margins on all sides of the page.
    • Neither your name nor any publication information should appear on the samples.
• Performing Arts:
  • Video/audio works samples should be between 5-10 minutes in length.
  • Musicians: Applicants should submit audio files or links to audio files of at least 3 songs. Work sample descriptions should include the instruments, title, duration, the role of the applicant for each work and the date completed.  If additional performers are a part of the performance group, please identify the role of the applicant.
  • Theatre (Acting), Storytelling Performance, Dance Performance and Interdisciplinary Performance: Applicants submitting video files or links to videos should contain one complete work or several shorter works. The video files should include the time marking where the panel should begin reviewing the performance. The work sample description should include the instruments, title, duration, the role of the applicant for each work and the date completed.  If additional performers are a part of the performance group, please identify the role of the applicant. Theatrical or Film Directors may include additional still photos, Theatrical Designers should also include sketches or renderings a additional work samples.
• Visual, Contemporary Craft, and Design Arts (painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, architectural design, fashion design, graphic design, and landscape architecture): Applicants will be required to submit six high resolution digital images (at least 72dpi but no image wider than 1240 pixels). When choosing your work samples, please provide your strongest work completed within the last five years.
• Film & Media Arts: 
  • Up to 5-10 minutes of work samples, (excerpts of screenplays may be included to provide context for video samples).
  • Upload samples as an MP3, MP4 or include a link to an easily accessible online video streaming platform (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
  • Work samples should demonstrate your creative vision, if commercial work is submitted, include a description of your creative process.

Work Sample File Types

Ineligible File Types: 

• Pages (.pages)
• Numbers (.numbers)
• Keynote (.key)

Please note, the above programs offer the ability to save as or export to PDF. Please submit the PDF version. 

Video & Audio

• If you share media from your website, link directly to the video/audio rather than your home page.
• MAC recommends applicants upload using the following file types: MP3, MOV, MP4, WMV, WMA.
• MAC recommends applicants upload links to video or audio files. Applicants can link to websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, etc.

Images & Documents

• MAC recommends applicants upload using the following file types: Word (.doc or .docx), Excel (.xls or .xlsx), PDF (.pdf), or JPEG (.jpeg).
• You may upload links contained in a Word Document or PDF.

• March 1 – Artist Fellowship application deadline
• April  – Review of applications by the grant panel (the specific panel date will be available by late March. Applicants are allowed to attend panels.)
• June – MAC Board meets and makes final funding decisions on all applications
• July  – Applicants are notified whether their application was funded or not. No information on the grants (including whether or not an applicant will be receiving an award or the amount of the award) will be available from MAC prior to this date.

Artist Fellowships are paid in one installment upon return of the signed grant contract.