The Individual Artist Mini-grant is a reimbursement grant that supports established and emerging professional artists based in Mississippi by providing funds to assist then with professional development such as attending a training, conference or workshop. Individual Mini-Grants can also be used for promotional efforts and marketing materials such as business cards or website design or can be used to purchase expendable art supplies. 

Applicants may apply for up to $500.  Individual Artist Mini-grants are reimbursement based, which means that each grantee must spend the funds first (after notification of grant award) and will be reimbursed upon receipt of their Final Report and all corresponding documentation. 

Priority will be given to: Individuals who have not yet received funding through grants in recent grant rounds, individuals who identify as BIPOC, individuals with disabilities, veterans, those residing in MAC’s identified underserved counties, those living in extremely rural or high-poverty counties and those who may fit into other categories under the underserved umbrella. 

Artists who are applying for the first time are strongly encouraged to consult the resources available on this website such as the Frequently Asked Questions page and to contact a MAC program director to discuss whether or not their project would be eligible for funding before submitting an application.

Next Round:

Individual Mini-Grant Applications opens on May 1.

Deadline for grant submission is 11:59 p.m. on June 1.

APPLY!

Please note: All applications will be received online through MAC’s eGRANT system.

Eligible Projects

Artist Mini-grants can support:

-Professional Development 

Examples of eligible Individual Artist Mini-Grant uses include:  

    • Expenses incurred for an in-person or online professional conference or workshop where the applicant will receive training in their artistic discipline. (Typical expenses include: Registration, airfare, lodging, transportation) 
    • To support booth fees or other applicable fees related to showing or selling artwork (See below for ineligible uses of funds) 

-Marketing and Promotional Materials

Examples of eligible Mini-Grant uses include:   

    • To create or update a website design (this can include a one time cost such as hiring someone to design a website or purchasing a website creation platform but cannot include on-going hosting or domain costs). 
    • Promotional materials to increase your artistic presence online 
    • Commissioning professional photographs or the development of an online gallery or portfolio
    • Print promotional materials, such as: business cards, brochures, postcards, bookmarks, etc. 

-Artistic Supplies

Examples of eligible Mini-grant uses include expendable items used by the artist to create new work such as: 

      • Paints (pigment sticks, watercolor, oils, etc.), pencils (charcoals, watercolor pencils, etc.), printmaking ink, clay, glaze, wood, linoleum, fabric, adhesives, brushes. 
  • MAC CANNOT fund equipment or non-expendable supplies such as cameras, easels or recording equipment.  
  •  

Other things that MAC cannot fund:

  • Expenses incurred before a grant is awarded*
  • Purchase of ANY permanent equipment such as:
    • musical instruments
    • computers
    • non-expendable items (equipment, computer software)
  • A presentation by an applicant at a conference or workshop
  • On-going fees such a memberships or web hosting
  • Academic research
  • Publication
  • Contest entry fees
  • Study towards an academic or professional degree
  • Food

Who May Apply

You may apply for an Individual Artist Mini-grant if you are:

• A professional artist producing work of high artistic quality. Individuals are considered to be professional artists if they:

◦ earn at least part of their annual income in their artistic work,
◦ 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 or production

• More than 18 years of age
• Not a full-time or part-time student in a degree seeking program; and
• A permanent, 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).

Please Note: Individual can only receive ONE Mini-grant per fiscal year.

Review Criteria

Individual Artist Mini-grant applications are adjudicated based on the artistic excellence of the applicant’s work and the degree to which the proposed project will help the applicant to create or adapt their artistic work.

MAC considers the following components in determining artistic excellence: the originality and vision of the work, the artist’s technical mastery of their discipline and the technique or process used to create the work

How To Apply

How to Apply

Please note: Apply online using MAC’s eGRANT system. 

In addition to a narrative describing yourself as an artist and how this Mini-grant will assist you, please be prepared to submit the following information through the eGRANT system:

  • Your current artistic resumé
  • Documentation that supports your funding request.
    • For example, a copy of a conference brochure (with registration price listed), an estimate on airfare or other travel expenses, an estimate from a designer or printer, or the catalog page featuring the supplies you wish to purchase.
  • Work samples that have been created within the last three years 

Work Samples

Work Sample Formats

If you have trouble uploading the work sample files to eGRANT, please consult the tutorials available in MAC’s Frequently Asked Questions before contacting MAC staff.

Literary Artists: Applicants will be required to submit 5-10 pages of fiction, creative non-fiction, play writing (original or adaptation), or a screenplay completed within the last three years. Poetry work samples should include 3-5 pages completed within the last three years. If your submitted work sample is an excerpt from a longer work, you may include a one-page synopsis of the work as a whole.

Media Artists: Applicants will be required to submit 5-10 minutes of excerpts of your work completed within the last three years. You must also include a list of the work samples and it should include, for each excerpt, the title, length, date completed, technique, original format, genre (documentary, experimental, etc.) and the applicant’s role in creating the submitted work.

Performing Artists: Applicants will be required to submit 5-10 minutes of representative work that has been completed within the last three years. Musicians should include at least three songs in their sample. On the list of work samples indicate the title, names of the artist(s), date, and location of recording.

Visual Artists: Applicants will be required to submit six high resolution digital images that feature work completed within the last three years. 

Work Sample File Types

Ineligible File Types: Items uploaded from the following file types will be disregarded in adjudicating applications and may result rejection of an application for incompletion:

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

Please note, the above programs have the ability to export to, or save a PDF.

Video & Audio

  • If you share media from your website, link directly to the video/audio rather than the 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 YouTubeVimeoSoundcloudBandcamp, etc.

Images & Documents

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

Grant Payments

Upon approval, successful applicants are issued a grant contract. Mini-grant are reimbursement grants which means funds are paid after the project has been completed and upon approval of a final report submitted by the recipient through eGRANT. 

For questions about the Mini-grant program, or to determine if your project is eligible to receive funding, contact one of the following MAC Program Staff members, based on your artistic discipline:

Visual Arts, Victoria Meek, 601-359-6030, vmeek@arts.ms.gov

Performing Arts, Leslie Barker, 601-359-6529, lbarker@arts.ms.gov

Literary Arts, Kristen Brandt,  601-359-6075, kbrandt@arts.ms.gov

Folk and Traditional & Film/Media Arts, 601-359-6034, Maria Zeringue, mzeringue@arts.ms.gov

If you do not know where you fit, you may email info@arts.ms.gov.