The Black Artists Grant is £1,500 given out monthly to black artists in the UK, with each artist selected receiving £500 each.
The BAG is no-strings attached financial support to help the selected artists in whatever they want – be that make new work, buy equipment or materials, travel, research, visit exhibitions or conferences, or to even just cover some life expenses. This is specifically for Black artists; not politically black, not POC or BAME.
This grant has been set up because black artists are systematically under-supported by the art world; by institutions, curators, the artist-led scene, major and minor funding bodies, the market, art schools, and by audiences too. We recognise that a full institutional overhaul and dismantling of racist structures is required to transform the industry permanently, but we hope in a small way that this grant will help enable recipients to continue their artistic practice when the odds are so stacked against them.
Recipients will be chosen monthly, and every few months this selector will change. The first selectors are ROOT-ed Zine. They will do research to find artists who could benefit from the money, but if you would like to flag your work to them and put yourself forward, please send an email to info@rootedzine.co.uk. It would be helpful if your email could contain your name, contact information and some images of what you make or do – that might be via attachments, or a link to a website or other online portfolio (this can be Instagram for example, whatever you have available). There is no deadline as this is a monthly rolling grant, no age limit, and the grant does not expect any outcomes or reporting.
This is just the beginning of an ongoing project of support funded by Creative Debuts who are a platform for emerging artists. ROOT-ed is a zine run by Amber Akaunu and Fauziya Johnson that aims to promote, support and inspire creative people of colour.
If you would like to become part of this indefinite commitment to supporting black creatives in the UK, please contact calum@creativedebuts.co.uk
Source: Creative Debuts
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