Artist Grants

The Living Artists Grant program is not currently accepting applications.

February 2, 2024: We are proud to announce the winners of the first round of Living Artists Grants: Rowan Eriksson, AshaAung Helmstetter, and Seattle Stories. Each of these Seattle-area emerging artists living at a lower income receives a $1,000 award.

About the Living Artists Grants: One of LAC’s primary goals as an organization has always been to distribute financial awards so artists can spend more time creating and less time struggling to make ends meet. This inaugural grant program was developed between September-December 2023 to fairly pay and uplift hard working emerging artists who call this increasingly expensive area home. The round kicked off in December 2023 with an application that required artists be making $58k/year or less to qualify, chosen as it is half of the Seattle-area’s median income, and because it is an income level many local artists are living below.

Artists submitted artwork samples and information about their art practice, and were added to the pool of applicants scored by our five local arts leaders who made up the grant committee. 94 applicant artists were scored by many factors: the skill demonstrated in work samples, how clearly they explained and conveyed their work’s themes, how committed they seemed to be to their practice, and how strongly the committee members connected to the pieces. After extensive discussions, five finalists were chosen to be interviewed. From those five, the winning three were chosen.

Winning artists may use the award money however they wish, as the committee is confident that all the chosen winners are committed to furthering their art careers while making ends meet. No financial reporting is required as a part of this grant.

All of us at Living Artists Collective are proud to have taken the first plunge into making this happen. LAC staff and grant committee learned a lot in the process of awarding these inaugural grants.