Capacity-Building Grants

Status: Closed

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts (CFWM) is excited to launch its next round of Capacity-Building Grants. This grant opportunity is funded by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts’ ValleyCreates Program and is administered by MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists (A4A) program. The focus is a capacity-building and sustainability initiative for artists who currently live or have studio space in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties in Massachusetts.

The program pairs a $2,500 grant with coaching, workshops, business/career building and personal financial literacy resources, and artist community-building. After being accepted into the program, grantees complete a brief onboarding call to learn more about the resources available to them.

Program Resources

When selected for the program, artists will receive:

A $2,500 grant.
Business/career planning resources including a digital workbook, “Making Your Life as an Artist”, by Artists U and a workshop on planning.
Personal financial literacy resources, and a 4-part online workshop, “Understanding an Artist’s Personal Finances”, with Amy Smith & Akeem Davis, both certified tax preparers and practicing performing artists.
Two individual one-hour coaching sessions selected by the grantee, from A4A’s roster of expert trainers.
Priority access to all of Assets for Artists’ professional development workshops during the 6-month grant period (an average of 15 workshops).
Community-building with fellow artists within the Capacity-Building cohort. This happens in various ways, including: (1) an in-person program kick-off (2) online slide-share to learn about each other’s work; (3) field trip to MASS MoCA (4) a WhatsApp group for the cohort to stay connected; (5) monthly emails to the cohort about what’s happening in the program and in the region.
The option of taking part in working groups to engage more deeply in goal-setting to create “accountability buddies” to support each other in reaching career goals.
A monthly invitation to an online or in-person meet-up with fellow artists.

(Please note that for most recipients, the Capacity-Building grant will not be regarded as income for tax purposes, and will not result in a 1099 being issued, which would typically be considered taxable income.)

Application Timeline for 2024

Applications Open: May 31, 2024
Applications Deadline: July 12, 2024 at 10AM
Cohort Announced: September 16, 2024
Welcome Phone Calls: Mid-Sept/mid-Oct 2024
Welcome Kick-off Event: October 2024
Planning Workshop: Late October/Early November 2024
Artists’ work slide-share (online): Early December 2024
Mid-way Check-ins w/grantees: January 2025
Graduation/Field Trip: March 2025

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are artists aged 18+ of any discipline (painters, sculptors, installation artists, new media artists, craft artisans, designers, film-makers, photographers, performers, writers, musicians, thespians, dancers, etc.) who live OR have a studio address in Franklin, Hampshire, or Hampden counties.
These funds are intended to support individual artists only (the Community Foundation has other funding opportunities that support nonprofits and fiscally-sponsored organizations).

Funding cannot support the following:

Artists who are recipients of previous ValleyCreates Working Capital grants or ValleyCreates Project Evolution grants.
Programming or operations of a 501(c)(3) organization.

Preference will be given to:

Artists who identify as black, indigenous, or a person of color.
Artists working in rural communities.
Artists who utilize a socially-engaged practice and/or whose art engages community.
Artists who are in the early to mid-stages of their careers.

This program promotes equal opportunity and seeks diversity in its applicants and participants. Those who have never received an artist grant are especially encouraged to apply.