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Background & Purpose
The California Arts Council (CAC) is a statewide agency committed to serving California artists, arts organizations, and communities of all sizes and needs. Guided by racial equity principles, the CAC continuously evaluates its grantmaking practices to ensure fair and inclusive funding opportunities that sustain a vibrant, safe, and resilient creative ecosystem across the state.
Through regionally based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. The program includes three fellowship tiers with a different award amount:
CAC Emerging Artist Fellows – $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice.
CAC Established Artist Fellows – $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice.
CAC Legacy Artist Fellows – $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact.
The CAC approved eight regional AOs for the fellowship in September 2025. Each of the AOs has information and details regarding their Individual Artists Fellowship programs, including application deadlines. If you are an individual artist, apply to the statewide fellowship program through the Regional AO listed below that serves your county. Please note: Individual artists must live in the region they are applying to and may submit an application to only one region.
Region 4: Central Valley & Eastern Sierra Administered by Kern Dance Alliance (KDA)
California Arts Council (CAC) Individual Artists Fellowship is a statewide initiative; however, the KDA guidelines are specifically designed for artists living and working in the Central Valley and Eastern Sierra Region
KDA is the only Administering Organization awarding fellowship grants to Region 4: Central Valley & Eastern Sierra
KDA IAF Region: Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties
Background & Purpose
The California Arts Council (CAC) is a statewide agency committed to serving California artists, arts organizations, and communities of all sizes and needs. Guided by racial equity principles, the CAC continuously evaluates its grantmaking practices to ensure fair and inclusive funding opportunities that sustain a vibrant, safe, and resilient creative ecosystem across the state.
Through regionally based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. The program includes three fellowship tiers with a different award amount:
CAC Emerging Artist Fellows – $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice.
CAC Established Artist Fellows – $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice.
CAC Legacy Artist Fellows – $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact.
The CAC approved eight regional AOs for the fellowship in September 2025. Each of the AOs has information and details regarding their Individual Artists Fellowship programs, including application deadlines. If you are an individual artist, apply to the statewide fellowship program through the Regional AO listed below that serves your county. Please note: Individual artists must live in the region they are applying to and may submit an application to only one region.
Region 7: Inland Empire & South Coast Administered by Arts Orange County (ArtsOC)
Arts Orange County has been engaged by the California Arts Council to administer the application and jurying process for the Region 7 Individual Artist Fellowship, which includes Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Background & Purpose
The California Arts Council (CAC) is a statewide agency committed to serving California artists, arts organizations, and communities of all sizes and needs. Guided by racial equity principles, the CAC continuously evaluates its grantmaking practices to ensure fair and inclusive funding opportunities that sustain a vibrant, safe, and resilient creative ecosystem across the state.
Through regionally based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. The program includes three fellowship tiers with a different award amount:
CAC Emerging Artist Fellows – $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice.
CAC Established Artist Fellows – $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice.
CAC Legacy Artist Fellows – $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact.
The CAC approved eight regional AOs for the fellowship in September 2025. Each of the AOs has information and details regarding their Individual Artists Fellowship programs, including application deadlines. If you are an individual artist, apply to the statewide fellowship program through the Regional AO listed below that serves your county. Please note: Individual artists must live in the region they are applying to and may submit an application to only one region.
Region 8: Far South Administered by Commission for Arts and Culture / Cultural Affairs, City of San Diego
The City of San Diego invites applications from eligible individual artists for the Individual Artist Fellowship (IAF), which provides unrestricted awards ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. The California Arts Council (CAC) has selected the City as an Administering Organization for this statewide initiative, supporting a two-year fellowship program for individual artists and culture bearers across all disciplines.
The Individual Artist Fellowship for Region 8 serves San Diego and Imperial Counties, an area spanning 9,008 square miles and home to 3.48 million residents. The program strengthens the regional arts workforce by investing directly in artists whose work contributes to the cultural vitality of their communities.
Background & Purpose
The California Arts Council (CAC) is a statewide agency committed to serving California artists, arts organizations, and communities of all sizes and needs. Guided by racial equity principles, the CAC continuously evaluates its grantmaking practices to ensure fair and inclusive funding opportunities that sustain a vibrant, safe, and resilient creative ecosystem across the state.
Through regionally based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. The program includes three fellowship tiers with a different award amount:
CAC Emerging Artist Fellows – $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice.
CAC Established Artist Fellows – $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice.
CAC Legacy Artist Fellows – $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact.
The CAC approved eight regional AOs for the fellowship in September 2025. Each of the AOs has information and details regarding their Individual Artists Fellowship programs, including application deadlines. If you are an individual artist, apply to the statewide fellowship program through the Regional AO listed below that serves your county. Please note: Individual artists must live in the region they are applying to and may submit an application to only one region.
Region 5: Central Coast Administered by Arts Council Santa Cruz County
The City of San Diego invites applications from eligible individual artists for the Individual Artist Fellowship (IAF), which provides unrestricted awards ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. The California Arts Council (CAC) has selected the City as an Administering Organization for this statewide initiative, supporting a two-year fellowship program for individual artists and culture bearers across all disciplines.
The Individual Artist Fellowship for Region 8 serves San Diego and Imperial Counties, an area spanning 9,008 square miles and home to 3.48 million residents. The program strengthens the regional arts workforce by investing directly in artists whose work contributes to the cultural vitality of their communities.
Background & Purpose
The California Arts Council (CAC) is a statewide agency committed to serving California artists, arts organizations, and communities of all sizes and needs. Guided by racial equity principles, the CAC continuously evaluates its grantmaking practices to ensure fair and inclusive funding opportunities that sustain a vibrant, safe, and resilient creative ecosystem across the state.
Through regionally based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. The program includes three fellowship tiers with a different award amount:
CAC Emerging Artist Fellows – $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice.
CAC Established Artist Fellows – $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice.
CAC Legacy Artist Fellows – $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact.
The CAC approved eight regional AOs for the fellowship in September 2025. Each of the AOs has information and details regarding their Individual Artists Fellowship programs, including application deadlines. If you are an individual artist, apply to the statewide fellowship program through the Regional AO listed below that serves your county. Please note: Individual artists must live in the region they are applying to and may submit an application to only one region.
Region 2: Capital Administered by Teatro Nagual
The Capital Region Individual Artist Fellowship (IAF), administered by Teatro Nagual, in partnership with the California Arts Council, celebrate and support artists across disciplines who are shaping culture in the counties of Alpine, El Dorado, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo. This program provides unrestricted funding to individual artists at key moments in their careers, empowering them to deepen their practice, expand their impact, and continue contributing to their communities.
Background & Purpose
The California Arts Council (CAC) is a statewide agency committed to serving California artists, arts organizations, and communities of all sizes and needs. Guided by racial equity principles, the CAC continuously evaluates its grantmaking practices to ensure fair and inclusive funding opportunities that sustain a vibrant, safe, and resilient creative ecosystem across the state.
Through regionally based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. The program includes three fellowship tiers with a different award amount:
CAC Emerging Artist Fellows – $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice.
CAC Established Artist Fellows – $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice.
CAC Legacy Artist Fellows – $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact.
The CAC approved eight regional AOs for the fellowship in September 2025. Each of the AOs has information and details regarding their Individual Artists Fellowship programs, including application deadlines. If you are an individual artist, apply to the statewide fellowship program through the Regional AO listed below that serves your county. Please note: Individual artists must live in the region they are applying to and may submit an application to only one region.
Region 1: Upstate Administered by the Nevada County Arts Council (NCArts)
In partnership with California Arts Council, Nevada County Arts & Culture is honored to serve as the Administering Organization for the Upstate Individual Artists Fellowship. The California Arts Council (CAC) has selected Nevada County Arts & Culture to design and implement a fellowship program that supports individual artists and culture bearers across all disciplines. The Upstate Individual Artists Fellowship will provide unrestricted funding in support of the fellows’ artistic practice.
Background & Purpose
The California Arts Council (CAC) is a statewide agency committed to serving California artists, arts organizations, and communities of all sizes and needs. Guided by racial equity principles, the CAC continuously evaluates its grantmaking practices to ensure fair and inclusive funding opportunities that sustain a vibrant, safe, and resilient creative ecosystem across the state.
Through regionally based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. The program includes three fellowship tiers with a different award amount:
CAC Emerging Artist Fellows – $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice.
CAC Established Artist Fellows – $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice.
CAC Legacy Artist Fellows – $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact.
The CAC approved eight regional AOs for the fellowship in September 2025. Each of the AOs has information and details regarding their Individual Artists Fellowship programs, including application deadlines. If you are an individual artist, apply to the statewide fellowship program through the Regional AO listed below that serves your county. Please note: Individual artists must live in the region they are applying to and may submit an application to only one region.
Region 6: South Administered by Los Angeles Performance Practice (Los Angeles County)
In partnership with California Arts Council (CAC), Los Angeles Performance Practice (LAPP) is thrilled to serve as the Administering Organization for the Individual Artist Fellowships in Los Angeles County.
Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation
For more than 50 years, NCCF has been taking on tough problems to improve the quality-of-life in Northwest CT by supporting nonprofits that speak to the charitable passions of our generous donors.
NCCF is a Community Foundation, a tax-exempt public charity that enables donors to establish funds that support the work of local nonprofits through grants and provide scholarships to local students.
Russell F. Bruno Scholarship
For Torrington High School graduating seniors who have excelled in the study of English and are planning to major in writing, literature, journalism or a related field.
The Alpha Omega Alpha/Pharos Poetry Award
To encourage students to write effective poetry. Winning poems are published in The Pharos.
The Award
Up to 5 poems will receive a $1,500 award. The winning entries will be published in The Pharos.
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
Alpha Omega Alpha, founded in 1902, is the national medical honor society. Its mission is:
Helen H. Glaser Student Essay Award
To encourage medical students to write scholarly essays relevant to medicine. Winning essays will be published in an issue of The Pharos.
Only one entry may be submitted per student.
Requirements
About Community Foundation of Henderson County
Haddy Harrington Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is to provide financial assistance for students who have demonstrated a passionate desire for advanced education in art or writing. Applicant must be a graduate of a Henderson County high school with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
This is a renewable scholarship.
About Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) ALWD supports its members’ professional development as teachers, scholars, and leaders through both teaching and scholarship grants. These grants provide funding for legal writing professionals to pursue their scholarly interests and to develop innovative teaching materials. In funding grants, ALWD focuses on providing resources to those who do not have other sources of funding for these endeavors.
ALWD also supports projects that preserve the history of ALWD, honor community contributions, and make ALWD’s history accessible to scholars, teachers, and practitioners into the future.ALWD Teaching GrantsIn furtherance of ALWD’s commitment to the professional development of legal research and writing faculty, ALWD funds annual teaching grants that allow legal writing faculty to spend their summers exploring innovative teaching ideas and producing teaching tools, materials, and curriculum that will assist others in the field.
About Us
The Wenner-Gren Foundation is a private operating foundation dedicated to providing leadership in support of anthropology and anthropologists worldwide.
Our Mission
The Wenner-Gren Foundation is committed to playing a leadership role in anthropology. We help anthropologists advance anthropological knowledge, build sustainable careers, and amplify the impact of anthropology within the wider world. We dedicate ourselves to broadening the conversation in anthropology to reflect the full diversity of the field.
Hunt Fellowship in Public Writing
General
Anthropologists have important stories to tell about human lives, histories, societies, and futures. Yet many scholars lack the time and resources needed to translate their research into books that reach readers beyond the academy. The Hunt Fellowship in Public Writing supports anthropologists who are writing serious nonfiction books for general audiences.
This program is designed to encourage public writing that brings anthropological knowledge into wider conversations. The Foundation welcomes book projects that are intellectually ambitious, grounded in substantial research, and written in ways that invite nonacademic readers to explore anthropological questions, evidence, and insight. We are interested in projects that demonstrate how anthropological writing can shape public understanding, contribute to urgent debates, and expand the audiences for anthropological work.
The fellowship supports scholars pursuing a book-length project for broad audiences. Through this award, the Foundation seeks to raise the status of public writing within anthropology, especially for earlier career scholars, and promote its recognition in hiring, tenure, promotion, and other forms of professional evaluation.
There is no preference for any methodology, research location, or subfield.
Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
Enhancing literature & language at Hendrix College since 1978.
In homage to Bertie Wilson Murphy’s passion for the study and appreciation of literature and language, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation at Hendrix College was founded in 1978 with an endowment by her son, Charles H. Murphy, Jr., former CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation. Mrs. Murphy was a 1905 graduate of Galloway Women’s College in Searcy, Ark., which merged with Hendrix College in Conway in the 1930s. Charles H. Murphy, Jr., was a member of the Hendrix Board of Trustees and served as chair.
The Foundation's programs are overseen by a Board of Directors that is headed by the president of the College and includes Murphy family members, the provost, and representatives from the Hendrix Board of Trustees.
The Hendrix-Murphy Book Award
Hendrix is proud to offer the Hendrix-Murphy Book Award to an outstanding high school junior who demonstrates distinguished scholarship or leadership in literary studies (English, creative writing, foreign languages, or drama).
Hendrix-Murphy Book Award recipients will receive a copy of Poems to Read: A New Favorite Poems Anthology, edited by Robert Pinsky and Maggie Dietz.
Students may be nominated by their English, languages, creative writing, or drama teacher or guidance counselor by using the required form.
Looking for grants for creative writing in California?
Read more about each grant below or start your 14-day free trial to see all grants for creative writing in California recommended for your specific programs.
What's the typical amount funded for California?
Grants are most commonly $145,539.
What's the total number of grants in Grants for Creative Writing in California year over year?
In 2024, funders in California awarded a total of 256,564 grants.
Among all the Grants for Creative Writing in California given out in California, the most popular focus areas that receive funding are Education, Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations, and Human Services.
1. Education
2. Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations
3. Human Services
How is funding for Grants for Creative Writing in California changing over time?
Funding has increased by -1.38%.
How does grant funding vary by county?
Los Angeles County, San Francisco County, and San Mateo County receive the most funding.
| County | Total Grant Funding in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | $10,841,756,858 |
| San Francisco County | $5,409,542,294 |
| San Mateo County | $5,358,878,304 |
| Santa Clara County | $3,811,026,208 |
| Alameda County | $3,749,322,182 |