Guide to the Best Artist Grants and Opportunities in the Midwestern U.S.
The Artwork Archive team set out to find the best art opportunities, artist grants, and calls for entry for visual artists in the Midwestern United States.
Below you will find a list of the top artist residencies, international open calls, artist grants, exhibition opportunities and art competitions that we believe will benefit artists, specifically in the Midwest.
Remember, you can now save the important deadlines for your favorite opportunities right in your Artwork Archive account.
When you find a call that interests you, simply click ‘Add to Schedule' and the call's deadline will be automatically added to your Schedule. You'll also receive weekly reminders to keep you on top of your game.
We will be updating this list throughout the year, so make sure to bookmark the page, check back often, and let us know if there is an opportunity that should be listed!
February 5, 2027 98 days left
Contemporary Indigeneity 2027
Exhibition
- Organization: Great Plains Art Museum
- Submission Deadline: February 5, 2027
- Event Dates: September 3, 2027 - December 18, 2027
- Award Info: Museum purchase awards available
- Eligibility: National
- Categories: Craft/Traditional Arts, Photography, Drawing, Film/Video/New Media, Mixed-Media/Multi-Discipline, Painting, Sculpture
- Location: Lincoln, NE 68508, United States
For the sixth iteration of "Contemporary Indigeneity," the Great Plains Art Museum seeks Native American artists addressing any themes relevant to the contemporary Indigenous experience on the Great Plains. A panel of Native American art professionals will review the submitted work and make selections based on the artwork’s aesthetic merit and contribution to the field of contemporary art.
The Center for Great Plains Studies loosely defines the Great Plains as a region that stretches westward from the Missouri River at Omaha and Kansas City to the Rocky Mountains and northward from the Texas Panhandle into the Canadian Prairie Provinces.
March 1, 2027 122 days left
The Bray artist in residence program
Residency
- Submission Deadline: March 1, 2027
- Award Info: $7,500 fellowship award. In addition, ten summer residencies will be available, each with a $1,500 scholarship award
- Eligibility: International
- Categories: Craft/Traditional Arts, Photography, Drawing, Film/Video/New Media, Mixed-Media/Multi-Discipline, Painting, Sculpture
- Location: Helena, Montana 59602, United States
Through summer and long-term studio experiences, The Bray Resident Artist Program offers an unprecedented opportunity to work within a community of global artists actively creating new work. At The Bray, artists from around the world with a vast range of experiences and diverse aesthetic approaches, cultures and perspectives come together. Residents of The Bray have the opportunity to be in community with other makers to share discoveries, frustrations and triumphs, and work together over an extended period of time. Studio experiences at The Bray are as varied and unique as the individuals involved.