Artist Fellowship Grants For Individual Artists

August 24, 2023


Press Release by Sierra County Arts Council

With few opportunities for individual artists to apply for funding, and even fewer for their achievements to be recognized, the California Arts Council has created the Artist Fellowship program as a way to celebrate the state’s artists and culture bearers.

The Sierra County Arts Council is here to assist any artists who would like to apply for a grant to continue in their artistic pursuits. The organization, Youth Speaks, will administer the California Arts Council’s Individual Artist Fellowship Program, which will regrant $740,000 among 35 California-based individual artists and culture bearers at the intersection of culture, ancestral and Indigenous practices, and multi-racial movement work. As the Administering Agency, Youth Speaks will administer an application, review process, and professional development program for this region. The Individual Artist Fellowship provides unrestricted funding and state-wide recognition to California artists at key moments in their careers, elevating their capacity for continued contributions to the field and our state.

This program is intended to support a broad spectrum of artists working in all disciplines, from diverse geographies and communities of all sizes across the North California region.

Excellence, for purposes of this grant, is defined as an artist’s:

  1. Unique artistic vision
  2. Ongoing commitment to creative practice
  3. Engagement with and impact on the larger cultural ecosystem

Applications are open now and will close September 30, 2023. The Sierra County Arts Council is here to help any artist that would like to apply. Please contact us at www.sierracountyartscouncil.org or call B.J. at 530-961-2188. Apply directly at www.youthspeaks.org