Arts and Culture Leaders: The Healey-Driscoll Administration is closely monitoring the impact of federal actions, and is working to build a comprehensive picture of how federal actions are affecting businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities across Massachusetts. To that end, the Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office will be hosting a virtual listening session for arts, cultural, and humanities organizations on July 24th at 11 am on Zoom. The listening session will be facilitated by the FFIO Director Quentin Palfrey and will focus on providing arts and culture leaders with the opportunity to share information with the Administration on their experiences with the current federal funding landscape. If you are part of an arts, cultural, or humanities organization please register for the session and reach out to fedfundsinfra@mass.gov with any questions.
Free Professional Development for Artists Creative Capital Artist Lab is an online professional development curriculum designed to help artists build thriving practices at any career stage and in any discipline. Individuals can join for free, and institutions can join as members! Learn more and join.
Call for Exhibition Proposals The Newton Free Library is currently accepting art applications for exhibits January – June 2026. As one of the busiest public library buildings in Massachusetts, their exhibit space is highly sought after, well-loved by library patrons, and prominently located on the first floor. They welcome applications from New England artists showing two-dimensional works that are compatible with the Walker Display system. We encourage artists from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences to apply. Learn more.
Deadline: July 31, 2025
Artist Vendors The Marlboro pop-up Market is now accepting vendor applications for downtown Marlboro. Learn more.
Calling all Community Leaders in New England Are you looking for a meaningful way to uplift local creatives and get your community noticed? Join the Visible & Vibrant Challenge. Now through August, submit suggested edits to CreativeGround profiles in your community. The more usable suggestions you submit, the better your chances are of your efforts and community getting featured on CreativeGround’s blog and social media channels.
Artists and Writers Residency The Studios is MASS MoCA’s artist and writers residency program situated within the museum’s factory campus and surrounded by the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. Operated by MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program, the residency runs year-round and hosts up to 10 artists at a time. Artists of any nationality can apply for stays of 2-4 weeks. They offer great studio space and housing (private rooms in shared apartments), one meal per day, member-access to MASS MoCA’s galleries, and access to professional development webinars though our “Assets for Artists” program. Learn more.
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Call for Franklin Area Artists & Writers Be Featured in the Franklin Cultural District’s 2025 Seasonal Guides. The Franklin Cultural District Committee is excited to invite visual artists and writers to submit original work for inclusion in our upcoming printed marketing guides for Summer and Fall/Winter 2025! These guides celebrate Franklin’s creative economy, cultural happenings, and seasonal community spirit—and they want your voice and vision to help bring them to life. Visual artists: illustrators, painters, photographers, printmakers, digital artists, muralists. Writers: poets, lyricists, flash fiction authors, and storytellers. Open to creatives who live, work, or create in Franklin or nearby communities. Learn more.
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Call to Artists The City of Worcester Cultural Development Division and the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District (BID) announced Monday a Call for Artists to submit proposals for the design and fabrication of temporary illuminated public art and lighting installations for the 2025–2026 Winter Lighting Program and the annual Festival of Lights, taking place Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. Learn more.
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Filmmakers The LEF Moving Image Fund’s Pre-production and Early Development applications for 2025 Summer/Fall are currently being accepted. These grants are for documentary filmmakers in New England. A maximum of (6) Pre-production grants of $5,000 each and (6) Early Development grants of $2,500 each will be awarded for the use of: research, travel, location scouting, script or storyboard development, experimentation with shooting picture and sound, distribution planning, fundraising, creating a trailer, schedule and budget development, or staffing (creative, technical, or otherwise). Learn more.
Deadline: August 8, 2025
Incubator Program for Musicians Music to Life, a national nonprofit founded by Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul & Mary) and his daughter, Liz, invites musicians to apply to its online incubator program – the Musician Changemaker Accelerator (MCA) Academy – scheduled January 12 – July 10, 2026. The MCA is a 6.5-month social change business accelerator (6 weeks of instruction, followed by 20 weeks of coaching) for 10 competitively selected socially conscious musicians from around the country. Taught and facilitated by experts in the music, nonprofit, business, and entertainment industries, musician participants come away with a concrete plan for their community change idea, local partner connections, program development skills, and funding to execute their projects. Participating musicians will receive cash and services worth $10,000 including a $500 participation stipend, weekly instructional training in program and grants development, networking sessions with like-minded entrepreneurial artists and thought leaders, 30+ hours of intensive 1:1 coaching, and $2,000 matching seed funding and $500 for a local community partner to launch a program pilot. Candidates will be selected based on their musical talent and their enterprising idea for a music-driven social change program in their community. Learn more.
Deadline: August 15, 2025
Poetry Prize The Grayson Books Poetry Prize, open to all poets writing in English, is accepting submissions between June 1 and August 15. Submit 50–90 pages, including title page and contents. No contact info on manuscript. Winner will be awarded $1,000, publication, and 10 copies. Simultaneous submissions acceptable. Alberto Ríos will judge this year’s contest. Learn more.
Deadline: August 15, 2025
Call for Performing Artists Idle Hands Fest is a Three-day creative collision produced in collaboration with the Brookline/Cambridge Community Center for the Arts, Inc. (BCCA / CCCA) and performed at the Cambridge Foundry. Idle Hands Fest brings together artists from every performance discipline to break routines, and make something original. They welcome both seasoned and emerging artists (ages 18+), across all genres and abilities This is a devised theatre festival at heart—with a twist. Both venues are fully ADA accessible. Learn more.
Deadline: August 17, 2025
Photographer Residency This fall, the Photographic Resource Center (PRC) invites two lens-based artists to turn our Cambridge gallery into a shared four-week open studio (Oct 13–Nov 13), culminating in a dual exhibition (Nov 14–23) and artist talks. Continue a work-in-progress or develop entirely new pieces—each resident will also create at least one piece that engages with a PRC archival element (past exhibitions, press materials, or photobook library finds). Residents receive a $500 stipend, dedicated workspace, weekly mentorship with our Director of Exhibitions & Programs, access to our photobook library, plus PRC promotion. Learn more.
Deadline: August 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Image credit: J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!”, also called “Rosie the Riveter” after the iconic figure of a strong female war production worker. From the collection of the National Archives at College Park.
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