Mass Cultural Council believes that artists and creatives are at the core of the cultural sector workforce.
In our statewide cultural asset inventory, we found that the incomes of most individual occupations in the Massachusetts cultural sector fall well below the state’s 2024 living wage of $58,011. Most striking, the median income of individuals working as “Dancers and Choreographers” was just $7,074. That statistic, along with the unique health risks and physical demands of working as a dance artist, prompted us to think about ways to support Massachusetts dance artists in their important work.
We have compiled a list of resources to support dance artists of all kinds:
Opportunities and Jobs
- CreativeGround: A regional creative directory from our partners at New England Foundation for the Arts. Create a profile to find gigs and opportunities as a dance artist.
- Artist Opportunities: Weekly round-ups of grants, contests, calls to artists, residencies, and other opportunities for Massachusetts artists, including dance artists.
- HireCulture: Mass Cultural Council’s free, searchable database of cultural employment opportunities throughout Massachusetts.
NYFA Opportunities: New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) hosts a searchable database of national grant, calls to artists, and other opportunities. - Jacob’s Pillow Resource Page: helpful resources compiled by a esteemed dance institution.
Funding
Mass Cultural Council’s Funding:
- Grants for Creative Individuals – unrestricted $5,000 grants to artists (including dance artists) in all creative disciplines to equitably advance creative expression throughout the Commonwealth.
- Local Cultural Council Program – grants to artists and groups for projects that benefit local communities.
- Creative Experiences – grants to organizations and schools for festivals, projects, residencies, and other cultural activities in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Dance artists can receive support for school and other residencies (but schools/organizations need to apply).
Non-Mass Cultural Council Funding:
- New England States Touring: from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), this program funds organizations to hire artists from other New England states.
- New England Dance Fund: NEFA also offers the New England Dance Fund, which awards grants to New England-based choreographers of all genres and backgrounds who identify an opportunity that will advance their careers in dance.
- Live Arts Boston Grants: Live Arts Boston (LAB), from The Boston Foundation in partnership with the Barr Foundation, supports visionary performing artists creating new work. LAB provides $30,000 to individual artists to nurture their creative practice and artistry.
- Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants: Provides one-time grants of up to $3,000 to professional dancers in need, who have a dire financial emergency due to the loss or lack of live performance work.
Career Development
- Boston Dance Alliance: a service organization for dance artists offering peer support, health resources, fiscal sponsorship, advocacy, space-finding tools – and even a rentable, portable dance floor.
- Assets for Artists: Offers professional development, financial workshops, coaching, residencies, and community-building opportunities, designed by artists for artists.
- Dance/USA: a national service organization for dance, serving dance artists and organizations through convenings, funding opportunities, professional development, and archival preservation.
- Artists Thrive: A resource with tools to help artists better understand, measure, and thrive in their artistic lives.
Creative Space
- Boston Dance Alliance’s Studio Space Finder: a comprehensive listing of dance studio spaces available for rent
- ArtSake’s Creative Space Classifieds: find or list creative spaces
- CreativeGround’s list of Massachusetts dance venues
Related reading:
ArtSake’s Useful Links page.
How to find funding as a Massachusetts artist or culture bearer.
Are there useful links for dance artists that we missed? Please let us know.
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