Apply for Creative Wildfire
Applications are now closed.
Selected artists will be notified by June 22, 2023.
Please email cwstewards@gmail.com with any questions.
The Call
We are thrilled to announce an open call for applications for the 2023-2024 Creative Wildfire cohort. The program will support seven artists and storytellers to create new projects inspired by hidden histories of resistance. During a 10-month cohort, artists will create work that is inspiring, strategic to community organizing, and imagines the world we need to thrive.
Artists may work in any discipline — writing, visual art, traditional arts, music, dance, theater, video/film, wearable art, etc. The 10 month cohort will take place from June 2023 to March 2024. Artists will receive up to $7800 in funding (depending on the scope of the project they develop during the program – more funding info here.)
We especially welcome applications from BIPOC, disabled, poor and working-class, trans, intersex, and queer artists as well as artists living in any of the following regions where our organizational partners are based: Boston, Massachusetts; Buffalo, New York; Florida; Micronesia; New Orleans, LA; and Richmond, California.
Eligibility:
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
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Be at least 18 years of age in May 2023
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Be willing to commit to the 10-month program, attend scheduled cohort meetings, and meet your self-determined creative goals.
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Align with the values in Creative Wildfire’s Resist and Build Manifesto
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Live on land colonized by the U.S. as states or “unincorporated territories”: Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Process
Collaboration & Political Education
Artists will be matched with one of seven grassroots organizations working for climate and economic justice. Organizations include Boston Ujima Project, Cooperation New Orleans, Crip Survival Network, Food For the Spirit, Micronesia Climate Change Alliance, Richmond Our Power Coalition and The Farmworker Association of Florida.
As we reflected on art that has transformed our movements, one of the themes was art that uplifts ‘hidden histories’ and helps us remember our way forward. These stories are ‘hidden’ in the sense that they may have been buried by the dominant paradigm, but they are powerful beacons to imagine and organize ourselves free. Each organization will share their hidden histories of powerful people, places, practices, organizing or events that transform our ideas of what is possible.
Each artist will be paired with an organization to create art inspired by these stories. We will support artists and organizations to collaborate in ways that both honor the artists’ creative autonomy and vision, and create work that is meaningful and powerful for grassroots organizing and communities. The program stewards will support artists through the entire process, from developing a project proposal, to producing your creative work, to strategic distribution so it gets to the people and places who need it.
Artists are also invited to participate in four optional political education sessions. Each session will explore key frameworks including the Solidarity Economy, Ecological Justice and Just Transition, and Disability Justice.
Funding
Artists will receive up to $7000 in project funds and an additional $800 for attending 4 political educations sessions ($200 per session, per artist). Funding will be paid as follows:
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At the start of the program (June-July): $2,000
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September: up to $4,500 in project funding (depending on the scope of the project you propose) and up to $400 for political education session participation.
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At the end of the program: up to $500 for distribution and up to $400 for political education session participation
You may apply as a single lead artist or as a collaborative team of two artists. Each artist will receive $200 per political education session. However, please note that we are only able to offer funding up to $7,000 total per project. For any collaborative duos, half the total project funds will be paid to each artist.
Timeline
May 30 |
Application closes |
June 13 |
Notifications of artist selection |
June 29 |
Orientation |
July 3-14 |
Visioning meetings between artists & organizations |
July 28 |
Artists submit project proposals |
Sept-Oct |
Artists submit drafts |
Nov-Dec |
Artists create |
Jan |
Projects completed. Distribution strategy meetings between artists and organizers. |
Feb-Apr |
Distribute art locally and nationally |
*Artist meetings will be on zoom, and the launch gathering will be 6/29/23 at 7-9pm est/ 4-6pm pst/ 9-11am Guam. Please save this time on your calendar, in case you are selected. Thank you!
How to Apply
Please apply by answering these questions. You may answer the questions in writing in the form, or email us a video or audio response – whatever is most accessible for you. We are looking for your artistic passion and aligned values, so feel free to write or speak informally and don’t sweat the wordsmithing if writing isn’t your primary medium.