NYC Authors Can Apply for $5,000 Grants in Support of Public Readings or Other Book-Related Events Held in New York City July 10-Oct 31, 2021

Apply before August 10 to be eligible to receive one of 3,000 grants to working artists.

City Artists Corp, a new $25 million recovery initiative of the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, is distributing one-time $5,000 grants to 3,000 NYC-based artists, including writers, who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

Authors who have scheduled or can schedule one or more free public-facing events such as book readings, lectures, or creative writing workshops at venues anywhere in New York City’s five boroughs are eligible. Each live public event must be held on-site between July 10-October 31. The deadline to apply for the first round of funding is June 22, with second and third round applications due July 20 and August 10, respectively. Apply here!   

City Artist Corps Grants will roll out in three cycles over the summer to help sustain artists and engage with the city’s diverse cultural communities. For all cycles, artists will be screened for eligibility, and grant recipients will be selected by lottery.

Interested authors and other artists must meet the following criteria:

• Must be a current resident of New York City and have maintained residency since January 2020
• The proposed creative engagement activity:
  • Must have an arts or creative focus
  • Must be presented live and in-person
    • Artists with a disability and/or who are immunosuppressed for whom it is unsafe to engage in live in-person performance are welcome to apply for live digital creative engagement activities. 
  • Must occur in NYC (any of the five boroughs)
  • Must be free to the public; ticketed programs are eligible, but all tickets must be free.
  • Can occur indoors or outdoors

• Artists may present more than one activity but can only receive one $5,000 grant.
• It is strongly recommended that a portion of the grant be used to support artist fees, both for the applying artist and any other artist that are engaged to support the activity.
• Artists can choose to partner with a venue or present on their own.
• Events must be documented with a minimum of two photographs taken during the activity (these photos will need to be shared with your final report along with attendance numbers once the activity is completed).
• Creative engagements do not need to feature new work and can relate to preexisting works/shows/exhibitions. 
• As long as the activities meet these criteria, City Artist Corps Grants can be used to supplement previously established activities scheduled in NYC between July 10 and October 31, 2021

Applications are already being accepted, so interested authors need to move fast. Visit the application page for full details on demonstrating eligibility and the application process.