FAQ

The Queens Arts Fund is open to artists creating work in all disciplines. Within the application, you will be asked to select one of the following disciplines that best reflects your creative practice today:

• Craft/Textiles (including: Ceramics, Glass, Wood, Metal, Fiber, and Mixed Media)
• Choreography/Dance (all forms)
• Community Arts
• Design/Architecture (Environmental and Functional Design)
• Digital/Electronic Arts (works where technology is an essential element of the work’s creation)
• Folk/Traditional Arts (works of traditional Folk Art and creative and cultural expressions)
• Interdisciplinary Work (integrate knowledge and methods from different disciplines within a single piece or body of work)
• Literary Arts (including Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting, and Screenwriting)
• Music/Sound (Composers working in any and all styles of music)
• Theater/Performance (including Directing, Live Action, and Puppetry)
• Video/Film (all forms)
• Visual Arts (including: Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Drawing, and Sculpture)

PLEASE NOTE: The artistic discipline you select will help determine which panel reviews your proposal.

Yes. All past recipients of other NYFA grants are eligible to apply. However, the previously funded project must be completed and all NYFA reports must have been successfully completed.

Applicants who received funding in 2024 for QAF New Work Grant are not eligible for the 2025 New Work Grant.

Applicants that received an Arts Access Grant consecutively for the past three years (2022, 2023, 2024) are not eligible for the 2025 Arts Access Grant.

No. Regardless of your field of study, lead applicants cannot be full or part-time students, either currently enrolled at the time of application or who will be enrolled in 2025. This includes degree programs and certificate programs.

No. You do not need to be U.S. Citizens to apply. You must be able to provide a W-9 with a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or EIN (after selection).

No. You do not need to have a Fiscal Sponsor for their project. If your project already has a Fiscal Sponsor and you wish to include this organization in the funding process, you can.

No. You can only apply one time with one project per year. Collectives must choose between applying for the New Work Grant or the Arts Access Grant. Any duplicate applications will be removed from review.

The New Work Grant supports emerging individual artists and artist collectives in their creation of new work. “New Work” is defined as work that has not been produced or presented to an audience before.

Proposed projects must include a public component that takes place in Queens within the 2025 calendar year (January – December 2025) and provides Queens community members with the opportunity to experience dynamic, easily accessible arts and cultural events. Public Components can include, but are not limited to: exhibitions, performances, festivals, screenings, readings, and workshops. Projects may be in any artistic discipline.

The public component of your project can take place in-person, virtually, or both. All public components taking place virtually must include some type of live component (i.e. an artist talk, Q&A, listening, or viewing event), and mainly target Queens-based audiences. If planned in-person, public components must take place in Queens.

Yes, but priority is given to projects with public components that are free or have a sliding scale fee to participate.

If eligible, please apply via the Submittable platform. A link to the application will appear on this page on September 17 and will also be available here: https://apply.nyfa.org/submit

If you haven’t already, you will need to create a free Submittable account to be able to access the application. Visit www.submittable.com to start a free account. 

Step by step guidance for using the Submittable platform and setting up a free account is available here.

We highly suggest using a laptop desktop computer to complete your application on the platform. For a smoother performance, we recommend using either Firefox or Chrome as your browser. If you’re already using Chrome, please clear the browser cache and cookies. Additionally, please make sure you are using the most up to date version of your browser.

If you are still running into technical issues, you can reach out to Submittable’s Support team directly via the contact form, Submitter Support, or via the support email address [email protected] so that they can troubleshoot directly. 

NYFA staff do not have access to your Submittable account.

We strongly encourage that you apply at least 2 days before the deadline in case technical difficulties come up to allow us time to assist your application. In the event you encounter technical difficulties on the last day and as a result cannot get your application in on time, NYFA cannot extend the deadline regardless of the cause of the problem you may have encountered. 

Please email [email protected] to request an accommodation or assistance in applying by Tuesday, November 12.

No. All applications must be submitted online via the Submittable platform. To request an accommodation or assistance in applying, please email [email protected].

We ask that requests for accommodation be made as soon as possible, and no later than Tuesday, November 12 to allow adequate time for staff to support you before the deadline.

Instructions for scanning documents on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch are available here. Instructions for scanning documents on an Android device using Google Drive are available here.

You can submit up to 5 work samples. Work samples can be: images, a manuscript (5 pages max), audio recording (5 min max), or short video clips (5 min max). If you are unable to edit your audio/video files down to 5 minutes, you will need to provide timestamps for the 5 minute segment that the panel will review. Once you have selected and uploaded your file, an additional metadata field will appear in the application form. Please include any timestamps here.

If providing video work samples, you have the option to submit up to two links to Youtube or Vimeo in addition to uploading files. Be sure to include passwords in work sample descriptions if applicable. Promotional videos, reels, or links to interactive websites are not eligible work samples.

Work samples should be representative of your proposed grant project. This can include a combination of in-progress work samples that show the status of your proposed project, as well as completed work samples that demonstrate previous work.

Including recent work samples produced in the past three years is highly recommended. If you are providing older work samples, consider providing an explanation as to why you chose to provide an older work sample, and how they relate to your proposed grant project.

Do not submit edited promotional or interview materials. Do not include recordings with voice over narration or multiple artistic works compiled into a single recording or image. Each upload or video link should represent one single work sample, whether it is completed or in-progress.

The application form accepts the following file types: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .jpg, .png, .mp3, .mp4

This free online tool can help you convert to a wide variety of file types.

You have the option of including notes and comments about your work samples in the metadata field. Once you have selected and uploaded your file, an additional metadata field will appear in the application form. Please include additional information about the work samples here.

By completing this information, you are helping NYFA secure future funding, collect general information about our audience, and properly assess our effectiveness in serving the creative community. Your responses will remain confidential and will only be reviewed by NYFA staff members. Any personally identifying data will be removed prior to sharing the demographic data with third parties. 

NYFA is committed to supporting individuals from all backgrounds and disciplines and will continue to work towards values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility across all programs. Read NYFA’s DEIA statement on our website.

To see your submission, please sign in to your Submittable account using the following link: https://manager.submittable.com/login (please do not use https://apply.nyfa.org/login to access an application you have already submitted). If you continue having issues viewing your submission, please reach out to [email protected] for further assistance.

Applications Open: Tuesday, September 17 at 10:00 AM EST
Applications Close: Tuesday, November 19 at 5:00 PM EST*
Applicants Notified: Spring 2025

*Please note that the application form on Submittable will automatically close and stop accepting applications at this time.

The 2025 Project Budget Template can be found within the 2025 application under the “Project Budget” section. You will have the option to download a version for Excel or Google Sheets, and then re-upload a filled-out budget back into your application. If you are having trouble with the template, please email [email protected] for assistance.

The Project Budget Template has three main sections:

1. Project Income: Funds that you have received or plan to receive for your project. This could include earned income such as sales of work, tickets, recordings, or other goods or services related to your project, or contributed income such as donations, grants, or other fundraising sources.
2. Project Expenses: Funds that are needed to make your project happen, such as payment to artists or employees, production materials, space rentals, promotion and marketing, transportation, permits, etc. Contingency costs should be estimated and included in your expense budget, which can cover unexpected costs or repairs.
3. In-Kind Contributions: The value of donated goods or services, as opposed to cash.

NYFA cannot be the sole funder for proposed projects, so your Project Income section cannot be blank. Please make sure to show that you can cover at least 10% of your project’s expenses with funds or support from other sources (For example, cash, in-kind, or other donations). 

Be sure to read the New Work Guidelines and Arts Access Guidelines to see what expenses can and cannot be covered by Queens Arts Fund Grants. If ineligible expenses are included in the list of individual budget items that you plan to use with the QAF, your application will be deemed ineligible and will not move forward to the panel review process.

Yes! QAF encourages all of its applicants to include artist fees for themselves and their collaborators within their submitted project budget. Every artist should be paid for their work on a project, however big or small the contribution. There is no limit to how much of the QAF project budget can be allocated to artist fees.

No, applicants are required to submit a detailed project budget using NYFA’s template. This allows for ease of review for jurors and NYFA staff. Download the 2025 Project Budget Template under the “Project Budget” section of the application.

Applications are first reviewed for eligibility, and then all eligible applications are reviewed by panelists based on artistic discipline. Each panelist will then participate in a virtual panel review with 2-4 other panelists to select recipients and recommend funding. A single panelist cannot ensure an applicant’s success or failure.

NYFA is accepting nominations for the Queens Arts Fund panel. Panelists are an integral part of the Queens Arts Fund grant-making process. Panelists are artists, cultural workers, educators, and community leaders who are based in and/or familiar with Queens and care about the people who live there.

NYFA makes every effort to assemble diverse panels, considering gender, ethnicity, cultural background, and geographic location. Panelists’ names are kept confidential until the awards are announced.

Yes! Please submit your panel nomination(s) here by Tuesday, November 12, 11:59 PM ET.

Early submissions are encouraged. If all spots are not filled by the deadline, nominations will remain open. NYFA staff will reach out to submitted nominees on a rolling basis, no later than December 2024 if they are selected for a panel.

All applicants will receive notification on the outcome of their application by Spring 2025. Please do not email us regarding the status of your application.

New Work Grants award $3,000 per project, and Arts Access Grants award $1,000 to $5,000 per project.

Please review the New Work Guidelines and Arts Access Guidelines for a full list of eligible and ineligible grant expenses. 

Please note: If ineligible expenses are included in the list of individual budget items that you plan to use with the Queens Arts Fund, your application will be deemed ineligible and will not move forward to the panel review process.

Yes. The Final Report Form is due within 30 days after completion of the project or by December 31, 2025, whichever comes first. If a project extension is approved in writing by NYFA, the Final Report Form must be completed within 30 days after completion of the project or by June 30, 2026, whichever comes first.