NYFA Source | Opportunities Round-Up for Artists with Disabilities

NYFA Source is rife with opportunities for recognition and sharing your work.

We’re marking the occasion of the 2017 Kennedy Center’s Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD®) Conference, which is taking place until August 10, 2017, with a list of selected opportunities from NYFA Source. NYFA Source is the nation’s largest online arts database, providing over 12,000 resources and opportunities for artists of all disciplines.

Searching with NYFA Source

To start using NYFA Source, you can take the tutorial on How to Use NYFA Source, or you can jump right in with the NYFA Source Search page. To search for opportunities and services that are specifically open to artists with disabilities or who address the experience of disability, choose the “other criteria” tab, and, in “Special Population,” select “Disabled.” You can narrow your search by award, discipline, location, or other criteria, being sure to select “Next” at the bottom of each tab.

Selected Opportunities from NYFA Source

Previously, we’ve grouped the organizations that provide services for artists with disabilities. Here, we’re presenting a small cross-section of the awards and services available on NYFA Source. They range from cash grants to exhibition and publication opportunities.

• ReelAbilities Film Festival: ReelAbilities Film Festival Submission
• Deadline: November 1, 2017
• Seeking films by and about people with disabilities that explore, discuss and celebrate the diversity of the shared human experience.
• VSA Minnesota: Emerging Artist Grant Program
• Deadline: December 1, 2017
• Awards six $2,000 grants to Minnesotans with disabilities who are emerging artists, working to establish (or reestablish) an arts career, and who propose to create new work in their arts medium during the award year. 
• United Disability Services: Kaleidoscope Submissions
• Deadlines: March 1 and August 1, 2018
• Accepts submissions in Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Book Reviews, and Visual Arts.
• VSA: VSA Emerging Young Arts Program
• Deadline: May 2018
• This annual exhibition recognizes and showcases emerging artists with disabilities, ages 16-25, living in the United States. Fifteen artists share $60,000 in chash awards.
• Associated Musicians of Greater New York, American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 802: Lester Petrillo Memorial Fund for Disabled Musicians
• Deadline: Ongoing
• Provides a modest grant, usually from $100 to $400, to disabled musicians who are members of the AFM.
• VSA of New Mexico (VSA NM): Gallery Submissions
• Deadline: Ongoing
• Provides the opportunity to exhibit work in the N4th Gallery, a space that focuses attention on both the emotional and intellectual exploration of community.

To find more opportunities, use NYFA Source, a free searchable database of 12,000+ awards, residencies, and services. Sign up for our free bi-weekly e-newsletter, NYFA News, to receive articles about the Business of Art along with upcoming programs and services.

– Mirielle Clifford, Program Officer, Online Resources

Image: Nichole van Beek (Fellow in Painting ‘12), Not the Non-Existent Existed, 2010, acrylic on paper