Applications are open for the second year of the Big Field Fund (BFF), a regional grant program for artists, supplied by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and administered by Public Space One in Iowa City.
BFF offers financial support to artist-led projects that manifest new, inventive models, support under-resourced creative communities, engage with vulnerable systems or ecologies, and fall outside the reach of typical funding sources.
This year, Big Field Fund will offer two grant types totaling $60,000 to eastern Iowa artists:
• 4 Research/Development Grants ($3000) to support artists in the early stages of a project
• 6 Project Grants ($8000) to support the public realization of a visual arts project
Big Field Fund grant applications are made in two rounds. The first round, due August 1, is a short qualifying application. All eligible applications are invited to a second round in which applicants provide more details about their proposed projects. Interested artists can learn at bigfieldfund.org.
“We are excited to be able to offer this artist funding again in 2025,” said Public Space One Program Director Kalmia Strong. “We hope to be able to support artists in even more eastern Iowa communities and enable projects that may find funding difficult. All eligible artists and collectives are especially encouraged to submit ideas for experimental, change-making, or challenging projects!”
In its inaugural year, Big Field Fund awarded grants to 11 artists and collectives with projects that range from politically themed demolition-derby cars designed by teen artists in summer camp (created by Allison Rowe and Nancy Nowacek) to exploring engagement with the visual arts after a loss of vision (by J.A. Engman and Cheryl Weatherford). More about these projects and research initiatives, which are currently in process, can be found at bigfieldfund.org/2024-25-grantees.
Following Andy Warhol’s will, the mission of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is to manage an innovative and dynamic grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy. To date, the foundation has given nearly $300 million in cash grants to over 1,000 arts organizations and has donated 52,786 works of art to 322 institutions worldwide.
The Regional Regranting Program was established in 2007 to recognize and support the movement of independently organized, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes but that lies beyond the reach of traditional funding. The program is administered by nonprofit visual art centers across the United States, like PS1, that work in partnership with the Foundation to fund artists’ experimental projects and collaborative undertakings.