Applications for Public Space One’s Big Field Fund (BFF) are now open, offering $60,000 in grants to artists engaged in experimental, collaborative, and connective visual arts projects. Now in its third year, BFF is open to Iowa artists (and collectives) residing within the 35 counties proximate to Iowa City.
Supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and administered by Iowa City’s PS1, BFF aims to provide financial support to artist-led projects that manifest new and inventive models, support under-resourced creative communities, engage with vulnerable systems, or fall outside the reach of typical funding sources.
Big Field Fund will offer two grant types:
4 Research/Development Grants ($3,000) to support artists in the early stages of a project
6 Project Grants ($8,000) 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 application that is reviewed for eligibility. All eligible first round applications are invited to a second round in which applicants provide more details about their proposed projects or research. Second round applications are reviewed and grantees are selected by a panel of four jurors that includes:.
Alex Braidwood, sound artist, designer, and educator, Director of Artist-in-Residence at Iowa Lakeside Lab and Director of Graphic Design Graduate Education at Iowa State University
Akwi Nji, Eastern Iowa-based artist, writer, and 2025-26 Big Field Fund grantee
Ariana Weir-Temoshok, artist and Administrative and Artist Relations Manager at the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition
Fidencio Fifield-Perez, artist and Assistant Professor of Painting at University of California-Davis
Interested artists can learn more at in-person info sessions across eastern Iowa:
Thursday, June 18, at 5 pm at the Iowa City Public Library in Iowa City, IA
Tuesday, July 7, at 5:30 pm at the Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls, IA
Thursday, July 9, at 5:30 pm at the Art Center of Burlington in Burlington, IA
For details, please visit BFF Grantees.
Lydia Diemer, Artist Resource Director for Public Space One, has been pleased to see the impact of the first two years of BFF on Eastern Iowa artists, with grants awarded to 21 artists and collectives. “We are thrilled to be able to offer funding to artists again in 2026,” she says. “We seek to expand the regional artistic field. Eligible artists and collectives with ideas for public-facing, radical visual arts projects or unconventional research are encouraged to apply!”
Big Field Fund has awarded grants to 21 artists and collectives in the last two years. To learn more more about these projects visit BFF Grantees.