Fusion Art - Fusion Art's Grant for Artistic Excellence 2023

Fusion Art’s Grant for Artistic Excellence is open to new, emerging and professional artists who show exceptional creative ability in their chosen craft.

These unrestricted monetary grants of $500 will be given to up to 3 artists to help with expenses involved with the creation of their art and to help advance their careers.

The grants can be used for any expense including but not limited to art supplies, website development, marketing and promotion efforts, travel, entering juried art shows, etc. These grants are not based on financial need and are strictly based on artistic merit.

Fusion Art can elect to increase the amount of the grant award or award additional grants in its sole discretion. All awards will be paid in the equivalent of US dollars through PayPal only. A grant recipient must have a PayPal account to receive their grant payment. PayPal accounts are easy to set up. Instructions can be found HERE.

Eligibility

The grant opportunity is open to artists worldwide over the age of 18, both amateur and professional.

Visual artists working in any media, style, genre and/or subject matter are invited to apply, with the exception of video/film. Although nude art is acceptable for consideration, it must be in good taste. Graphic erotic art and art that depicts graphic sexual violence is not acceptable. Acceptance is not guaranteed and is solely at the discretion of the gallery.

Once an artist is awarded a Fusion Art Grant of Artistic Excellence, they will not be eligible to apply again.

Acceptable Media

Acceptable media includes, but is not limited to, painting, drawing, pastels, inks,  pencil, printmaking, encaustic, fabric, collage, mixed media, analog photography,  digital photography, digital photo artwork, digital painting, digital  manipulations, digital collage, photopainting, vector drawing, digital  mixed media (integrated art), relief, pottery, sculpture,  installation, kinetic, and conceptual 3-D artworks created in metal,  paper, wood, stone, fiber, plastics, glass, ceramics, or any other  material which can be used to create 3-dimensional art.

All 3D entries require front, back and side views for it to be considered and properly juried. There is no additional fee for these additional images. Please see entry form for instructions.

Digital Art that is a derivative work, created from another original artwork, must be significantly different as to constitute a new original work. The gallery reserves the right to request a copy of the original artwork if copyright infringement is suspected.

Schedule

Applications are due by September 15, 2023.

Grant Recipients will be notified no later than October 15, 2023 and will be announced on the Fusion Art website and in our mid-month newsletter no later than October 20, 2023.

Grant award payments will be sent to artists by November 1, 2023.

Application Process

Fusion Art’s Grant applications is very simple. Artists will be asked to submit 12 artworks and a 60-word artist statement, specifically about the body of work they art submitting.

In addition, artists are asked for an up to 100-word statement of why they are applying and deserve to receive the art grant. Upon being awarded the grant, the artist will receive a short questionnaire from which the gallery will create a combined article about their win. The article will be posted on the Fusion Art website and promoted through our extensive online marketing outlets. Grant winners will also receive an invitation to join the Fusion Art Members Gallery.

Image Specs

• All images submitted must be no less than 1,000 pixels on the longest side.
• The maximum file size is 3MB.
• Image should be clear and in focus. Please remember that this image represents your work.
• Although signatures are allowed on artwork, images should not contain any frame, mat, or watermark.
• IMAGE LABELING:  Image should be labeled as FirstName_LastName_Title.jpeg. Example: John_Smith_Untitled.jpg. Do not include special characters such as #,!, * or stray spaces in the file name.  Doing so may prevent the file from uploading.

Application Fee

• Entry fee is $45 for 12 images. This fee is inclusive of New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax.
• Application fees are NOT REFUNDABLE if an artist is not chosen as a grant recipient.
• ALL fees received are used to administer the grant and help fund artists’ creative and marketing endeavors.
• Artists are encouraged to enter the maximum number of artworks for the application fee.
• ENTRY FEES ARE NOT RUFUNDABLE FOR ANY REASON.
• VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Selection Criteria

Artists will be judged based on their artistic merits. The artist’s body of work will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Creativity
• Originality
• Interpretation
• Quality
• Overall design
• Demonstration of artistic ability
• Usage of chosen medium

Notification

All artists who submit will be notified via Email of their status no later than the November 15, 2022. If you have not received notification from us by that date, please check your spam folder in your email client.

Required Forms for Payment

Any cash awards over $600 are subject to federal income tax withholding within the United States. All winners who are US citizens will be required to submit a signed W-9 form to Fusion Art, LLC prior to receiving payment. This requirement is not necessary for international winners.

Submittable

Fusion Art utilizes the Submittable platform to receive, process and jury all competition and/or grant entries.

Submittable is an international platform that is used for administrative processing by over 9000 organizations that specialize in art, photography, publishing, music, film-making, education and grants. It provides artists with a free, secure and easy-to-use system to apply to a wide variety of national (and international) juried art exhibitions 24 hours a day. There is no cost to the artist to register on the site and all payments processed through Submittable are secure. Submittable accepts both credit cards and PayPal.

Artists who submit an entry and images to Fusion Art must agree to Fusion Art’s Terms of Service and Use, Privacy Policy and Competition Rules.