Annual grant opportunity for Miami-based artists to bring new ideas to life across Miami neighborhoods.
ABOUT WAVEMAKER GRANTS
WaveMaker Grants at Locust Projects supports Miami’s visionary artists with incubator grants to research, kick off or re-energize innovative artist-driven projects that are shared with the public in unconventional spaces.
Since 2015, WaveMaker has awarded $630,000 in funding to 125 of Miami’s visionary artists.
Grantees receive up to $6,000 each in three categories: New Work / Projects, Long-Haul Projects, and Research & Development + Implementation. In the spirit of Locust Projects’ artist-driven, experimental mission, WaveMakers experiment and take risks, creating innovative work that is shared in unconventional public spaces.
WaveMaker Grants are made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts' Regional Regranting Program, a network of 35 regranting partners across the country.
Please review all available info at www.wavemakergrants.org before submitting.
Deadline is April 1, 2025 at 11:59pm.
There is no application fee. Locust Projects is committed to making WaveMaker Grants accessible to all applicants. Should you need any accommodations or assistance to complete your application, please reach out to digital@locustprojects.org.
Join us for the first WaveMaker VIRTUAL INFO SESSION of the year on Friday, February 21st, at 12pm via ZOOM. Learn about the next cycle of WaveMaker Grants for Miami-Dade artists and how you can apply for up to $6,000 in one of three categories: New Work / Projects, Long-Haul Projects, and R&D + Implementation.
Eligibility:
Visual artists, curators, arts writers, cultural organizers, collectives, collaborators, and independant artist-run spaces at all career stages who reside in Miami-Dade County are encouraged to apply.
If you have received a WaveMaker Grant in the past 5 years you are ineligible to apply in 2025 unless you are a current R+D recipient.
Film, performance, dance, music, and other projects that fall outside a strict definition of visual art are eligible. However, visual art must be the leading component.
If applying as a group, the collaboration can be long-standing or initiated specifically for this project. Please identify one participant to serve as the lead contact. The lead contact and majority of participants must reside in Miami-Dade County.
Established non-profit organizations and LLCs established for commercial enterprise are not eligible.
Selection Criteria:
All projects must engage or be shared with the public in unconventional spaces in Miami-Dade County. This may include exhibitions, performances, events, workshops, screenings, programming at alternative or independant artist-run-spaces. Projects can not be presented at art museums, arts nonprofits, or commercial galleries.
All proposals will be considered based on criteria including but not limited to:
Overall idea, vision, and artistic innovation
Relevance to the local social, cultural, and/or geographic context
Accessibility of the project to the public outside of a museum, visual art nonprofit, or gallery
In person gatherings in free, publicly accessible spaces are an essential requirement
Capacity of the applicant to realize the project on time and within realistic budget
Potential impact on the local community, the arts and culture landscape, and/or the artist’s growth, expansion of their practice
Grantees will be announced by the end of August 2025 and funded for projects starting after September 1, 2025.
Founded in 2015 by the former nonprofit Cannonball, WaveMaker Grants has been administered by Locust Projects, Miami’s longest running nonprofit alternative art space, since 2017.
WaveMaker is made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts' Regional Regranting Program, a network of 35 regranting partners across the country.
Grant Categories:
Each year, WaveMaker at Locust Projects awards a total of $60,000 in grant funding to artists, curators, and collectives across Miami-Dade County in the following three categories:
New Work / Projects: Grants up to $6,000 each to support the creation and presentation of visionary, artist-driven new work / projects.
Long-Haul Projects: Grants up to $6,000 each to support sustaining, completing, or growing visibility for long-term projects. This category recognizes the time and commitment required to pursue long-term artistic endeavors and the need for funding to inject new enegery and ideas to sustain the project.
R&D + Implementation: Grants up to $2,000 each to support research and development for ambitious new projects that take creative risks or benefit from a longer planning period. After the R&D phase, grantees have the opportunity to submit a short-form proposal for an additional $4,000 to implement their projects pending panel review.
Eligibility:
Visual artists, curators, cultural organizers/creatives, collectives, collaborators, and organizers of independant artist-run spaces/projects who reside in Miami-Dade County are encouraged to apply for projects starting after September 1, 2025.
Film, performance, dance, music, and other projects that fall outside a strict definition of visual art are eligible. However, visual art must be the leading component.
If applying as a group, the collaboration can be long-standing or initiated specifically for this project. Please identify one participant to serve as the lead contact. The lead contact and majority of participants must reside in Miami-Dade County. Fees are split.
Non-profit organizations and LLCs established for commercial enterprise are not eligible.
All projects must engage or be made accessible to the public for free in unconventional spaces in Miami-Dade County.
Submissions for 2025 WaveMaker Grants open February 7, 2025.
Deadline: April 1, 2025 at 11:59pm.
The application is available here. If you do not already have a free Submittable account, you will need to create one to apply. The application includes the following questions:
Applicant Info: Grant Category, Project Title, Applicant Name, Website, Social Media, Email, Phone, Address
Application Questions: What is your idea? How will you make it happen? Who are you? (Applicants can answer these questions with brief paragraphs, audio clips, or video clips.) How will you use your WaveMaker funds?
Work Samples: At least one great image to represent the project idea is requested. Mood boards, past work, other optional images, audio, video, writing, link, supplemental materials, and/or related information may be included.
There is no application fee. Locust Projects is committed to making WaveMaker Grants accessible to all applicants. Should you need any accommodations or assistance to complete your application, please reach out to digital@locustprojects.org.
Selection Criteria:
All projects must engage or be shared with the public in unconventional spaces in Miami-Dade County. This may include exhibitions, performances, events, workshops, screenings, programming at independant artist-run-spaces. Projects can not be presented at art museums, arts nonprofits, or commercial galleries.
All proposals will be considered based on criteria including but not limited to:
Overall idea, vision, and artistic innovation
Relevance to the local social, cultural, and/or geographic context
Accessibility of the project to the public outside of a museum or gallery
In person gatherings in free, publicly accessible spaces are an essential requirement.
Capacity of the applicant to realize the project on time and within budget based on clear timeline and realistic budget
Potential impact on the local community, the arts and culture landscape, and/or the artist’s growth, expansion of their practice
Grants are reviewed by two curators/program directors representing two of the Warhol Foundation Regional Regranting organizations; 1 past WaveMaker grantee; and a local curator\arts administrator.
All grantees will be notified by August 1, 2025 of the status of their application. Grants are funded at 90% of grant amonut after all contracts agreements are complete. Remaining 10% after the project final report is submitted.
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