Organized by areas identified in the Create, Connect, and Catalyze Framework

CREATE

• 2021 National Young Artists Summit Seeks Planning Committee Members, for youth leaders, ages 15-20. Application deadline is today, May 3.
• The Nuts & Bolts of Being a Performing Artist with Seth Lepore, Deen Rawlins-Harris, and Amy Smith, in partnership with the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, Assets for Artists, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. Sessions run May 3-20.
• 2021 Poetry Ourselves Winners Announced by NEA.
• Be the First Northampton Youth Poet Laureate by applying online.
• Camille T. Dungy, Ecopoet, essayist, and two-time NEA Literature Fellow speaks about Black Nature: Four Hundred Years of African-American Nature Writing.
• The Courage to Be Yourself: E.E. Cummings on Art, Life, and Being Unafraid to Feel.
• Sonya Clark Unravels American Propaganda In ‘Monumental Cloth’ on view at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum through Sept 12.
• 2021 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for high school students with a passion for writing songs that could be part of a musical theater production and the wide range of musical styles represented in contemporary musicals. Deadline: May 17.

CONNECT

• Theatre Connect Summer, an LGBTQQ+ affirming theatre group for youth age 13-18, runs May 11-June 29.
• Highlighted poets form Poetry Month can be found on City of Boston Arts & Culture’s Instagram.
• BRAINworks: Increasing Creative Capacity Through Arts Integration in Berkshire County provides a full picture of the unique model for delivering professional development in arts integration in Berkshire County. Download available online.
• The Arts and Culture Sector’s Contributions to Economic Recovery and Resiliency in the United States Key Findings January 2021.
• Check out the recent posts from the blog of Creative Generation.
• Can we learn to talk to sperm whales? Marine biologist David Gruber introduces Project CETI: a team of scientists, linguists and AI specialists hoping to decode sperm whale language.

CATALYZE

• Art-Train is a virtual technical assistance program for artists, municipal agencies, community non-profits, and arts councils across the nation. Housed at Springboard for the Arts, and in partnership with Center for Performance and Civic Practice, it offers information on accessing resources (i.e. American Recovery Plan funds) and working on best practices in equitable collaboration with Agencies/Organizations starting on May 11 and Individual Artists on May 18 (free for artists).
• WE-Making: How Arts and Culture Unite People to Work Toward Community Well-Being offers case studies, a conceptual framework, a literature review, and appendices that demonstrate social cohesion nurtures coordinated community organizing and can lead to increased community well-being, via NEA and Kresge Foundation.

Funding

• City of Boston, 2021 BCYF Summer Grants RFP. Nonprofits serving youth can apply for up to $5,000 or $10,000 to support fun, safe, enriching youth programming. Apply online. Deadline: May 7.
• EdVestors Racial Equity Seed Fund 2021-2022 School Year Grant Guidelines. Build an action-based learning community to implement, test, and scale solutions developed by those most impacted in schools to advance racial equity. Deadline: May 13.
• Arts Education Partnership (AEP) will accept concurrent session proposals through the online submission form for the 2021 AEP Virtual Gathering. Deadline: May 21.
• MOAC’s Opportunity Fund of up to $1,000 can be used by Boston artists for meaningful career development opportunities and sharing your work with the public. Deadline: June 4.
• Collective Futures Fund supports visual artists and artist-run activity in the Greater Boston area through grants between $2,000 and $6,000. Deadline: June 15.
• Bow Seat grants Educator Innovation Awards of $750. Awarding educators who effectively and creatively bring the Ocean Awareness Contest into their physical or virtual classrooms. Submit a nomination online. Deadline: July 1.
• Grants for Arts Projects is the National Endowment for the Arts’ principal grants program for organizations based in the US. Deadline: July 8.
• See more artist opportunities on ArtSake.