kindling fund 2025

The Kindling Fund awards project grants ranging from $3,000 - $7,000 (with smaller Research and Development Grants) to Maine-based artists of all career levels, who organize projects that engage audiences and the visual arts in inventive and meaningful ways. The Kindling Fund values and uplifts artistic collaboration (or collaboration with community in meaningful ways), applicants seeking support at the $5500-$7000 must have at least one stated core collaborator. This is the eleventh year of grantmaking for the Kindling Fund.

In the context of this grant, the visual arts is defined as broadly as possible and includes: photography, video, non-traditional performance, ceramics, earth works, drawing, bookmaking, weaving, crafts, installations, painting, mail art, printmaking, basketry, sculpture, calligraphy, social-engagement, participatory or community driven projects, glass, design, and the alternative spaces, artistic collectives, art writing, and artistic platforms that support that work.

What kinds of projects does the Kindling Fund support?

The Kindling Fund supports a wide range of artist-initiated projects that engage the public including but not limited to…

• Group and solo exhibitions that are sited outside of traditional venues, curatorial projects focused on innovative research or exhibition design
• Lecture, workshop, and conversation series
• Micro-cinemas and film screenings
• Public art projects such as murals, outdoor sculpture, temporary art in public places, or pop-ups
• Performance projects that prioritize experimentation, multi-media approaches, duration, or projects with expansive definitions and approaches to performance
• Interventions, site-specific installations, and digital-forward alternative virtual platforms
• Writing about the visual arts, or printed and online publications (zines, local art discourse, curatorial print projects)
• The creation of an alternative artist residency or other artist-centered programs
• The founding or sustaining of a new artist-run arts venue or collective
• Artist-led socially-responsive and social activist projects such as mutual-aid initiatives, artist gardens/farming/food projects, community storytelling and history keeping, and other grassroots initiatives
• Experimental art projects that challenge established notions of artistic roles and forms
• Other art projects that propose new models/forms of practice, presentation and organization

The Kindling Fund does not support:

• Private projects (i.e. commissioning the creation of new artwork) with no public engagement component.
• Proposals that only or primarily request equipment. Including specialized equipment necessary to carry out your project as part of your budget is OK.
• Proposals that primarily request travel funds (outside of Maine). Including travel funds for visiting artists, or a research trip as part of your proposal is OK. Travel reimbursements for the project within the state are OK.
• Proposals that are (or even incidentally also serve as) capital improvements to private homes have been not competitive with our jury. Gardens and homes are however, valid potential sites for projects. Please talk to us about these projects if you have questions.
• Projects that are part of the primary programming of an established 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization, schools, or take place in established/incorporated institutions. Grants cannot be used as supplemental funds for programmatic initiatives and promoted programs of nonprofits, it is our hope that those projects will utilize their nonprofit status to find program funding with the many grant opportunities that are available to those with the privilege of a 501c3, B corp, or other IRS special tax status.