Create Wisconsin Announces the Create Wisconsin Statewide Artist Grant Program with support from the Ruth Foundation for the Arts

Create Wisconsin Announces the 

Create Wisconsin Statewide Artist Grant Program 

with support from the Ruth Foundation for the Arts

Create Wisconsin announces the new Create Wisconsin Statewide Artist Grant Program, a three-year program representing an investment in artistic development and civic engagement opportunities for the state’s artists and performers, honoring individual achievement, strengthening local, regional and statewide creative infrastructure, and enriching Wisconsin’s overall quality of life.  

Create Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s only independent community cultural development organization, works to build a vibrant, inclusive creative sector statewide, ensuring that creativity is integral to the state’s economic, civic, and social vitality. More info at www.createwisconsin.org. 

The Statewide Artist Grant Program will support individual artists and performers aged 21 and older residing in any of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. Eligible applicants include visual and performing artists with demonstrated creative ability and/or professional achievement.   Grants of $7500 each will be made to 16 individuals annually during the three-year program.  Up to 35% of the grant awards will be directed towards applicants from Wisconsin counties with populations under 55,000.  A distinguished panel of jurors will review and make recommendations for grant awards. Eligible uses of funds include continuing education, individual artistic research and development, or community-based projects, including exhibitions, performances, publications, and educational activities. Complete application and submission information will be available as of December 15, 2025, at www.createwisconsin.org.  The final deadline for submission is February 16, 2026. Grant awards will be announced during the week of March 15, 2026.

The Statewide Artist Grant Program is made possible with generous support from the Ruth Foundation for the Arts, a private foundation dedicated to meeting the evolving needs and lived experiences of artists, communities, and arts organizations whose work is anchored by the visual and the performing arts. Based in Milwaukee and national in scope, Ruth Arts honors arts and civic leader Ruth DeYoung Kohler II (1941–2020) with inventive approaches to philanthropy that are rooted in creativity, experimentation, and access.

Contact Hailey Fuller, Program Administrator, at 715-213-5187 I hfuller@createwisconsin.org for more information.