2026 Grants Applications Are Open - Apply today!
Performance with Maiha Dang, 2025 BAC Grantee. Photo courtesy the artist.
Teaching Artist Applications are now closed - thank you to everyone who applied! We’re thrilled to learn more about your work and can’t wait to see the creativity you bring to communities across Brooklyn, from classrooms to older adult centers ☄️
But the opportunities don’t stop there. BAC’s Grant Applications are still open! Artists and organizations can apply for:
🩵 Brooklyn Arts Fund
💙 Local Arts Support
🩵 Creative Equations Fund
💙 Charlene Victor & Ella J. Weiss Cultural Entrepreneur Fund
Key Deadlines:
Grant Panelist Applications: October 21, 2025
Grant Applications: November 7, 2025
If you missed our info sessions, you can watch the recording anytime. Full guidelines and details for each application are available here.
We continue to be inspired by the visions you bring to life and the impact you make across Brooklyn’s arts community 💥
BAC Grantee Events
Miki Mu: Bedstuy Walls Mural Festival
Miki Mu is a 2025 BAC Grantee.
October 11 | 10am | 677 Lexington Ave, btw Lewis and Stuyvesant, BK
Bedstuy Walls is an annual mural festival, block party and art project in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Bedstuy Walls is not just a one time event but also an ongoing project throughout the year that focuses on the community. Through creating art together we aim not only to beautify the community but to also create a space where people can connect and unite. More over, we focus on kids and young adults cause we believe they need a space to feel safe, to express themselves and to cultivate their talents that will eventually blossom in their future. We teach them, through our workshops, not only the values of each community but we inspire them to believe that transformations are possible and that their artistic talent can bring true changes and help create a better world.
The Redhawk Native American Arts Council: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY
The Redhawk Native American Arts Council is a 2025 BAC Grantee.
October 12-13 | 10am | Randalls Island, NYC
This is a FREE 2-day event where Indigenous leaders, Elders, Medicine people, cultural performers and supporters from across the globe will celebrate the rich history, art and culture of Indigenous People. First Peoples from the Americas will once again convene to share their traditions, through song, dance, art, and prayer, while inviting all to rethink what was Columbus Day. As with all of our events, people from all races, ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds are welcome to attend.
Alisha Desai: Garba in Brooklyn - a Navaratri Performance and Festival
Alisa Desai is a 2025 BAC Grantee.
October 12 | 4pm | 64 Irving Ave, BK
Garba season is here! Celebrate the joy of Navaratri at the 4th Annual Garba in Brooklyn on Sunday, October 12th from 4–6:30 PM at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick, hosted by Brooklyn Arts Fund Grantee, Alisha Desai. This FREE community festival is open to all—don’t forget to RSVP! The evening kicks off with an exuberant dance concert featuring Semi-Classical, Bhangra, Kathak, Bollywack, and of course, Garba! The performers are Meha Sadana, Giorgia Vitali, Amanjeet Szternfeld Correa, Alisha Desai, and special guests from the Bollywood Dance Academy. After the show, join in a high-energy Garba and Dandiya Raas dance lesson, accompanied by live dhol. Dandiya sticks will be available with a suggested donation, and you can decorate your own at our craft station. Navaratri, a nine-night festival honoring Goddess Durga, is all about community, joy, and dance. Whether new or familiar, come celebrate, move, and connect!
Graham MacIndoe + Susan Stellin VOCAL-NY Art + Storytelling Group: Gowanus Open Studios
Graham MacIndoe & Susan Stellin is a 2025 BAC Grantee.
October 18 | 1pm | 300 Douglass St, BK
During Gowanus Open Studios on Oct. 18 and 19, we’ll be showing photography, artwork, and writing by members of VOCAL-NY's art and storytelling group, facilitated by photographer Graham MacIndoe and writer Susan Stellin with support from the Brooklyn Arts Council. To accompany black-and-white portraits made by Graham, participants wrote about the experience of being photographed and how they think the world sees them vs. how they see themselves. We’ll also display drawings, self-portraits, poetry, and other artwork created by members of VOCAL-NY, a nonprofit that operates a drop-in center in Gowanus serving people navigating substance use, mental health, housing, and other challenges.
Artifact No. 19 - An Experimental Music Series
Artifact is a 2025 BAC Grantee.
October 21 | 7:30pm | Sleepwalk - 251 Bushwick Ave, BK
Artifact No. 19 showcases an evening focused on experimental electronic performance and instrumental free improvisation. This month's iteration features the performers Tony Rolando, Sabrina Salamone, and Mario Diaz de Leon. Artifact is a monthly experimental music series curated by Brian Wenner and Matthew Ryals.
Brooklyn FAM 2025
Brooklyn FAM is a 2025 Grantee. Artwork by Sofia Marrero.
October 26 | 10am | Prospect Park Boathouse
Save the Date for our 5th annual flagship festival, fam! It’s coming up on Sunday, October 26th, 10am-3pm, at the Prospect Park Boathouse, and it’s gonna be a stunner.
This year’s festival celebrates our African and Asian diasporic voices on the theme of “Nourish.” What roots us? Heals and grows us? Replenishes us? How do we nourish each other and our communities?
Experience participatory puppet theatre, music, dance, community music-making, mixed media crafting, Malian & Japanese indigo dyeing, aromatherapy, and lots of giveaways—from limited-edition picnic blankets and event tote bags to *nourishing* snacks and aromatherapy rollerballs.
This event is family-friendly, intergenerational, and FREE to all.
Shirine Saad: ERUPTIONS
Shrine Saad is a 2025 BAC Grantee.
October 27 | 5pm | Pratt Library Alumni Room - 200 Willoughby Ave, BK
Please join us for the launch of a multimedia Noise Zine created by writer and DJ Shirine Saad with designer Randa Hadi. This project features radical feminist and queer poetics from the Arab world, ranging from experimental dance to poetry, music, photography, sculpture and film. Limited edition risograph prints will be offered, as well as snacks from Sahadis; Shirine will play a custom mixtape. Copresented by ArteEast and Arab Amp with the Humanities and Media Studies department at Pratt.
Events, Workshops, & Professional Development
The African American Heritage Center Presents: Art Exhibition "Invisibility to Whom" by Greg Mills
October 9 | Macon Library - 361 Lewis Ave, BK
The African American Heritage Center Presents: Art Exhibition Invisibility to Whom with Artist and Curator Greg Mills
Excerpted artworks from the conceptual collection called Genesis
Toni Morrison, often cited in discussions about invisibility, is “invisible to whom?” it suggests that invisibility is a subjective experience and depends on who is doing the seeing.
The visible edges of this art residency at St Mary will provide uninterrupted consecutive days and hours towards working on a series of creative visual art collages and surface art works. The experience and interactive relationships of connecting to a diverse community of Artists is another passage offering the rites of critical discourse and impactful opinions on how artists accept critiques, opinions and also harnesses creativity in a world of evolving A I presences.
My recent artworks are a series of art collages and surface artworks are constantly in evolutionary stages of creativity. In times just like the metamorphosis of chrysalises (my art collages and surface art series) emerges like the butterflies to be visible. The visual art and creation of sound art for music are in a constant traveling motion; all getting from one point to the occasion.
Please join us for Opening Night to Meet the Artist
NOU AKOMA NOU SINÈJI HAITIAN DOMINICAN TRANSNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Clarivel Ruiz is a BAC Cultural Heritage Advisory Group Member.
October 9-12 | Maysles Documentary Center - 343 Malcolm X Blvd, NY
Nou Akoma Nou Sinèji Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival and Symposium aims to showcase art and films from emerging and accomplished industry professionals of the Haitian Dominican African Diaspora to authentically reflect our community’s diverse experiences and backgrounds. Its four-day programming in October 2025, promotes cultural diversity through various art genres, including dramatic, documentary, experimental, short films, podcasts, and panel discussions.
Walking Tour of East New York
October 11 | Shepherd Avenue and Pitkin Ave, BK
Farrah Lafontant and Zulmilena Then, of Preserving East New York (PENY), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding the historic buildings defining the vibrant community of East New York (ENY), invite you to explore the rich architectural and cultural heritage of the neighborhood and experience how both past and recent history have shaped the community. The tour will include stops within the areas affected by the 2016 rezoning and culminate at a community-driven pop-up museum, Memories Matter, celebrating the neighborhood's legacy, an initiative between the East New York Community Land Trust and BPL's Center for Brooklyn History.
We will begin the tour at 11am outside the Shepherd Avenue subway stop, at the corners of Shepherd and Pitkin Avenues. The tour will conclude inside the Euclid Avenue station, with a chance to view the Memories Matter pop-up afterwards. Light refreshments will be provided.
This program is in partnership and thanks to Preserving East New York (PENY) and the East New York Community Land Trust (ENY CLT)
30th Annual PANAMANIAN PARADE
Enrique Small is a BAC Cultural Heritage Advisory Group Member.
October 11 | Franklin Ave and Bergen St, BK
Day of Independence Committee of Panamanians in New York, Inc. (DICPNY) was formed by Mr. Mauricio Alleyne in 1995 to celebrate and spread Panamanian culture, tradition, and folklore, and to commemorate Panama’s separation from Colombia, which took place on November 3, 1903.
This historic moment has been celebrated annually for the past 30 years with an exhilarating parade in Brooklyn, which begins on Franklin Avenue and Bergen Street, and heads south to Eastern Parkway, culminating in a street fair on Classon Avenue between Eastern Parkway and President Street. The fair, which now attracts over 30,000 people, features displays of arts and crafts as well as Panamanian-Caribbean and Latin American food specialties.
Brooklyn Children’s Museum: Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day
October 12 | 145 Brooklyn Ave, BK
Join Native artists sharing their living traditions in this two-day celebration of Indigenous cultures!
Take part in Haudenosaunee social dances, create your own beadwork and pottery, learn traditional mush making, and shop at our Native artisan marketplace.
Additional workshops include storytelling movement and traditions with Claudia Haddad, screenprinting with Fishbear Studios, and seedball making.
Presented with the North American Indigenous Center of New York.
Brooklyn Artery: The Art Table
October 14 | 1004 Cortelyou Rd, BK
Doesn't it feel like it's becoming increasingly difficult to make art these days? Let's gather — on the 2nd Tuesday of each month! — for commiseration, collaboration, and skill-sharing. Writers, visual artists, musicians, textile artists, filmmakers, photographers, people who fall outside strict categories but have been making art for a couple years—if you've been wanting to meet other artists, especially outside your discipline, come and share your work! Bring something short to show/read/play (we'll have a sign up sheet and a projector) and a willingness to brainstorm what this space can do for all of us.
Niv Sekar, a writer, animator, and occasional comic-maker, will be hosting.
A Very Brooklyn Fashion Show
October 14 | 51 35th St, Building 5, BK
Join us for a celebration of local talent and the vibrant style of our borough! A Very Brooklyn Fashion Show returns for its third year, promising an evening that captures the heart and soul of Brooklyn on the runway. This year's event is a special collaboration between designers from Fashion Week Brooklyn, founded by Rick Davy, and Runway the Real Way, hosted by Catherine Schuller.
Net proceeds from ticket sales will support the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC), a Brooklyn Chamber member, as they recover from the recent Red Hook fire.
Empire Arts Summit
October 15 &16 | 432 State St, Schenectady, NY
The Empire Arts Summit is the premier gathering of New York’s arts and cultural leaders, policymakers, and creative workers. With the theme The Power of Connection: Arts and Government Shaping New York’s Future, this year’s Summit will focus on statewide strategies for advocacy, collaboration, and innovation.
This is the first statewide convening of its kind, bringing together arts and cultural leaders, policymakers, and advocates from across New York State to showcase the extraordinary work happening in our communities and to chart a collective path forward for the arts.
Thrive in Place! Affordable Housing Workshop
October 16 | Virtual
A guide to affordable housing options for NYC creatives, jointly presented three times per year by ArtBuilt and the Entertainment Community Fund. Learn about rent stabilization, city housing lotteries, affordable home-ownership opportunities, and how to qualify for these programs.
Sankofa Cinema Club Presents: Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
October 18 | Macon Library - 361 Lewis Ave at Macon St, BK
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child: In his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a phenomenon. He became notorious for this graffiti are under the moniker Samo in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene, sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200 and became best friends with Andy Warhol. Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the public, Basquiat was launched into international stardom. However, soon his cult status began to override the art that had made him famous in the first place. Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful Black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.
Please join us for this intriguing feature. Light snacks provided.
Brooklyn Poets: Craft Lab
October 26 | Virtual
Locating the Self: Intertextual Poetic Strategies with Charif Shanahan
Since long before Julia Kristeva coined the term “intertextuality,” poets across the globe have been in dialogue and interdependent relationship, shaping their poems and poetics in response to those of others. Whether homage, critique, or anything between, an intertext poses interpretative questions with profound political implications: Why choose to be in conversation with this poet? With this poem? In this form? To what end? And how to foreground that conversation, or signal it at all? How do these choices position us aesthetically, socially, and historically? In this craft lab, we will consider these questions by reading from among a selection of intertexts, written by a range of contemporary poets, including Lynn Emanuel, Toi Derricotte, Roger Reeves, Natasha Trethewey, and Ocean Vuong, and drafting an intertext (or two) of our own. Participants are asked to bring with them a poem that they greatly admire and a poem that troubles them in some way.
NYFA Storytelling: Communicating Your Impact
November 13 | Virtual
How can you tell your story as an arts professional and organization? Storytelling is a key component to communicating the value of the work you do, with applications for interviewing, advocacy, and fundraising.
In this free (with RSVP!) online workshop, we’ll cover:
Strategies for communicating your impact as an arts professional and/or organization
How to articulate a clear problem statement, solution statement (mission), and value proposition
Methods for gathering data to quantify and measure key results
Get Shameless Workshop #1: Art as a Business| Creatives Thrive NYC
November 20 | Virtual
Usually, most of us go into business to solve a problem or fill a need. We never anticipated we’d also have to be our own accountant, bookkeeper, human resources, insurance specialist, and personal assistant too! This workshop will help you set up your business to run like a machine. We’ll go deep on topics around taxes, business structure, bank accounts, etc. You know, the fun stuff :)
Opportunities
NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program
Deadline: October 13
Are you an immigrant artist working in the Visual or Multidisciplinary Arts? Do you live in New York City or within commuting distance of the New York City Metropolitan area?
Join this free program to gain access to other artists, arts professionals, and organizations and learn from each other. Many of the mentors are immigrant artists themselves and understand the challenges of sustaining one’s art practice while navigating different cultural perspectives in the art world.
NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship
Deadline: October 15
Our fiscal sponsorship program serves individual artists, arts groups/collectives, and emerging arts organizations who are leading arts-focused public benefit projects. NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship is a financial and administrative tool that helps these groups fundraise. Through our program they can access some of the benefits typically reserved for 501c3 organizations, such as receiving grants restricted to 501c3s and offering donors a tax deduction, and receive feedback from NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship staff.
The Center for Art & Advocacy Fellowship
Deadline: October 26
The first of its kind, the Center's Fellowship offers an annual award of $10,000 in unrestricted funds and $10,000 in project development funds to formerly incarcerated artists. Fellows are invited to an annual retreat to network with previous fellows, advocates, industry leaders, and funders. During the retreat, they can present their project proposals to the cohort, receive feedback from their peers, and participate in New York City’s many cultural events. The Fellowship (formerly Right of Return) was founded in 2017 by artists Jesse Krimes and Russell Craig.
NYFA Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
Deadline: November 4
The Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies to artists in financial need who are creating in the visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography.
2026–2027 A.I.R. FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Deadline: November 7
Established in 1993, the A.I.R. Fellowship Program for Emerging and Underrepresented Women and Non-Binary Artists has enabled more than 120 artists to realize their first solo exhibition in New York City with the support of the A.I.R. community. The Fellowship Program annually awards six local emerging artists with their first solo exhibition, professional development programming, curatorial support, and mentorship during a 12-month fellowship that runs September–August.
Brooklyn Org Microgrants
Deadline: November 30
BKO’s Microgrants provide one-year funding of up to $10,000 for organizations based in Brooklyn or actively working in Brooklyn with annual operating budgets under $100,000 and at least one year of operation and programming. Funding supports neighborhood-based organizations, ranging from community gardens and mutual aid groups to community-based organizing and programming. Organizations must be a 501c3 or working under a fiscal sponsor.
Volunteer with The Sharing Network: Virtual Art Instructor - Weekly Sessions for Homebound Brooklyn Seniors
Deadline: Rolling
About the Role
Lead a weekly art-making group for homebound Brooklyn seniors via Zoom audio. Guide participants through accessible projects in painting, drawing, needlework, collage, or other media. This is your chance to share your artistic passion while combating isolation and bringing creative joy to seniors with limited opportunities for engagement.
What You'll Do (1.5-2.5 hours/week)
Lead one 60 minute art session weekly at a consistent time
Design accessible projects for varying skill levels and abilities
Provide clear verbal instructions (participants join audio-only via phone)
Create a welcoming, supportive environment
Prepare materials lists and plan sessions (30-60 minutes weekly)
We Need Someone Who
Has experience in painting, drawing, needlework, or other accessible art forms
Can give excellent verbal instructions without visual demonstrations
Is patient and enthusiastic working with older adults
Has reliable internet and basic Zoom comfort
Can commit to 8 weeks minimum
Remote/Virtual | 1.5-2.5 hours/week | 8-week commitment
Apply: Email your art background, teaching experience (if any), preferred medium, and availability to Dan at nussbaum@onecommunitynyc.org. Or text 213-215-2925 with inquiries.
Strong Rope: Open Call for Artists
Deadline: Rolling
If you are a local artist or know someone who would like to display their work in our Red Hook and/or Gowanus taprooms, let us know! We love to highlight local creativity, be it in the form of painting, photography, etc.
We are currently booking artists through the rest of 2025 for First Fridays Monthly Art Installation programming.
Asian American Writers' Workshop: Call for Submissions
Deadline: Rolling
The Margins seeks pitches and submissions to Open City, its journalism section devoted to chronicling the pulse of Asian America. Through articles, features, interviews, and profiles, Open City covers Asian immigrant and Muslim communities with an emphasis on social, racial, and gender justice issues.
Since its inception in 2010, Open City has told the lived stories of Asian communities in the boroughs of New York City. Starting in 2025, we are expanding our coverages to cities and towns all over the United States.
We welcome shoeleather reporting, hybrid essays, personality and place profiles, features, narrative storytelling, and … you get the drift.
We pay all writers and translators.
Foundation for Contemporary Arts: Emergency Grants
Deadline: Rolling
Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists and poets who:
Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates
Emergency Grants is a year-round, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate, project-based assistance to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad.
Each month FCA receives an average of 100 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 15-20 grants in the range of $500 to $3,000 each. Applicants may request any amount in that range and, if granted, may receive full or partial funding. The average grant is currently $1,900.
The Creative Center: Hospital Artist-in-Residence Program
Hospital Artist-In-Residence Carmen Rios at BronxCare Health System, Family Medicine, and her art cart.
Deadline: Rolling
The Creative Center's Hospital Artist-In-Residence (AIR) Program serves patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare staff in the New York City Area and beyond. The 10 current Hospital AIRs serve over 3,000 patients each year at multiple hospital sites and develop supportive relationships with countless staff and caregivers. AIRs are professional artists trained by The Creative Center to work in a multitude of healthcare settings.
JFNY Grant for Arts & Culture
Deadline: Rolling
This program provides support to non-profit organizations in the U.S. that organize projects that will further the understanding of Japanese arts and culture within the 37 states east of the Rocky Mountains, plus Washington D.C.
Successful projects generally take the form of performances, exhibitions, film screenings, and workshops. This grant also supports online projects related to Arts & Cultural Exchange that incorporate issues pertaining to the COVID-19 global pandemic such as virtual exhibitions, virtual performances, film streaming, online conference as well as webinar. Priority will be given to those projects that have secured additional funding from sources other than the Japan Foundation, as well as projects that take place in areas where access to Japanese cultural events are relatively limited.
Dance Workforce Resilience Fund
Deadline: Rolling until March 6, 2026
Made possible by the support of the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, and other generous funders, the pilot iteration of the Dance Workforce Resilience (DWR) Fund directly supports individual freelance dancers through one-time $1,000 grants. Awards are determined through a weighted lottery system that prioritizes the most underpaid and unprotected groups of dance workers. It will distribute $324,000 over the course of the grant period to 320+ awardees for contracted dance work completed between January 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026.
Resources
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition: INFORMATION FOR DEALING WITH DAMAGED ARTWORK
BWAC has put together some tips on how to mitigate different types of damage to art for the artists in response to the devastating fire that swept through the Beard Street warehouses Wednesday 9/18 leaving their beloved gallery space of 48 years with extensive damage. Although this is advice provided by conservation professionals, each case is different and as an artist you should research the best course of action for your situation.
Brooklyn Org: Privacy & Data Security For Nonprofits
Albert from Stop Surveillance Technologies Oversight Project discussed the organization's work in combating mass surveillance and protecting communities of color, emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity measures for organizations and individuals. He provided practical advice on digital security, including password management, two-factor authentication, and recognizing phishing attempts, while also addressing concerns about data privacy and the use of various technologies. Albert concluded by discussing strategies for handling sensitive information and document retention, emphasizing the importance of secure data storage and minimizing the collection of personally identifiable information.
What We're Reading
“How Black Women Ceramicists Shaped Art History”
by Alexandra M. Thomas | Hyperallergic
“Red Hook steps up for artists, business owners facing ‘complete destruction’ after warehouse fire”
by Kirstyn Brendlen | Brooklyn Paper
“Activists Condemn Arrest of NYC Protest Photographer Alexa Wilkinson”
by Isa Farfan | Hyperallergic
“How to Help Artists and Businesses Impacted by the Red Hook Warehouse Fire”
by Michael Gonik | BK Mag
Cover Image: Artifact Concert Series, 2025 BAC Grantee. Photo: Brian Wenner
Empowering Artists. Empowering Communities.
The arts are a lifeline to sustain wonder, inspiration, healing, and a sense of community in our lives. Please join Brooklyn Arts Council in our mission to empower Brooklyn artists and arts organizations that bring life and joy into our home borough.