Summer Open Calls for Artists, Writers, and Cultural Creators (June 24th - July 7th)
Many of these calls are designed with care: some center artists with disabilities, others lift up Black trans women, dance-makers in Los Angeles, or artists looking to reimagine climate, technology, and care. Don’t underestimate what a small application could turn into. Even the smallest postcard submission can ripple out.
Here’s a glimpse at what’s open right now:
Deadline: June 25th, 2025
Wish You Were Here: 2025 Annual Postcard Show
A.I.R. Gallery will hold its annual postcard show, Wish You Were Here, from July 5 through August 3, 2025. They invite artists to participate by donating a postcard-sized work (4 x 6 inches) in any medium. Each original work will be sold for $45 and proceeds will benefit A.I.R. Gallery’s programs and mission to advance the status of women and non-binary artists.
Entry is FREE and ALL WORKS ARE ACCEPTED!
The Archives of American Art Internships (Fall 2025)
The Archives of American Art offers internships year-round to students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs who wish to learn and gain professional experience in various fields including archival science, information management, museum studies, art administration, art history, and cultural studies.
Summer internships are accompanied by a $7,000 stipend, based on a full-time, ten-week schedule.
Open to students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs, or those who have graduated within the past six months
International Creator Residency Program 2026
Tokyo Arts and Space (TOKAS), operated by a division of The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, offers artist-in-residence programs for international creators working in various creative fields to stay, engage in creation, and conduct research activities in Tokyo. It also provides creators with the opportunities to exchange creative ideas and to present outcomes of their residency at TOKAS-organized events, such as the OPEN STUDIO.
Living space (single room), airfare, living expenses (per diem), and fee for creative work/project are covered.
Deadline: June 26th, 2025
Innovate Grant awards (2) $1,800.00 grants each quarter, to one Visual Artist and one Photographer. In addition, (12) honorable mentions (6 in art and 6 in photo), will be featured on their website and join a growing community of vibrant and talented artists. Innovate Grant’s commitment extends beyond the grant cycle by promoting the work of selected winners and honorable mentions into the future.
Deadline: June 27th, 2025
Performa and Diane Severin Nguyen Announce Casting Call for Performa 2025 Biennial
Performa is casting eight performers (ages 18–30, any ethnicity) for a new staged band project by visual artist Diane Severin Nguyen. This is a live performance centered around a 1960s/70s–era rock/folk band, blending music, movement, and visual staging within a larger performance artwork. Performers selected will begin rehearsals in June for a world premiere performance in November as part of the Performa 2025 Biennial, co-commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Deadline: June 30th, 2025
CALL FOR EXHIBITS 2025/26 – Gifts of Art at Michigan Medicine
The Gifts of Art Program is seeking submissions for individual and group art exhibits for the September 2025 to August 2026 exhibition year. One of the first and most comprehensive arts in healthcare programs in the nation, Gifts of Art brings the world of art and music to Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan. Their nine 2-D and 3-D galleries throughout the medical center are viewed by thousands of people each day and display over 30 exhibits per year.
Deadline: July 1st, 2025
Call for Contributions: The Almanac of Artificial Seasons
What are the (synthetic, mental, etc) landscapes that emerge from the deregulation of climate, the acceleration of machine learning technologies, and the trend towards neo-feudalism? The Almanac of Artificial Seasons is a collection exploring the unstable territories emerging at the intersection of these forces. They invite theoretical articles, comics, and documentation for artistic projects, such as Unreal Engine environments, motion capture performances, and interactive narratives, that delve into the shifting landscapes where climate transformation, AI technologies, network (and anti network) politics, and artistic practice converge.
Carolinas Rehab Art Gallery - 3rd Quarter
Carolinas Rehabilitation is looking for local and regional artists (North and South Carolina) to submit pieces to be hung in their newly renovated, high-traffic space. Every three months the gallery will be filled with new art, chosen by a committee. The artists chosen for each time period will be able to display 3 pieces of art. They are looking for art that creates a positive and welcome distraction for their patients and visitors. This is a busy lobby and connects to their flagship hospital.
Must be at least 18 years of age and reside in North Carolina
Deadline: July 2nd, 2025
Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant
The Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant is an annual grant awarded to lesbians for making visionary moving-image art. Work can be experimental animation, experimental documentary, experimental narrative, cross-genre, or solely experimental.
Applicants must be based in the U.S.
The grant includes an award of $5,000 and a series of individual studio visits with QA staff members and the grant’s judges.
Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists
The Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists is an annual $10,000 grant awarded to provide critical support to Black trans women whose work has often been under-recognized in the visual art field.
Award $10,000
This is a grant for Black trans women who are early-career artists working in visual art.
US residents only
Deadline: July 3rd, 2025
Open to artists with physical, cognitive, visual and hearing disabilities. To be eligible for submission, the work must have been created after the onset of a disability or injury. Each work must also have been created within the last five years to be eligible. All work submitted must be available for sale. Please do not submit work that has sold or will be unavailable when decisions are announced in late July.
Artists earn 80% of the sales of exhibited work, multiples and those commissioned in the 12-week show. Unsold works are returned after the exhibit closes.
Artists may be invited to take part in Art Ability’s ongoing sales and exhibition programs.
Deadline: July 4th, 2025
2025-26 XENO Prize - Artist Books Application
In pursuit of its mission to present, preserve, interpret, educate and advocate on behalf of avant-garde art, especially forms that may be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, cultural bias, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content, Franklin Furnace has since 2023 offered the annual XENO Prizes for Performance Art and Artists’ Books, named in honor of xenophiles, people who appreciate all people and cultures.
Selected artists to receive $5000 to publish one artist's book on the topic of book banning/burning in an edition of at least 100 copies.
Open to independent artists living in the United States.
The MSU Museum CoLab Studio invites bold and innovative proposals for our upcoming exhibition, Singularity. This exhibition and public programming series unravels the enigmatic and transformative concept of the technological singularity, a point in time which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, leading to rapid technological growth and unpredictable change in human civilization.
Projects are funded for up to $3,000 USD. Allowable costs include (but are not limited to) materials, construction and production costs, and shipping to/from East Lansing, MI.
Deadline: July 6th, 2025
LAUNCH: LA dance residency program
LAUNCH:LA is a residency program aimed at supporting Los Angeles’s emerging dance makers by lifting the economic burden that goes into the creation of a new work.
A stipend of $3,000 for the selected artist plus a $2,750 production stipend, which includes the use of LAUNCH: LA’s lighting designer.
Selected artists are provided the space, time, monetary support, and platform to have their work seen and celebrated by a wider audience.
Designed for early-career, L.A.-based dance-centered artists, applicants from all backgrounds, disciplines, and abilities are encouraged to apply, particularly those from groups historically underrepresented in the space.
Deadline: July 7th, 2025
Art House is an emerging artist incubator program that provides mentorship, accessibility, and opportunities for recently graduated API emerging artists. By providing equitable opportunities, accessibility, and visibility, Art House becomes a bridge for local API emerging artists in their adjustment year to the city. 2025-2026 cohorts will be guaranteed a group exhibition at Latitude Gallery in NYC in Q4 2025.
Applicants must have graduated/are graduating from an arts degree program within the past year (Class of 2024/2025),
Identify as Asian Pacific Islander (API), and maintain an active fine art practice with the intention of presenting at fine art galleries and institutions at a professional level
Open to artists who are residing in or relocating to New York City, as well as those who have regular access to the five boroughs, including artists based in parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, and upstate New York.
The Bipoc Critics Lab Cohort at the Public Theater
The Public is pleased to host the 2024-2025 BIPOC Critics Lab, developed and led by cultural critic Jose Solís. Solís has created an educational space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) who have historically and systematically been excluded from cultural criticism.
Thank you! I shared with my small Art group and encouraged them to share.