Professional Basics and Education Assistance Grants is sponsored by Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC). These grants help individual Oklahoma artists create visual art for public presentation, develop their professional practices, and lead community projects. The grants committee supports the mission of OVAC and scores submissions based on the merit of each application.

Accessibility | Artist Gallery | Arts Calendar Artist Entrepreneur Program Community Supported Artist Program Grants for Artists help individual Oklahoma artists create visual art for public presentation, develop their professional practices, and lead community projects. Grants are open to artists working in visual-based mediums, curation, and art writing.

The grants committee supports the mission of OVAC and scores submissions based on the merit of each application according to the pertinent grant category and its associated criteria.

All four of our grant applications will be reviewed multiple times throughout the year on the following rolling schedule: Professional Basics and Education Assistance Grants: Applications must be received by 11:59PM on January 15th , March 15th , or October 15th and applications will be reviewed in the following weeks.

Creative Projects and Community/Artist Partnership Grants: Applications must be received by 11:59PM on March 15th or October 15th and applications will be reviewed in the following weeks. *Artists can expect notification within four weeks of the grant deadline. Funded projects must occur after the grant application is accepted and within one year of receiving grant funds.

CREATIVE PROJECTS Next Deadline: Oct 15, 2026 Creative Projects Grant Application Example Creative Projects Scoring Matrix COMMUNITY/ARTIST PARTNERSHIP Next Deadline: Oct 15, 2026 Community/Artist Partnership Grant Application Example Community/Artist Partnership Scoring Matrix EDUCATION ASSISTANCE Next Deadline: Oct 15, 2026 Education Assistance Grant Application Example Education Assistance Scoring Matrix PROFESSIONAL BASICS Next Deadline: Oct 15, 2026 Up to $500 Professional Basics Application Example Professional Basics Scoring Matrix You must be 21 or older to apply for a grant.

Grant recipients must have held at least 12 months of residency in Oklahoma prior to the submission deadline. If you are awarded a grant you must wait one year before reapplying. Individuals can only only submit one application per cycle.

​ You may not request a grant to reimburse spent funds. Artists currently enrolled in BFA or MFA programs are not eligible to apply. Recipients of MOMENTUM Spotlight and THRIVE are not eligible to apply within one year of their reward disbursement of the stated programs.

If you are awarded a THRIVE Grant, you are eligible to apply, but your proposed project may not be the same as your THRIVE proposal or a new iteration of said project. How often can I apply for an OVAC Grant? You can apply as often as you would like.

If you are awarded a grant, you must wait one year from that grant cycle to apply again. Recipients of Momentum Spotlight are not eligible to apply within one year of their reward disbursement of the stated programs. If you are awarded a Thrive Grant, you are eligible to apply, but your proposed project may not be the same as your Thrive proposal or a new iteration of said project.

Can I apply for multiple grants in a cycle? No. Individuals can only have their name attached to one application per cycle. How long must I have been a resident of Oklahoma to be eligible to apply for an OVAC grant?

To be eligible for an OVAC grant, you must have held at least 12 months residency in Oklahoma prior to the submission deadline. I’ve applied several times and not received a grant. Why?

Our grants are extremely competitive, particularly our Creative Projects grants. Please do not become discouraged by the possibility of having to submit over multiple occasions. We will provide feedback on each request, whether funded or not.

We encourage you to use this feedback to strengthen your submissions for the future. What sort of projects are not funded? There are some limits on the types of projects we can fund.

Our mission limits our focus to the visual arts and does not include documentary films, strong narrative films/productions, music, dramatic productions, dance, and others. We can fund video art, performance art, sound art, and other non-traditional art forms that still fall under visual art. Projects that raise concerns around cultural appropriateness will not be considered.

If you are unsure of whether or not your project qualifies, please reach out to our Administrative and Artist Relations Manager at ariana@ovac-ok. org . Can curators and arts writers apply for OVAC Grants?

Yes. Artists/writers/curators may only have their name(s) attached to one application per cycle. Artists/writers/curators who choose to submit as groups, upon award of grant, will be held to the same rules of eligibility as an artist/writer/curator who applies individually.

Can I apply as part of a group? Yes. Artists may only have their name(s) attached to one application per cycle.

Artists who choose to submit as groups, upon award of grant, will be held to the same rules of eligibility as an artist who applies individually. Once I’m funded, when can I apply again? Once you are funded, you have to wait one year from the grant cycle for which you were awarded.

E.g. If you were awarded in October 2023, you cannot apply again until October 2024. Do I have to be an OVAC member to receive a grant? No, you do not have to be an OVAC member to apply for or receive a grant.

How are grant applications scored? Each grant category has a different system of scoring. Education and Travel Assistance grants are evaluated and awarded based on four categories: the quality of the educational opportunity, potential impact on the applicant's practice/career, the applicant’s abillity to complete the project, and on the relevance of the project based on provided work samples.

Professional Basics grants are evaluated and awarded based on three categories: the quality of the project, the applicant’s ability to complete the project, and on the relevance of the project based on provided work samples.

Creative Projects grants are evaluated and awarded based on four categories: the concept of the project, the quality of the work, how career altering the opportunity is, and the ability of the applicant to complete the project. "Extra Credit" will be given to projects that: serve under-represented regions of Oklahoma and/or include artist(s) Native Peoples/People of Color.

Community/Artist Partnership grants are evaluated and awarded based on four categories: the potential impact on the community from this project, the concept of the project, the quality of the work, and the applicant’s ability to complete the project. "Extra Credit" will be given to projects that: serve under-represented regions of Oklahoma, include artist(s) Native Peoples/People of Color, and/or utilizes collaboration.

OVAC staff organizes a panel of community members to review grants. These individuals are involved in the arts in a variety of ways, and are chosen for their informed opinions, diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and experience. OVAC staff does not decide who receives grants.

Reach out to Administrative and Artist Relations Manager, Ariana Weir-Temoshok, at Ariana@Ovac-Ok. Org or Grants for Artists Events Come back soon for more Grants for Artists Events!

Grants for Artists Application Dates Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Applications Open: Grants for Artists | Education Assistance Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Applications Open: Grants for Artists | Professional Basics Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) Applications Open: Grants for Artists | Creative Projects Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Applications Open: Grants for Artists | Community/Artist Partnerships Creative Projects Grantee Liz Cousins (she/her) has worked as a professional photographer in the Tulsa area for over two decades and began documenting Tulsa's queer community as a way to support and be a part of it years before she found the ability to publicly join it.

Her portrait work often documents alternative lifestyles and those who live larger than life. Community/Artist Partnership Grantee Reviving, Teaching, and Passing on Traditional Caddo Pottery Workshop and Exhibition Born in Oklahoma of the Caddo tribe, I have always been an artist. I discovered my purpose and voice behind my art was to revive and reintroduce my tribe’s prolific pottery tradition to the world as it had almost been lost.

I attended SCAD for an art background, and today create traditional and modern interpretations of our ancestral pottery in order to educate the public and our own people of our cultural identity. My work can be seen in museum permanent collections all over the country including the NMAI, DMA, MAM, Mulvane, Carlos, Crystal Bridges, Autry, Eiteljorg, and Gilcrease Museum.

Professional Basics Grantee Screen-Printing Equipment David Stevens is an educator, maker, and community enabler born and raised in Oklahoma City, where he is Senior Manager of Studio School at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. Dave holds an MFA in ceramics from the University of Oklahoma, and a BFA in studio arts with a painting emphasis from Oklahoma City University. davesstudio.

net Education Assistance Grantee An Hà is an interdisciplinary artist. His practice centers on finding, collecting, arranging, and orchestrating materials such as discarded photographs, household dust, clothes, toys, and furniture. He stages and animates these materials to explore the poetic language within the everyday objects.

Hà attended the Yale Norfolk School of Art and earned his BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in 2025. Community/Artist Partnership Grantee Crafted in Community: Foil Embossing Workshop Program Sofia Arenas (she/they/ella) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Oklahoma City whose work explores visual storytelling through illustration, design, fiber, and tactile materials.

Her practice is rooted in process, using hands-on techniques like embossing, layering, and stitching to create work centered on story, play, and material. Alongside her independent practice, she develops large-scale visual design work and leads community workshops focused on accessible, hands-on art-making.

Drawing from her Guatemalan and Peruvian heritage, Sofia’s work reflects identity through color, pattern, and form, creating spaces where people can explore creativity through making and shared experience. Creative Projects Grantee The Legends of Black Rodeo Nicol Ragland has had a 25 year photographic and film exploration into humanity’s relationship with culture and the wild.

Her intent is narrative-enhancing photography and film, with an emphasis on cause-driven storytelling. Ragland finds culture to be an accumulation of ideas where we explore ways of exploring. Her work has been honored by award winning documentaries, featured photographer for the Smithsonian Exhibit - ‘Change in Rural America’ and as well as editorial and commercial work to include Patagonia, Toyota, PBS Newshour and The Intercept.

Professional Basics Grantee Matting, Framing, Display Pedestals Barbara Paradise Kelly is a photographer, visual artist, and community historian documenting the people, landscape, and culture of Owyhee, Nevada, on the Duck Valley Reservation. Raised in northern Nevada, her work reflects a deep connection to the land and the Shoshone and Paiute communities.

Through portraiture, landscapes, vernacular architecture, signage, and her notable “outhouse series,” Kelley preserves everyday life. Her images emphasize dignity and resilience. Also an active lecturer, she shares the history of Owyhee at community gatherings, offering a perspective rooted in relationship, observation, and respect.

Community/Artist Partnership Grantee Ink the Block Party Mural Initiative Julius is a working artist based in Norman, Oklahoma. They currently serves as Gallery Manager at Uncanny Art House and as a Multimedia Specialist for Uncanny Media. Their practice is interdisciplinary, spanning painting, screen printing, graphic design, web development, and video production.

Central to their work is a commitment to community and civic development, with more than a decade of experience organizing creative events and collaborative projects. This work has led to partnerships throughout the Oklahoma City metro, including collaborations with 1984 Studios, Chat Pile, Resonator, Opolis, and Zanzibar Media, among many others.

Creative Projects Grantee American Denim: A Tale of Western Idealization Told Through Dad’s Acid Washed Jeans Paige Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American multimedia printmaker based in Oklahoma City. She received her BA in Studio Art and Art History from Oklahoma State University. Most recently, she has exhibited in juried exhibitions nationally in Atlanta, GA, Denver, CO, and Fort Wayne, IN, as well locally throughout Oklahoma.

Her work is part of the permanent collections of Kohler Art Gallery, Swarthmore Libraries, and Tufts University. Nguyen interned at the Paseo Plunge Gallery, juried the Yukon High School Annual Exhibition, and was the Curatorial Assistant for the Gardiner Gallery. She currently teaches printmaking at ARTSPACE at Untitled in Oklahoma City.

Professional Basics Grantee Radio III / ᎦᏬᏂᏍᎩ ᏦᎢ at The Confluence Elisa Harkins is a composer, artist, and citizen of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, also of Cherokee descent. She lives and works on the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation. Her multidisciplinary practice spans music, performance, video, and installation, centering Indigenous language, song, and sound as living cultural practices.

Since 2017, Harkins has created recordings and performances that integrate Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee language with contemporary electronic production. Her work engages hymn traditions, translation, and sound as a carrier of memory and identity. She has presented at MCA Chicago, REDCAT, and Spoleto Festival and received support from Creative Capital and First Peoples Fund.

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