ArtsAVL launches $500-1,500 grant program for WNC artists

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Applications are now open for the ArtsAVL Artist Support Grant cycle. The grants, open to artists from six different Western North Carolina counties, will be awarded this November.

The Artist Support Grant program is intended to “support individual artists in all phases of their career,” according to ArtsAVL. The grants range from $500-1,500 in awards, and are open to visual, performing, literary, musical and interdisciplinary artists from Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties.

Applications are open from Tuesday, July 21, through 11:59 p.m., Aug. 17, 2026. Apply here.

Eligibility requirements and timeline

The grants are open to individual artists and small groups of collaborating artists who have lived continuously in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties for at least one year before Aug. 17, 2026. Applying artists must be 18 years old or older. Students enrolled full-time in undergraduate or associate degree programs may not apply, but artists pursuing graduate degrees in subjects other than their art form and artists in certificate programs may be eligible.

Artists who have already received funding from the N.C. Arts Council for the 2026-27 fiscal year are ineligible to apply, as well as artists who have received Artist Support Grant funding inside the last two cycles.

Artist applications will be reviewed by a panel of arts professionals and scored on artistic merit, project feasibility and professional development.

“Please be sure you are both thorough and clear in your responses,” ArtsAVL wrote. “Incomplete or unclear responses will make it more difficult for panelists to evaluate your proposal and will negatively impact your score.”

After the Aug. 17 application deadline, awards will be announced in November 2026. Final grant reports will be due Jan. 31, 2028.

For more information, visit www.artsavl.org/asg.

CORRECTION – 3:20 p.m., Tuesday, July 21, 2026 – A previous version of this story referred to the Artist Support Grants as an initiative of the North Carolina Arts Council. This is inaccurate. While the N.C. Arts Council provides some of the funding for the grants, the program is administered by ArtsAVL.