Overview & Guidelines

2026 Collective Power Fund grants are project-based and distribute $60,000 in funding as follows:

  • (1) $10,000 (Artist Team or Arts Collective Grants)

  • (10) $5,000 (New Works Grants)

New Works Grants ($5,000) ​​

Support the creation and presentation of visionary new work/projects for individual artists.

Artist Team or Artist Collective Grant ($10,000)

Support the creation and presentation of visionary, new work/project created by an artist team or arts collective.

*For the 2026 cycle, we have consolidated the grant offerings into 1 Artist Collective grant, and 10 New Projects grants.  

Project Criteria

  • Projects must function around a visual arts context

  • Applicant must be the primary creator of the project and related work

  • Projects must have a publicly accessible component

  • Proposals must be for the development, completion, and/or presentation of a project

  • Applicant must have creative control and rights of the proposed project

  • Applicant can only submit one project per grant cycle

  • Individual artists may apply to complete a body of work as long as part of their project expands beyond their own solo practice

  • Funded projects must be completed by December 31, 2026

What types of projects are not eligible?

  • Projects seeking to get support retroactively or seeking reimbursement

  • Existing or ongoing programming such as an exhibition series, or regularly occurring project

  • Projects solely focused on individual studio practices or to fund solo exhibitions

  • Projects that are work-for-hire

Eligibility Requirements


Who is eligible to apply?

To be eligible for this grant, applicants must:

  • Reside in King County (incorporated or unincorporated, proof of residency upon finalist status);

  • Create work that is grounded in the visual arts or has a strong visual context;

  • Be the main creator of the project and work;

  • Be either an individual artist, artist team, or artist-run collective;

  • Be 21 years of age or older;

  • Be able to receive income in the U.S.

Eligible disciplines:

3D art, architecture, animation, ceramics, craft, design, drawing, digital art, folk art, film, illustration, installation, murals, naive art, new media, painting, performance art, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video, sound art, social practice, tech-based art, traditional art, and video games.

In order to be eligible, disciplines not listed above must demonstrate a strong visual context and are ​​encouraged to form collaborations with visual artists to achieve this end.

We strongly encourage artists to apply who identify as either disabled, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color), LGBTQ2IA+, or who live in rural areas.

Who is ineligible to apply?

Ineligible applicants for this grant are:

  • Members of the NWFF Board of Trustees, their business partners, or family members

  • Northwest Film Forum staff members, interns, their business partners, or family members

  • Individuals who are submitting as curators, managers, or aggregators of other artists’ work

  • Incorporated entities such as C-corp, S-corp, or 501c3s (LLCs are eligible to apply)

  • 2025 Collective Power Fund grant recipients

  • Projects fiscally sponsored by NWFF cannot use NWFF as a fiscal sponsor for this grant cycle, but artists may apply as individuals.

Applying as an Artist Team or Arts Collective

If you are applying as an artist team or arts collective, you will need to choose one person to serve as the project’s lead organizer. The artist team or arts collective will need to have completed at least one arts-related project with the person you chose as the lead organizer.

The lead organizer will be the primary contact for the project during the application and granting process. You can choose to list up to six additional collaborators on the application. The collaborators you list should be people who share organizing responsibilities on the project. Artists who are supported through your project, but do not have organizing responsibilities, do not need to be listed as collaborators in the application.

Artist-led curatorial initiatives are eligible, and visual artists who are interested in organizing and collaborating with other creatives they’ve worked with before are encouraged to do so.

Application Checklist

  • Discipline Statement (max 300 characters)

  • Biography (max 800 characters)

  • Project Overview

  • Project Narrative (max 2100 characters or 2 minute video)

  • Project Budget

  • Visual Support Materials

  • Visual Support Material Descriptions (max 1,000 characters)

  • Artist Profile and Contact Info

  • Application Materials

    To be eligible for this grant, applicants are required to submit the following materials:

    Discipline Statement (300 characters) –
    A discipline statement describes your artistic practice. It can be as simple as “I am a visual artist” or give a more nuanced explanation of your practice.

    Biography (800 characters or less)  –
    Please provide a short bio. For artist teams/collectives, provide a bio for the lead organizer, as well as any key collaborators and artists (up to 5 bios, max 300 characters each). Focus on experience relevant to this project.

    Project Overview

    • Title of Project

    • Estimated Project Start Date

    • Estimated Project Completion Date

    • Amount Requested ($2,000, $5,000 or $10,000)

    • Project Budget

    • Project Summary (300 characters or less)


    Project Narrative     (2100 characters or 2 minutes or less of audio/video)

    *Applicants must choose one format per response. Combined or multiple formats will not be reviewed.

    Please clearly answer the following questions to help the reviewers understand your project’s vision and approach.

    • Why is it important for this project to occur?

    • How does your project speak to your larger artistic practice?

    • Where will the project ideally take place?

    • Who is your primary audience?

    • Why are you the right person to make this project?

    • What component of your project will be accessible to the public?

    Project Budget

    Complete a Project Budget, save it as a PDF, and upload it with your application.

    Visual Support Materials 

    Applicants should submit visual support materials (work samples) that support the project they are proposing. It is recommended that applicants provide work samples from similar projects they have completed within the last 5 years so the Award Selection Committee has an understanding of what a successfully completed project from them looks like.

    Applicants can also submit work samples that depict the progress of their current project to complement their work samples from completed projects. We suggest submitting more work samples from completed projects than in-progress projects.

    Applicants can choose to submit 2 of the 3 options:

    • Images (up to 8 total, max 2MB each — .jpeg, .jpg, .gif and .png are accepted)

    • Website URL (up to 1 total — must be relevant to the project and offer additional information on your ability to realize the proposed project)

    • Video (up to 1 total, reviewed for a max of 5 minutes — video files must be hosted on a video platform such as YouTube or Vimeo; include a password in the description section if your account is private)

    *Applicants can upload their visual support materials in the order they would like or they can rearrange them once they are uploaded.

    Visual Support Material Descriptions –
    For each media item that you upload you will be asked to complete a Label Media section. Please make sure you include the following:

    • Title of the media file

    • Date you completed the individual work, body of work, series, or performance

    • Your role in the creation of the work sample (such as “I was the filmmaker and editor” or “I developed the mural idea for our team” or just “I painted this”)

    • Additional details (up to 1,000 characters)

      • If image-based, include medium, materials, and dimensions

      • If time-based, include duration of larger body of work and (if needed) each work sample.

Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on:

  • Artistic strength of project idea, vision, and originality

  • Demonstrated capacity to complete the proposed project within the timeline and budget

  • Accessibility of the project to the public

  • Potential impact on and relevance to the local arts and culture landscape, and/or the artist’s growth

  • Challenge of mainstream methods of thinking, creating, and/or presenting art

  • Significance of impact that funding and support would provide for the project and creative practice

Preference will be given to projects that achieve one or more of the following:

  • Exemplifies equity and collectivity

  • Provides energy, visibility, and/or solidarity around social justice issues

  • Gives back to the community and nurtures our creative ecosystem

  • Develops an unconventional approach or perspective to the arts/culture in our region

Following the submission deadline, NWFF will conduct an eligibility check. Eligible applications will then be reviewed and scored by our Award Selection Committee (ASC). The ASC includes a diverse panel of three (3) recognized artists and/or arts professionals, with varying expertise and backgrounds and one (1) arts professional within the Andy Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program. The names of the panelists will be announced with the recipients.

Application Feedback

Office Hours

We are offering Office Hours over Zoom to answer any questions about the Collective Power Fund, and/or to provide feedback on your in-progress application.

Please use (link TBD) to sign up for a 20 minute, 1-on-1 meeting with our Grants Manager. If any of the existing time slots don’t work for you, email the Collective Power Fund Grants Manager (jade@nwfilmforum.org) to schedule another time.

Written Feedback

If preferred, applicants can also receive written pre-panel feedback on their application if they email their application materials to jade@nwfilmforum.org before October 10th. Complete or partial application materials will both be accepted, but please note that sharing some kind of work sample(s) will help us maximize the quality of feedback.

Pre-panel feedback from our Grants Manager will be emailed back to applicants within approximately seven business days and include:

  • An eligibility check to make sure the application aligns with the guidelines

  • General suggestions on how to strengthen your application materials for the selection panelists

Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their complete or partial applications for feedback as early as possible in order to have ample time to incorporate feedback. Applications received close to the feedback deadline (November 3rd) may take longer to process.

Important: Artists who receive pre-panel feedback will still need to submit their applications before the grant application deadline (October 21st).

Application Timeline

  • October 21st, 2026 – Application Opens

  • TBA – Info Session

  • Office Hours – 11AM – 4PM 

    • October 5th

    • October 7th

    • October 13th 

  • October 13th, 2026 – Deadline to Request Written Application Feedback

  • October 21, 2026 – Application Closes

  • October-November 2026 – Review period

  • December 2026 – Recipients Notified

  • December 2026 – Recipients Announced!

Ready to Apply?

Apply here

Questions?

Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page!
If you have questions about the application, eligibility, etc., please contact our grants manager at jade@nwfilmforum.org.