$ City of Lansing Mini Pocket Grants 

$ Round-2 MCACA Minigrants

$ MCACA Bus Trek plus Arts Equipment & Supplies Grants

$ NEA Grants for Arts Projects

$ NEA Challenge America

$ NEA Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants

$ MIHumanities Michigan Read Action Grants

$ The Capital Region Community Foundation 2022 Grants

$ Kars4Kids Small Educational Grants

$ Arts Midwest Shakespeare in American Communities

$ Barbara Deming Memorial Fund: Money for Women

$ Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant Program

$ Black Artist Fund (ongoing)

$ iStock Creative Inclusion Grants

$ Anna Rabinowitz Award for Poetry

$ Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

$ Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund

$ NEA Creative Writing Fellowship

$ NEA Translator Fellowships

Arts Council Greater Lansing announces a call to artists and the 2022 dates for Arts Night Out Old Town! Want to share your talent with the community? Find your perfect match with one of our participating Old Town businesses and collaborate with them for the perfect pop-up experience. Arts Night Out takes place on the first Friday (with the exception of holidays) every other month, beginning in January. The 2022 dates are as follows: Jan. 7, March 4, May 6, July 8, Sept. 9 and Nov. 4. Learn more.

East Lansing Art Festival seeks artists for this annual festival to be held May 21-22, 2022, in Downtown East Lansing, Michigan. Cash awards of $6000 in total will be given. All work must be the creation of the exhibiting artist. All work on display must be consistent with the images submitted. Artists must be 18 or older. Categories include 2-D mixed media, 3-D mixed media, ceramics functional, ceramics non-functional, digital art, drawing/pastels, emerging, fiber functional, fiber non-functional, glass, jewelry precious, jewelry non-precious, metals, painting, photography, prints, sculpture and wood. A $35 application fee is required. Application deadline is Jan. 31, 2022. Learn more.

Lowell Arts of Lowell, Michigan, announces a call to artists for its 36th Annual "West Michigan Art Competition," which highlights outstanding artwork by Lower West Michigan artists. Artwork in any visual art media can be submitted. Five cash awards totaling $2500 will be given. Artists may submit one piece for consideration. The competition is open to all visual art media by artists who reside in one of the eligible West Michigan counties, including Clinton and Eaton among others. Application deadline is Jan. 20, 2022. Learn more.

Lakeshore Art Festival announces a call to artists for this annual event to be held June 25-26, 2022, in Downtown Muskegon, Michigan. A total of $3,000 in awards will be given. All handcrafted mediums are welcome. The Lakeshore Art Festival is a unique mix of fine art, fine craft, hand-crafted goods, food and family fun in Downtown Muskegon, Michigan. Guests will enjoy a juried fine art and craft fair, as well as vibrant streets brimming with unique artisan food products, children’s activities, entertainment and more! A $35 application fee is required. Application deadline is Feb. 1, 2022. Learn more.

Chelsea Area Festivals & Events is issuing a call for art for the 2022/23 "SculptureWalk Chelsea," an outdoor sculpture exhibition showcased in historic Chelsea, Michigan. Sixteen works of original art will be accepted, via a juried process, into the 2022/23 rotation. Selected artists will receive an $850 cash stipend. Sculptures will be available for purchase. The call is open to regional artists. Only original and completed works of art will be accepted. Selected works will be installed late May 2022 and remain in place for the full year of the exhibit. Application deadline is Feb. 19, 2022. Learn more.

Artless Bastard Inc. in De Pere, Wisconsin, seeks entries for its juried art exhibition, "Home," being held Jan. 20 - Feb. 19, 2022. What does "home" mean to you? Is it a place, a thing, a person or a feeling? Let your work tell the story. Award of $100 will be given for Best in Show. Open to both 3-D and 2-D artwork in all mediums. If it can fit it thru the door you can enter it! Excludes performance artwork. Artwork must be original, yours and completed within the last two years. A fee of $20 for the first piece and $10 for each additional piece is required. Application deadline is Dec. 30, 2021. Learn more.

Praxis Gallery Photo Arts Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, seeks entries for its juried photography exhibition, "Empty Places: Abandoned Spaces," to be held Feb. 19 - March 5, 2022. Up to seventy-four images will be selected. A Juror's Choice, three Honorable Mentions and a Directors Choice will be awarded. Praxis seeks submissions of photographic art that explore the visual and social significance of abandoned space-where derelict factories, churches, private houses or other empty places serve as the basis for creative investigation. All genres, capture types, color and black & white, traditional and non-traditional photographic and digital post-production processes are welcome. A fee of $35 for a set of five images and $5 for each additional image is required. Application deadline is Dec. 31, 2021. Learn more.

ARC Gallery & Educational Foundation seeks to examine the construct of Love. They are looking for an artist response to the idea of “Love” in the broadest sense. These ideas might include the love of family and friends, nature, the body and beyond. Please submit work and an artist statement that illustrates whatever passion you are embracing. All media are welcome, including video, performance, sound, 2-D and 3-D work. The exhibition will run from Feb. 3-26, 2022. A fee of $30 for one to three images and $10 for each additional image is required. Application deadline is Jan. 2, 2022. Learn more.

J. Mane Gallery invites submissions for its online juried art exhibition, "Elements of Nature," opening Jan. 1, 2022. The elements of nature are fourfold--wind/air, water, earth & fire. Artists are invited to submit work that best represents one or all of these elements. Mediums include painting, drawing, pastels, inks, pencil, encaustic, photography, mixed media and digital art. Both 2-D and 3-D art is accepted. Cash awards may be given to the top three winners. The First Place winner will be the featured artist on the website for the duration of the exhibition. An entry fee of $20 for up to five images is required. Application deadline is Dec. 23, 2021. Learn more.

University of Central Oklahoma Mass Communication's Photographic Arts Program and Woody Gaddis Gallery seek entries for their juried photographic exhibition, “The Lighter Side,” to be held Jan. 31 - March 3, 2022. Through challenging times, art allows its creators and viewers to escape into their imaginations or to connect through the absurdity of life. For this exhibition, they seek images that showcase the resiliency of creation as a means to uplift. Anyone is eligible to enter. There is no entry fee to compete. Application deadline is Jan. 5, 2022. Learn more.

Rochester Contemporary Art Center announces a call to artists for its "6x6" fundraiser and exhibit. Every $20 artwork purchase supports the university's future exhibitions & public art. Each summer RoCo's "6x6"exhibition brings together thousands of original artworks, made and donated by celebrities, international & local artists, designers, youth and YOU. All artworks will be exhibited and for sale to the public for $20 each to benefit RoCo. Artists’ names will be revealed to the buyer upon purchase and all artworks remain on display through the end of the exhibition. Limit three artworks per school or school group (no limit for colleges). Learn more.

Arts Council Greater Lansing presents an in-person casual grant consultation at the Brew Café in West Lansing on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021 from 12 - 2 p.m. Drop in and discuss your creative ideas with membership and program manager, Taylor Haslett. Get assistance in planning your grant applications or get leads to other funding opportunities! If you are interested in dropping in to this meeting, send an email to Taylor Haslett at taylor@lansingarts.org or just stop by at your convenience (a virtual option is also available). Current open grants include MCACA Professional and Organizational Development Minigrants Round 2 (due January 15, 2022); MCACA Arts Project Minigrants Round 2 (due January 15, 2022) and MCACA Arts Equipment and Supplies and Bus Trek Grants (ongoing until April 15, 2022). Learn more.

Wharton Center is seeking volunteers for their sensory friendly events coming up in 2022, including Body Traffic, Feb. 12, 2022, (12:30-4 p.m. commitment, 2 p.m. curtain) and Dog Man the Musical, Feb. 21, 2021, (12-3:30 p.m. commitment, 1:30 p.m. curtain). Policies set by Wharton Center and Michigan State University require all volunteers show proof of full vaccination with a WHO- or FDA-approved vaccine by Jan. 10, 2020. Masks are required in the building. Learn more.

Forbes Nonprofit presents "14 Essential Agile Practices For Nonprofit Organizations," by the Forbes Nonprofit Council expert panel. Excerpt: "With an unstable economy and consumer trends constantly changing and evolving, one of the most important assets business leaders can have today is adaptability. This is especially true for nonprofit leaders as their organizations tend to be even less stable than others." Read more.

Nonprofits are Messy and podcaster and consultant, Joan Garry, offers lots of great info for success. Check out "Episode 147: How Powerful Partnerships Drive Innovative Nonprofit Marketing," where Joan speaks with Alison Moore, chief executive officer of Comic Relief US, about how organizations can harness the power of creative content to spread the word about their mission. Listen in.

Collaboration and exploration happens when we are all working together. So please, renew your membership and bring along a friend (or 2, or 5--you get where we're going here). Strength in numbers equals a creative explosion for our region. And who doesn't want that? Renew now!

It won't steal too much of your time (it took us 6 min.), and your responses will help make positive change! Your voice matters. So PLEASE tell us exactly what you want from your membership. We want to provide you with everything you need so you feel supported, successful and seen! Take it here!

If you have a call to artists, a position or internship opening or are looking for volunteers, please let us know. Email the Arts Council at dawn@lansingarts.org to list your opportunity in our next Creative Connection. And please SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with us! We are always looking for photos of creative connections to add to this newsletter. Tell us what you are up to, and we will let everyone know. (Photo by Jena Hovey of McShane Photography)

Tis the season...this is our friendly little reminder that the Arts Council team will be taking some time off in honor of the upcoming holiday season. Therefore we will not be available on the following dates:

We hope you all enjoy some creative, restful and restorative time during the holidays. Feel free to contact us, and we will get back to you when we are holding regular hours. Drop us a line!