ABOUT THE LIGHTNING FUND

LACE is thrilled to announce our fourth Lightning Fund open call, a regional regranting fund made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The Lighting Fund is an annual grant for artists and artist-driven organizations, projects, and publications. In 2020 and 2021, the Lightning Fund provided emergency relief grants at $1,500 each for a total of 101 LA-based artists. In 2022, the Fund pivoted to supporting artist projects.
 

This year, LACE will award 10 artist project grants in the amount of $6,000. Only applicants that are LA County residents, are at least 18 years of age, and are not currently enrolled in a college program, will be considered. Applicants will be notified of decisions and funds will be issued by early December 2023. 

UPDATE 9/18/23: One additional mid or late-career artist will be selected from the pool of Lightning Fund applicants to receive the Jacki Apple Award in Performance and Artist Projects. This award supports one LA-based artist with a $10,000 grant for work resulting in performance, media, exhibition, and/or publication within one year of the award. The artist selected this year for the Jacki Apple Award will have the added requirement of being a mid or late-career artist. No additional application is required to be considered for this award.

Learn more about the Jacki Apple Award in Performance and Artist Projects.
 

GUIDELINES
   Qualified applicant artists are required to live in Los Angeles County and maintain a visual arts practice. We have an expansive definition of visual art practice. In addition to more traditional forms such as drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation, and similar mediums, we are also open to artists practicing in film/video, new media, sound art, performance art, and social practice. Artists whose practices are firmly rooted in dance, theatre, music, or industry/feature filmmaking are not eligible to apply. We are open to innovation, experimentation, and risk-taking in the field and are supportive of diverse approaches to visual art making. Lightning Fund project submissions should be innovative and socially relevant, as well as accessible to the public outside of traditional museum or gallery settings. Awarded projects are not intended for presentation at LACE.

Applicants must include the following items in their application:

1. Artist Contact Information
2. Website and/or social media if available
3. Brief description about yourself and your artistic practice
4. Project title and description of your proposed project 
5. Description of how project will be accessible to the public
6. Outline of budget breakdown 
7. 1-3 strong work samples related to proposed project or recent completed works that demonstrate artistic practice 

Applications will be reviewed by a panel of local cultural workers, artists, and members of the LACE Team. Panelists will evaluate applicants based on their proposals and active artistic practice. We encourage applications from artists whose communities are underrepresented in relationship to visual art opportunities, economies, and funding streams. Strong consideration will be given to Black, Indigenous, POC, elder, LGBTQ+, disabled, immuno-compromised, and immigrant artists. 

SELECTION CRITERIA
       All proposals will be considered based on:

• Overall concept, vision, and innovation
• Relevance to a local social, cultural, and/or geographic context
• Accessibility of the project to the public outside of a museum or gallery
• Capacity of the applicant to realize the project on time (within one year maximum) and within estimated budget
• Potential impact on the local community, the arts and culture landscape, and/or the artist’s growth

TIMELINE
  Applications open Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 12:00 PM PDT and close Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at 11:59 PM PST. This deadline is firm. Applicants will be notified of decisions and funds will be issued by early December 2023. For questions, please contact lightning@welcometolace.org.