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South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant to Visual & Media Artists

The South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant Program offers one of the largest regional, government-sponsored artists' grants in the United States, awarding $15,000 and $7,500 grants to resident visual and media artists from the counties of Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach. Since it was established in 1988, the Consortium has awarded over to $4 million in grants to over 300 artists. In addition to receiving the grant, the artists take part in an exhibition hosted and organized by a visual arts institution in one of the five counties, and since 2019, artworks by Miami-Dade based artists are acquired and accessioned for the Art in Public Places Collection.

grant logos

2024 Deadline: Tuesday, Oct 1. at 11:59 p.m.

SFCC Email Updates
Register to receive emails and updates about the SFCC grant and public art commission opportunities from Art in Public Places of Miami-Dade County.

Workshops
Saturday, July 13
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Register

Thursday, Aug. 15
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Register

Thursday, Sept. 12
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Register

How are recipients selected and how can an applicant improve his/her chances of being recommended? Find out at one of our workshops being offered across the South Florida region. Attendance at a workshop is encouraged, but not required.

Summer and Fall 2024 Workshops to be announced.

Application Instructions

There is no application fee to apply or to use the Submittable online application system.

  1. Before the deadline, visual and media artists must submit applications in digital format. Application materials include samples of completed artwork from the past three years (image, time-based media, and audio are all accepted), artist statement, and resume, and proof of residency in the county you apply from for a full year prior to application date
  2. Submit through the Submit Application button below. Submission drafts may be saved and returned to
  3. Within the application, candidates will find step-by-step instructions on how to register, apply, and prepare images and materials for upload

Timeline
**This schedule is subject to change**

  • Regional and national juries will take place in January / February
  • SFCC Board Meeting - February / April
  • Notifications to artists will be announced in spring
  • Public announcement late summer
  • Grant funds will be released in summer/fall
  • Exhibition estimated to take place in fall

Upcoming Exhibition for FY 23-24 recipients will be held at Florida Atlantic University: 
Jan. 16 though March 8, 2025. Opening event Thursday, Jan. 16.

Exhibitions featuring SFCC recipients work have been presented at regional museums since the program’s inception and are accompanied by a catalogue. 

Press Release – Latest Recipients & Exhibition

SFCC Exhibition

  • 2022-2023 / Art and Culture Center/Hollywood
  • 2021-2022 / MOCA North Miami
  • 2020-2021 / Florida Atlantic University
  • 2019-2020 / NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, October 2020
  • 2018-2019 / MOCA North Miami
  • 2017-2018 / Florida Atlantic University
  • 2016-2017 / Art and Culture Center/Hollywood
  • 2015-2016 / MOCA North Miami *Exhibition featuring SFCC recipients from FY 2013-2014 & FY 2015-2016
  • 2014-2015 / Florida Atlantic University
  • 2013-2014 *Exhibition took place in FY 15-16 group at MOCA North Miami
  • 2012-2013 / NSU Museum Fort Lauderdale
  • 2011-2012 /  Florida Atlantic University
  • 2010-2011 / 2011 Art and Culture Center of Hollywood
  • 2009-2010 / 2010 Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University
  • 2008-2009 / 2009 University Galleries, Florida Atlantic University
  • 2007-2008 / NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale
SFCC acquisitions collage

In a continued effort to support regional artists, in 2019 the Artwork Acquisition Program was inaugurated by the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs to augment the benefits received by Miami-Dade based SFCC grant award recipients. This fund is used to enhance Miami-Dade artists' SFCC grant awards by acquiring artworks from them for the Art in Public Places collection. View these acquisitions in the Art in Public Places Collection.

All emerging, mid-career and established South Florida professional artists (those residing in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe or Palm Beach Counties) are eligible to apply.

Submitted work samples must be from the last three years.

Candidates must have resided and worked in one of the participating five counties for a full year before applying. Artists must apply from the county of residence. The Consortium awards the grants contingent on proof of residency, which may include one or more of the following: property tax record; lease agreement; voter's registration; or an IRS income tax return.

The Consortium defines a professional artist as a person who has created a recognized body of original works of art within an artistic discipline over a sustained period of time, and who is striving to achieve the highest level of professional recognition.

Individuals are not eligible to apply if they are engaging in artwork as a hobby, if they are an employee of the participating County governments or of the South Florida Cultural Consortium's member local arts agencies, or if they are a student pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree.

Moratorium:

Artists who have won the SFCC grant in the past are eligible to apply after their moratorium. A moratorium of five years is imposed on recipients who received the $15,000 grant, and a moratorium of three years imposed on artists who received a $7,500 grant. A moratorium of seven full grant cycles is applied to artists who have won the award more than two times, regardless of the grant award amount.

Submissions will be judged by the following criteria:

  • Degree of artistic excellence
  • Evidence of an established and recognized body of work over a sustained period of time
  • Consistency in the submitted body of work
  • All samples of work submitted for review must have been completed within the last three years prior to the application date. Failure to comply with this condition will result in disqualification.

Each year, more than 300 artists who live and work throughout the five counties submit their applications for consideration to the South Florida Cultural Consortium's Grant Program for Visual and Media Artists. The Consortium is a partnership of the local arts agencies of these five counties. Through these agencies, applications are made available to artists in the region. Submissions are grouped by County.

A regional panel of visual and media art experts from South Florida is convened to provide an initial review of the submissions. The regional panel forwards its recommendations to the national panel. This national panel – with expertise in visual art, film, and media and chosen from a variety of academic and major visual arts institutions from around the country – is given the responsibility of recommending the final recipients.

During a day-long deliberation, the submissions are viewed by the national panel in a series of rounds. The panelists then reduce the selection to the final group of awardees. The funding available from each county determines the number of awards presented from each county. The dynamics of the panel shape the selections from year to year. Merit is determined based on individual accomplishments as evidenced by the work submitted for review, with the highest premium placed on coherent bodies of work.

The national panel's recommendations are reviewed and ratified by the South Florida Cultural Consortium. All panelists are required to follow the conflict of interest policy established by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.

Board and Staff:

Marialaura Leslie
Chair, South Florida Cultural Consortium
Director, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs

Philip Dunlap
Director, Broward Cultural Division

Elizabeth S. Young
Executive Director, Florida Keys Council of the Arts

Dave Lawrence
President and CEO, Cultural Council of Palm Beach County

Nancy Turrell
Executive Director, The Arts Council, Martin County

Amanda Sanfilippo Long
Director, South Florida Cultural Consortium
Curator & Artist Manager, Art in Public Places
Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs

The South Florida Cultural Consortium is a regional initiative in support of the arts governed by an Interlocal Agreement among the counties of Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach. The Consortium's members are the local arts agencies of these five counties, including the Broward County Cultural Division, the Arts Council of Martin County, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Keys Council of the Arts, and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. The Consortium works to foster cooperation across the South Florida region to help develop and promote the work of cultural organizations and artists and the audiences that they serve.

Its programs and services range from the Visual and Media Artists Program to regional arts education and cultural tourism cooperative ventures. The South Florida Cultural Consortium is one of the most successful regional arts alliances in the nation, demonstrating that by sharing resources and best practices, the arts can thrive across a burgeoning five-county area.

The South Florida Cultural Consortium is funded in part with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, the Boards of County Commissioners of Broward, Miami-Dade, Martin and Monroe counties, and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.

It is the policy of Miami-Dade County to comply with all of the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request materials in accessible format, sign language interpreters, and/or any accommodation to participate in any County-sponsored program or meeting, please contact Francine Andersen 305-375-4634 culture@miamidade.gov five days in advance to initiate your request. TTY users may also call 711 (Florida Relay Service.)

The South Florida Cultural Consortium reserves the right to revise the guidelines and application form. The South Florida Cultural Consortium provides equal access and equal opportunity in services and does not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity, color, creed, national origin or religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). The South Florida Cultural Consortium supports and advocates compliance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.

The South Florida Cultural Consortium will not accept materials which are not submitted online via Submittable and is not responsible for any materials mailed or delivered.

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I've already won an SFCC grant. May I apply again?

A moratorium of five years is imposed on recipients who received the $15,000 grant, and a moratorium of three years imposed on artists who received a $7,500 grant. A moratorium of seven years is applied to artists who have won the award more than two times, regardless of the amount.

How many artists apply?

The number of visual arts applications from a recent grant cycle was composed of: Broward, 104; Martin, 4; Miami-Dade, 211; Monroe, 22; and Palm Beach 82. Total number of applicants: 423.

How many grants will be awarded?

The number of grants granted per Consortium County depend on the panel's decisions regarding award levels for each County (i.e., the panel can make all $15,000 awards or has the option to award two $7,500 grants per County) and therefore can be: three or four for Broward; six or seven for Miami-Dade; and one or two for Palm Beach and one or two for the collective counties of Martin and Monroe.

Please note that funding for the grant program is contingent upon the approval of annual budgets of the individual member counties of the South Florida Cultural Consortium.

What is the timing of the award and exhibition?

Regional and national juries: early spring
SFCC Board Meeting to present jury recommendations: mid-spring
Notifications to artists will be announced: late spring
Public announcement: late summer
Grant funds will released: summer/fall
Exhibition estimated to take place in fall
**This schedule is subject to change**

Will I be taxed on this award?

Please note that SFCC grants are taxable as provided by federal law. Refer to IRS Publication 520, “Scholarships and Fellowships” for complete information (www.irs.ustreas.gov).

Who can I ask for questions about the SFCC?

Amanda Sanfilippo Long
Curator & Artist Manager, Art in Public Places
Director, South Florida Cultural Consortium
Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs
Amandas@miamidade.gov