-LowellArts Call to Artists for Visual and Literary Artwork

$ City of Lansing Mini Pocket Grants 

$ Bridging Michigan Grants (NEW)

$ Inspire! Grants for Small Museums

$ NEA Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants

$ Barbara Deming Memorial Fund: Money for Women

$ Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant Program

$ The Hopper Prize

$ Black Artist Fund (ongoing)

Arts Council Greater Lansing announces a call to artist members for its annual "Art in the Sky Billboard Project." DEADLINE EXTENDED! This juried digital billboard project for 2021/2022 places six selected artist's works on Adam's Outdoor Advertising digital billboards. The works will be shown in and around the Greater Lansing region beginning in December and throughout next year. Application deadline is now 11:59 p.m. Oct. 25, 2020. Learn more.

IQhub announces call for artists for "Art Explosion." A very special guest exhibition will be coming to the IQhub in November. The exhibition will run from Nov. 30, 2021, through Feb. 24, 2022, with special events each month.

Local artists are invited to display their works. All mediums are accepted on a first come, first served basis as space allows, including paintings, pottery, drawings, wood carvings, metal sculpture, photography and jewelry. Entries may be listed for sale. Application deadline is Nov. 9, 2021. Learn more.

Buckham Gallery in Flint, Michigan, announces a call to artists for a BIPOC-themed juried art exhibition, April 8 - May 14, 2022. Prizes of more than $1,500 will be awarded. In addition to the traditional cash prizes, Buckham Gallery will select artists to be featured in the 2023 - 2024 season. "BIPOC" is trendy right now. However, Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) artists have traditionally been underrepresented in U.S. galleries and museums. How do we make this moment in time more than a moment? Buckham Gallery acknowledges the need to build stronger relationships with BIPOC artists and their communities. This exhibit is a launch pad to build new collaborations with BIPOC artists. A $25 entry fee is required. Application deadline is Nov. 15, 2021. Learn more.

LowellArts in Lowell, Michigan, is seeking visual and literary artwork for its juried competition, "WordView, Art Inspiring Art," to be held Jan. 8 - Feb. 19, 2022. Entries should be original work consisting of both visual and textual components, and may be submitted by an individual artist or by artists and writers in collaboration. Examples include visual works with accompanying poems/texts (ekphrastic), illustrated texts (book art), literary broadsides/posters, 2-dimensional works incorporating personal documents or 3-dimensional work with engraved text. Single entries will also be accepted. Application deadline is Nov. 9, 2021. Learn more.

Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery announces an art call for the gallery's 11th annual "Nature" online juried art competition, Nov. 1 - 30, 2021. The "Nature" theme is the artist's interpretation and depiction of nature art. Nature subjects include geographical subjects, landscapes, natural objects, wildlife and natural environments. The gallery invites entries from artists (including photography & digital art) regardless of where they reside to apply to this competition by submitting their best representational or abstract art and photography. $14 for 1-2 entries / $24 for 3-5 entries. Early entry and art student discounts. Application deadline is Oct. 27, 2021. Learn more.

Arts Council Greater Lansing 2021 Creative Placemaking Summit 7: REconnect is happening today and tomorrow! We are devoting two days for this year's event and are including a host of incredible speakers and panels plus an amazing interactive art experience in Downtown Lansing happening today from 3 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Register now and get access to all the replays for 30 days after the event. Member tickets are only $30! If you are an artist or organization member, you definitely want to take advantage of all of this knowledge. Come explore all on the ways that creative placemaking is helping people and communities REconnect! Join us!

Arts Council Greater Lansing presents its City of Lansing Arts Impact Project Pitch Panel Workshop. Come learn how to make the best pitch for your Arts Impact project idea! This workshop will be facilitated by Arts Council membership and program manager Taylor Haslett, who manages the City of Lansing Arts and Culture Grants, and lead by Michigan Small Business Development Center regional director, Laurie Lonsdorf. Laurie has presented "Perfect Your Pitch" to numerous audiences and coached one-on-one hopeful participants of The Hatching, LCC's Star Tank, Start Garden's 5x5 Night, Michigan Women Forward's Women Up & Pitch and other local and regional business pitch competitions. Join us at MICA on Oct. 25, 2021, from 5 - 7 p.m. Contact Taylor at taylor@lansingarts.org for details and to register. Learn more.

Artwork Archive blog: "Be Bold and Find Mentors Early: An Interview with Curator & Artist Coach Audra Lambert," Excerpt: "Beyond the title of independent curator, Audra is really an artist-advocate. In a market where artists can feel exploited, misled, and generally untrusting of the very same people who purport to have their best interests at heart, an artist coach like Audra can help recenter an artist’s intentions and see the forest through the trees, so-to-speak. Her goal is always to empower artists, so they can find a path forward, even when it seems like every door is closed or out of reach. We sat down with Audra to talk about her work with Ninth Street Collective, her analysis of the current art ecosystem and what industry trends she sees on the horizon." Read more.

Forbes Nonprofit article: "How Nonprofit Leaders Can Reimagine Success,"

by Forbes council member, Jose Luis Castro — Excerpt: "The coronavirus pandealtered our world — causing untold suffering and economic damage. As nonprofit leaders, we are struggling to cope within a shifting global landscape, reassessing how to work with communities whose needs have only grown in the past year and a half. There is no playbook for uncertain times, yet we as leaders cannot wait for the smoke to clear before we act.

The new reality demands that we stay limber and vigilant as we adjust the pathways to achieving our organizational goals. That may call for broadening our definition of success and enlisting our teams’ creativity as we adapt to shifting circumstances." Read more.

Arts Night Out November

City of Lansing Arts Impact Project Pitch Panel (Coming in December.)

You will want to make sure to participate in these awesome creative placemaking events happening in Downtown Lansing! The best way to learn about creative placemaking and how you can make it part of your creative practice or organization is to see it in action and experience it for yourself!

Following day one of the virtual Creative Placemaking Summit, our conference partners, DLI, have collaborated with area creatives to present a choose-your-own adventure creative placemaking experience. From 3 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., Oct. 20 (today) you can head downtown for pop-up markets, music, tours, poetry readings, talks and more. Even if you can't attend the Summit, you can participate in this event and support local creatives! Learn more.

Following day 2 of the Creative Placemaking Summit our Summit partners, Lansing Public Media Center, kick off the Capital City Film Festival free drive-in film event! There will be four nights of free drive-in or walk-up (bring a chair) movies at the drive-in lot downtown. See the full schedule.

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)