The Black Artists Grant is £1,500 given out monthly to black artists in the UK, with each artist selected receiving £500 each.
The BAG is no-strings attached financial support to help the selected artists in whatever they want – be that make new work, buy equipment or materials, travel, research, visit exhibitions or conferences, or to even just cover some life expenses. This is specifically for Black artists; not politically black, not POC or BAME.
This grant has been set up because black artists are systematically under-supported by the art world; by institutions, curators, the artist-led scene, major and minor funding bodies, the market, art schools, and by audiences too. Creative Debuts recognises that a full institutional overhaul and dismantling of racist structures is required to transform the industry permanently, but we hope in a small way that this grant will help enable recipients to continue their artistic practice when the odds are so stacked against them.
Recipients will be chosen monthly, and every few months this selector will change. The first selectors are ROOT-ed Zine, a zine run by Amber Akaunu and Fauziya Johnson that aims to promote, support and inspire creative people of colour.