Take Notice Fund

The Take Notice Fund is open to all BIPOC artists/collectives and culture bearers, at any career stage, who are primary residents of the state of Louisiana. Please see below for a list of eligible disciplines.

• Applicants must meet NPN’s definition of generative artist or culture-bearer, defined as those currently active in conceiving and creating new original work. We cannot support artists whose work focuses on the interpretation, performance, development, or production of the creative work of others.  
• Artists must identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC).
• Applicants must be Louisiana residents for at least five consecutive years at the time of the application and throughout the grant period.
• Artists at any career stage may apply, but must be at least 18 years of age at the time of application
• Individual artists, as well as ensembles/collectives/collaboratives, may apply. For ensembles/collectives/collaboratives to apply, a majority of artists within the collective must meet all eligibility criteria independently. The group must have a demonstrated history of creating new work collectively and submit a single application, with funds shared equally. Artists may apply either as individuals or as collective members. Members of a collective may not apply for the same project individually.

Not eligible at this time:

• Nonprofit organizations
• Recipients of NPN’s Creation Fund in the previous three years (2022, 2023 and 2024)
• Recipients of NPN’s Southern Artists for Social Change award in the most recent grant cycle (Cohort 2024)
• Previous recipients of NPN’s Take Notice Fund
• Anyone under 18 years of age at the time of the application.
• Anyone who is a high school student or a college or graduate student currently enrolled in a degree-granting program, at the time of application or during the grant period.
• Artists whose work focuses on the interpretation, performance, or development/production of the creative work of others.
• Current NPN staff, board members, NPN Partners, or panelists
• Curators and researchers
• Foodways, culinary, or botanical practitioners

Eligible disciplines include:

• Dance: Choreographers and dance-makers creating new original work in any dance genre (ballet, modern, hip hop, experimental, etc.)
• Music: Composers and sound artists creating new original work in any musical genre (chamber, experimental, jazz, etc.)
• Theater/performance art/spoken word: Primary creators of devised work, performance or spoken word artists creating original work, and playwrights
• Film/media: Filmmakers and video, digital production, and new media artists (web-based, computational, virtual, interactive, data and/or technology-driven, etc.)
• Literature: Fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, poets, and playwrights
• Visual arts: Visual artists in any discipline (including public art, social practice art, and graffiti/street art)
• Black Masking Indians: Culture bearers who create beaded, sequined, and feathered suits to honor the Masking tradition, currently hold a position in a New Orleans–based Masking tribe, and celebrate on Mardi Gras, St. Joseph’s Day, and Super Sunday.
• Other folk/traditional artists and culture bearers: A member of a community who practices their community’s artistic or creative expressions by creating new original work. Knowledge of these arts or skills is most often passed from person to person within the cultural group, and the art expresses the community’s values or aesthetics.

Individual artists as well as ensembles/collectives/collaboratives may apply. In order for ensembles/collectives/collaboratives to apply, a majority of artists within the collective must meet all eligibility criteria independently. The group must have a demonstrated history of creating new work collectively and submit a single application, with funds shared equally. Artists may apply either as an individual or as a member of a collective. Members of a collective may not individually apply for the same project.

Apply now!