The Critical Focus Grant 2024
Deadline: July 26, 2024
Overview
The Open Call List’s Critical Focus Grant is a free-to-enter monetary grant for student photographers.
In its inaugural year, the Critical Focus Grant will support the work of a student photographer or recent graduate in the state of Arizona. The grant provides funding and support for an ongoing photo-based project that focuses on a social, political, or personal subject.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Critical Focus Grant in 2024, photographers must either
Currently be enrolled in a two-year or four-year program in the state of Arizona
Have graduated within the last 12 months from a two-year or four-year program in the state of Arizona.
Application Cost
In support of The Open Call List’s mission to increase accessibility in the photo arts industry, applications for the Critical Focus Grant are free to submit.
Submission Requirements
Applicants should submit the following:
3-5 images with accompanying information (title, date, medium)
Project statement (up to 250 words)
CV
Please note: Since the grant aims to support an ongoing project, application materials should reflect a single, cohesive body of work that is in-progress.
Award
The Critical Focus Grant recipient will be awarded the following:
$500 to support the continuation of their ongoing project
An hour-long portfolio review with Emmy Mickevicius, Norton Assistant Curator of Photography at the Center for Creative Photography and the Phoenix Art Museum
One runner-up will receive a $100 gift card for film processing at Monument Camera in Tucson, Arizona.
Honorable mentions will be listed in the grant recipient announcement and featured on The Open Call List website.
Juror
Emmy Mickevicius is the Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography, a position shared between the Center for Creative Photography and Phoenix Art Museum. Prior to coming to Arizona, she worked in the Photography department at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from 2019 to 2023. She received her PhD in art history from Brown University in 2019.
Timeline
June 21 – The Critical Focus Grant 2024 Call Opens
July 26 (11:59pm PST) – Submission Deadline
August 25 – Announcement of Grant Recipient, Runner Up, and Honorable Mentions
Sponsors and Support
Primary funding for the 2024 Critical Focus Grant comes from the generous support of an anonymous donor.
Emmy Mickevicius has contributed her time both as the juror of the grant and by offering a portfolio review with the grant recipient.
Runner up prize funding is provided by Monument Camera in Tucson, Arizona.
The Critical Focus Grant is run by The Open Call List. The Open Call List is a pay-what-you-can newsletter that compiles and shares opportunities for photographers, including calls for exhibitions, grants, residencies, scholarships, fellowships, jobs, and more.