Project Grants

APPLICATIONS CLOSED

Grant Program Overview

The Project Grant is a competitive program offering financial support to artists to create or complete original works of art that demonstrate artistic growth and creative experimentation. The Project Grant is open to artists across all mediums. Mid-career and Established artists are encouraged to apply and grant requests may not exceed $3,000.

See the 2026 Project Grant Guidelines PDF for the full program details.

Eligible Applicants

— Individual artists and members of artist collectives with a current residence or creative studio within 30 miles of downtown Toledo may be eligible.

— Applicants who identify as Established or Mid-Career Artists are eligible to apply (see the FAQ on this page or the 2026 Project Grant Guidelines for descriptions).

— Competitive applicants will be artists with a prior body of work who are creating or completing their own original works of art to build their portfolio, or who have an upcoming exhibition, performance, or other public opportunity to share their work in the next 12 months.

— Applications will be accepted from university or college-level adjunct teachers.

Contact Information

For all inquiries, please contact Liz Bayan at LBayan@theartscommission.org.

Applications were open March 23–April 12, 2026

2026 Application Guidelines

Grant Guidelines PDF

2026 Project Grant Sample Application

PDF not for offline completion

Award Recognition

Recognition Requirements

Financial support for local artists.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different from an Accelerator Grant or Merit Award?

The Project Grant is meant to support artists by helping move an idea/project/or body of work past the finish line and support an artists’ growth, experimentation, and ultimately their creative career. While the Accelerator Grant offers quick turnaround for immediate and broad needs of artists, the Project Grant is tied to the creation AND completion of a specific work of art. Applicants must have a good idea of how and when their work will be completed and be able to submit documentation of their finished work within the granting period.

-Artists who have already received an Accelerator Grant(s) should feel comfortable applying for this opportunity.

-Artists with an interest in growing their grantwriting skills or building their portfolios up to prepare for larger dollar grant requests or a Merit Award are encouraged to apply for a Project Grant.

What do you mean by Mid-career or Established artist?

For the purposes of this program, applicants may identify as a Mid-career artist if one of the following applies:

Artist has already established a sizable audience, a consistent body of work, and defining style over a period of a number of years

Artist has an ongoing record that could include: Solo and group exhibitions, performances, gallery representation, honors/awards, residencies and fellowships, reviews by art critics, grants, or publications, etc.

Artist has 10-20 years of experience as a working artist regardless of age or education.

For the purposes of this program, applicants may identify as an Established artist if one of the following applies:

Artist is widely recognized (regionally, nationally, or internationally) in the art world regardless of age or years of experience.

Artist has created an extensive body of independent work.

Artist has 20+ years of experience as a working artist regardless of age or education.

Why a Project Grant?

Through artist surveys, listening sessions, and conversations with applicants, we saw a need for a broader range of funding opportunities that supported more artists at a higher dollar amount. Artists were requesting support for specific projects and they wanted to dream big, so the Project Grant was created!

2026 Grant Recipients

Catherine Clements

Multidisciplinary

Catherine Clements is an artist and art administrator based in Bowling Green, OH. She is also the Business Manager of Huron Street Studios and co-owner of Now Serving.

The Air is Sweet is a suite of illuminated digital prints on handmade watermarked paper that layer the imagery, techniques, and symbols she's developed in smaller works.

View Catherine's work

“Having a supportive creative infrastructure like The Arts Commission has allowed me to grow my practice in so many meaningful and sustainable ways. I feel incredibly privileged to receive the resources provided by the project grant, and to have my work recognized amongst so many talented creators.”

Leslie Dietsch

Painting

Leslie Dietsch is a painter, naturalist, and nurse based in the Toledo area on the western Lake Erie shoreline. She learned to sail these waters decades ago and has never stopped learning from them.

Voices of the Basin: First Sounds is the auditory phase of a long-range project connecting communities to the western Lake Erie watershed through large-scale oil painting and immersive sound.

View Leslie's work

“I am deeply grateful to the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo for this support and honored by their belief in this work. Western Lake Erie sustains life that most people never see or hear, and this grant makes it possible to bring that hidden world into rooms where it can no longer be ignored.”

Heavy Color

Music

Heavy Color's surreal and cinematic compositions explore spiritual jazz, traditional music, electronic and avant-psychedelia, spawning the description Post-World Music.

Maisha Tree is a collaboration between Heavy Color and Congolese multi-instrumentalist and producer, Jeremie Kambale (Skillsawasawa).

Collaborators: Ben Cohen, Jeremie Kambale, and Sam Woldenberg.

Listen to their work—Heavy Color—Skillsawasawa

“Collaboration, and especially our collaboration with musicians and artists in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been foundational to the music and spirit of Heavy Color. This grant truly helps to take this project from an ongoing planning phase into something actionable and very real.”

Johnnah Johnson

Filmmaking

Johnnah Johnson is a Toledo-based filmmaker and content creator with over a decade of professional experience in directing, cinematography, and narrative storytelling.

Daughter'd is a short-form vertical series told from the perspective of the oldest Black daughter navigating a single-mother household, an incarcerated father, intergenerational trauma, and her own identity all at once.

Watch Johnnah's work

“I have let too many ideas die because I didn't have the resources to bring them to life. Receiving this grant means this one doesn't. It means I stop doubting myself long enough to actually finish what I started.”

Aaron Peters

Glass

Aaron Peters has exhibited widely including Vessel City and the Morgan Conservatory, the Weston Art Gallery, Urban Glass, Wexner Center for the Arts, and Pilchuck Glass School.

Aaron is creating a full-scale stained-glass sculpture of the bottom half of the body, consisting of blue jeans and boots created from found shards of broken bottle and window glass.

View Aaron's work

“This grant from The Arts Commission couldn’t have come at a better time. I recently hit a wall with my specific project and was unsure if it could even be finished in the near future. These funds will allow me to progress and finish this project in the next year. I am so grateful to the The Arts Commission of Toledo for these funds to support this project.”

Krysta Sá

Interdisciplinary

Krysta Sá is an interdisciplinary artist working across photography, video, installation, performance, and material-based practices.

Midwest Image Authority is a conceptual interdisciplinary project examining Toledo's historical and contemporary labor practices, environmental issues, landscape, and architecture through wearable objects, images, and performances.

Watch Krysta's work

“Receiving this grant not only supports the project becoming fully materialized but also acknowledges the significance of this kind of work being produced in Toledo. I am so appreciative of having this opportunity.”

Sarah Thomas

Interdisciplinary

Sarah Thomas is an interdisciplinary artist and photographer based in Toledo, Ohio. She earned her BFA from Bowling Green State University in 2013 and her MFA in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2020.

Impressions of Impact is an interdisciplinary art project that merges photography, hydrographic printing, and 3D sculpture to visualize the environmental consequences of plastic pollution in Lake Erie.

View Sarah's work

“This grant is accelerating a long desired project that I've been marinating and testing on. Receiving this Project Grant provides meaningful support for my interdisciplinary practice and research, allowing me to further explore the intersection of photography, sculpture, and environmental awareness."

Ann Trondson

Multidisciplinary

Ann Trondson is a multidisciplinary artist working across performance, film, video, photography, sculpture, and other media to explore themes of identity, seriality, repetition, time, and space.

“Lamson Open” is a performance art piece where Ann will challenge a tennis match against a minimalist sculptural backboard in the Lamson's Department Store in downtown Toledo.

View Ann's work

Vis-á-Vis - Vol. II

Photography

Vis-à-Vis is a collaborative artist collective founded by photographers and creatives from Northwest Ohio with a shared passion for visual storytelling, portraiture and human connection.

Through a photography exhibition, Vis-à-Vis Vol. II focuses on individuality, vulnerability, connection, and the shared experiences that define us.

Collaborators: Nick Amrhein, Josh Ball, Grant Beachy, Ambershaun Byrd, Enrique Garcia, Rick Luettke, Selia Mozelle, Robert Wagner, Logan Yarbro.

View their photography

“Receiving this grant is incredibly meaningful to all of us involved in Vis-à-Vis Vol. II. This support helps us create a collaborative exhibition experience that celebrates photography, community, and local artistic talent in a way that feels unique to Toledo’s creative culture.”

2025 Grant Recipients

Sarah Cohen (The Antivillains)

Musician

"Reunion" is comprised of 13 original songs, all songs that The Antivillains have recorded at Dream Louder Music in Toledo Ohio. The album highlights the amazing journey of many years of writing and performing together as a band. Lyricist Sarah Cohen brings together a collection of stories describing haunting displacement, joyful growth and disquieting longing set to a soundtrack.

Listen to Sarah's work

"A heartfelt show of gratitude from The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, receiving this grant allows my creative practice and a quality product ready for the retail market."

Alex Goetz

Filmmaker

Alex Goetz is a wildlife filmmaker and photographer based in Toledo, Ohio, and co-founder of Running Wild Media. He has contributed to outlets such as National Geographic, PBS, CNN, and was a winner of the National Geographic WILD "Wild to Inspire" film competition.

This project is a short narrative film that follows a group of determined kids as they band together to rescue turtles attempting to cross busy roads. This film aims to be more than just heartfelt and entertaining—it’s designed to spark awareness and educate viewers on how we can coexist with local wildlife and take simple, actionable steps to help protect it.

Watch Alex's work

"This project is a slight departure from the documentary work I typically create, and a first attempt at creating a narrative film. So to have the support and partnership of The Arts Commission means a great deal."

Cyd Gottlieb

Multi-Disciplinary Artist

Cyd Gottlieb is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toledo, Ohio whose work centers on creative problem-solving through experiential, visual, and interpretive programming.

This line of small sculptures expands my fine art and craft practice into functional design.

View Cyd's work

"This is an exciting step for me in that I can share and celebrate my Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity, educate people about traditional components of my culture in a fun and approachable way, invite others to try a seasonal game, and ideally establish a sense of togetherness.”

Kayla Kirk

Ceramic Artist

This project is exciting because it's my return to conceptual art making in over four years. Over the past five years I've poured all of my development as a ceramicist into functional pottery. My soul needs to make this work. I feel I finally have my business in a place where I can devote the time and energy into making this important work that hopefully many people will be able to resonate with.

In 2017, Kayla Kirk graduated from the University of Toledo with a BFA in Sculpture and a BA in Art History. Kayla’s work is guided by personal narrative and energized by the magical transformation of raw clay into fine art.

View Kayla's work

“Being awarded the Project Grant gives me the ability to create and finish work that's been years in the making. This opportunity will help propel my artistic career to the next level.”

Lindsay Scypta

Ceramic Artist

Lindsay Scypta holds a BFA in Art & Design from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a MFA from The Ohio State University. She established a studio in 2014 where she balances teaching and making. She had a solo show at Morean Center for Clay in 2015 and Hudson Gallery in 2019.

View Lindsay's work

“I’m thrilled to receive the 2025 project grant! The work I intend to make was manifested during cancer treatment in 2023/24 deep in the midst of disenfranchised grief. This funding will help support the necessary research and skill building required to construct what I hope to be lifelike porcelain flowers that adorn my ceramic wares."

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Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Statement

Inclusion, diversity, equity and access are fundamentally important to our work at The Arts Commission. Our aim is to provide access and opportunity to art and culture for all in our community. It is our committed practice to stand alongside, listen and act based upon community needs. We have a responsibility to advocate for inclusion, diversity, equity and access. The Arts Commission will continue to deepen this practice as we move into the future.

The Arts Commission believes that the arts can provide the space to foster conversations that bring us together. The arts have long stood in the gap as a bridge between cultures. They have served as a place to support healing, as well as a place to develop and exchange compassion. We trust the arts in this role. By embracing our differences and celebrating our similarities we build a more vibrant, just, and inclusive society.

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