BLM Artist Grant

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University

Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program

The grant will award $2,500 grants to 20 artists in the Portland metro region responding to the Black Lives Matter movement

Update: Submission Deadline Closed

The Jordan Schnitzer Museums of Art at the University of Oregon, Washington State University, and Portland State University, announced today the extension of the submission deadline for the $150,000 Black Lives Matter Artist program to October 31, 2020 in response to the recent wildfires and delayed start dates for students at the universities.

“We are very excited about all the submissions for the BLM Artist Grant,” said Jordan Schnitzer, President of The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. “For those artists who need more time to submit their ideas due to extenuating circumstances, or for those who would like time to refine their proposals, we want to provide it for the best possible art! I know I speak for myself and many others – we look forward to the creations that will help us process the BLM movement and all it means for our community.”

Jordan Schnitzer, in a partnership with the Jordan Schnitzer Museums of Art at the University of Oregon, Washington State University, and Portland State University, is establishing an $150,000 Artist Grant Program in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. Each Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art will award $2,500 grants to 20 artists who use their voices, experiences, and artistic expression to reflect on social justice efforts in response to systemic racism. Selected works will be exhibited at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU at a later date.

“I have often said artists are chroniclers of our time. We all feel anguish about the death of George Floyd and many others at the hands of racial oppression,” said Jordan Schnitzer, president of The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. “We, more than ever, need artists to help us understand this issue and help us heal.”

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University will work in partnership with PSU’s College of the Arts and Global Diversity and Inclusion to determine grant recipients as well as a future exhibition and programming. The Artist Grant Program is funded through a generous donation of $50,000 from The Harold & Arlene CARE Foundation.

“We are delighted to partner with the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation,” said PSU’s incoming Global Diversity and Inclusion Director Ame Lambert. “The visual and performing arts have always been a way for Black people across the globe to center and demand their humanity, create and communicate their narratives and counter narratives, resist, express their rage and grief, survive, heal, and triumph. So I appreciate the generous support of this opportunity to respond to this national moment through the arts.”

“We are pleased to offer this opportunity to our Portland community,” said PSU’s Provost Susan Jeffords. “We witness the voices of our vibrant city growing stronger and we wish to acknowledge and amplify their messages, most importantly their calls for an end to systemic racism. As Tony Cade Bambara, civil rights artist and activist, once said, ‘The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.’” We look forward to showcasing these artistic endeavors on our museum walls once we can fully open our campus safely. We commend Jordan's vision and commitment towards being proactive in this important movement. We thank him for his continued support of Portland State University and the Jordan Schnitzer Museums of Art.”

Eligibility

Artists residing in Multnomah, Clackamas, Columbia, and Washington Counties are encouraged to submit proposals for new work or projects, or recently created work directly responding to the current Black Lives Matter movement; responding to marginalized communities; experiences with systemic racism and inequality; and artists whose work thematically connects to these experiences. Artists living outside these counties, in Washington and Oregon, can apply for similar programs at Washington State University and University of Oregon. Artists working in all mediums are invited to apply.

Submission Process

Interested artists should submit their applications no later than October 31, 2020. Submissions are accepted through the Submittable website. A panel is being formed to review the artist submissions. Grantees will be notified by November 30, 2020. Selected works will be exhibited at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU at a later date.

Submission Website