Short Description
Western New York is where electric power as we know it began—when Nikola Tesla harnessed the force of the Niagara River to transmit energy over a great distance, lighting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and transforming the world. Inspired by this legacy of innovation and possibility, the Generator Fund supports artists who are generating new ways of making, sharing, and thinking about art in our region.
Across both grant types, jurors will prioritize proposals that are:
- Firmly rooted in visual art. Projects must be visual arts–based in their materials, methods, or goals. Interdisciplinary approaches are welcome, but proposals should demonstrate how visual art is central to the work.
- Innovative and original. We’re looking for ideas that feel fresh—projects that take risks, experiment with form or format, or offer something unexpected. Innovation doesn’t have to mean high-tech; it might mean a new context, a surprising collaboration, or responding to a community need with creativity.
- Publicly accessible. Funded projects must be shared with the public in Erie or Niagara Counties. This can take many forms: an exhibition, screening, lecture, publication, installation, performance, workshop, or something else entirely.
- Grounded in purpose. We’re drawn to projects that feel specific and intentional—not vague concepts, but clear ideas that reflect the artist’s voice and vision.
- Collaborative thinking and long-term potential. These projects should build something durable—an ongoing platform, publication, or structure that opens space for future work
Eligibility
A grant for artists in Erie and Niagara Counties to make and share new work.
The Generator Fund is open to individual artists and artist-led groups who meet the following criteria:
- You must live and work in Erie or Niagara County, NY.
- You can apply as an individual artist, an informal group, or an unincorporated collective.
- You may be a professional, emerging, or experimental artist—we welcome a wide range of practices and experience levels.
Who is not eligible?
- 501(c)(3) organizations are not eligible to apply.
- If you’re receiving a solo exhibition honorarium from BICA in the same fiscal year, you’re not eligible for a Generator Fund grant. BICA employees are also not eligible.
- If you received a Potential Grant last round, you cannot apply for another Potential Grant this cycle (but you can apply for a Kinetic Grant!).
How to Apply
Program Benefits & Awards
Kinetic Grants are awards up to $5000 to fund an artist’s production for a new project with a publicly accessible component.
Examples may include but are in no way limited to exhibitions, performances, videos or film screenings, books/zines/brochures.
Potential Grants are awards up to $10,000 and are intended to act as seed fund for longer-term projects that foster experimentation, collaboration, and community.
Examples may include, but are not limited to, exhibition spaces (from formal to informal; your bedroom to a rented space); podcasts or radio stations; zines or forums for arts writing; collective spaces; community gardens; public lecture series. This grant is meant to fund artists in collaboration to create new platforms for presentation.
Entry Fee
None
Location
Buffalo, New York, United States
Timeline
- Application Deadline: 30 September 2025
Website Link: https://www.generatorfund.org/
