Organizer Information
The AAPI Civic Engagement Fund (AAPI Fund) is a U.S.-based philanthropic organization focused on strengthening civic participation and movement-building within Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. The organization supports state and local groups working on the ground across the United States through grantmaking, capacity building, and research. According to the organization, its grantee network serves more than 50 ethnic groups and constituencies, including women, youth, seniors, immigrants and families, low-income communities, queer and trans communities, and faith-based communities.
The Creative Catalyst Fellowship is an annual program hosted by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund. It supports individual artists whose work engages the public around critical issues affecting AAPI communities and has the potential to encourage civic participation and reach audiences beyond traditional art and activist circles. Previous fellowship cohorts have supported projects spanning poetry, music, documentary, illustration, comics, animation, interactive publishing, portraiture, and other interdisciplinary practices.
Title & Description
2027 Creative Catalyst Fellowship
The 2027 Creative Catalyst Fellowship supports independent artists developing original work around the theme “Belonging.” The fellowship explores belonging as a sense of community, home, agency, inclusion, and the essential right of communities to flourish. The program positions artistic practice as a means of challenging racism and violence, recognizing AAPI histories and contributions, and creating opportunities for broader public conversations.
Up to eight artists will be selected, with each Fellow receiving $30,000 to create a project with the potential to reach broad audiences and stimulate meaningful conversations around belonging and AAPI communities.
The program is particularly interested in artist-led projects that are grounded in lived experience and cultural perspectives and that connect meaningfully with AAPI communities. Applicants are encouraged to propose work that can be shared widely and is portable, reproducible, concise, and accessible to new audiences.
Eligible approaches include visual art such as printmaking, illustration, photography, and modular installations; digital and media-based practices such as short-form video and audio storytelling; written and narrative forms such as poetry, zines, and narrative works; and hybrid or interdisciplinary projects designed for public engagement.
The 2027 fellowship is a yearlong program running from January through December 2027. Selected Fellows will develop their work while participating in a cohort-based program that includes an orientation, virtual check-ins, a required in-person retreat, and support for publicity and distribution.
Categories
- Visual Art
- Photography
- Illustration
- Printmaking
- Digital Art
- Video / Short-form Video
- Audio Storytelling
- Poetry
- Writing / Narrative
- Zines
- Interdisciplinary Art
- Hybrid / Multimedia Art
- Public Engagement
- Socially Engaged Art
Eligibility
The fellowship is open to individual artists aged 18 or older. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
Applicants do not need to be U.S. citizens. However, the 2027 call specifies that international artists are not eligible to apply, meaning applicants must meet the program's applicable U.S.-based eligibility requirements. Selected Fellows must provide the appropriate U.S. tax documentation, such as a W-9 for U.S. citizens or resident aliens or a W-8BEN where applicable.
Applicants should have an established artistic practice and demonstrate the ability to create work that resonates with audiences and has potential for broad public reach. The project should engage meaningfully with AAPI communities and the 2027 theme of Belonging.
Previously awarded Creative Catalyst Fellows may reapply three years after completing their previous Fellowship.
Projects must also comply with the AAPI Fund's status as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. Projects cannot advocate for or against a candidate for elected or appointed office or constitute prohibited lobbying under applicable IRS regulations. Projects addressing elections or voting are not required, but if they do so, they must remain strictly nonpartisan and cannot promote or oppose specific candidates.
Program Benefits & Awards
- $30,000 per artist
- Selection of up to eight artists
- Participation in a yearlong Creative Catalyst Fellowship
- A virtual orientation at the beginning of the program
- Participation in the Creative Catalyst Fellows Retreat
- Travel and accommodation covered by the AAPI Fund for the required retreat
- Virtual cohort check-ins throughout the Fellowship
- Communications and publicity support
- Assistance connecting the completed work with local and national media
- Potential digital advertising support
- Introductions to AAPI organizations that may use the work for charitable purposes
- Support with exhibition placement in galleries, shows, and other venues
- Priority consideration for venues experienced in presenting socially engaged or social justice-oriented art
- Potential development and distribution of reproductions such as posters, books, calendars, or stickers
- Opportunities to showcase work at AAPI Fund events, where applicable
The AAPI Fund's communications partner, Change Consulting, provides direct communications support to Fellows, meaning artists are not solely responsible for publicity and distribution.
Artists retain ownership of their artwork. However, the AAPI Fund requires rights to reproduce the artwork as part of its charitable activities.
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Informational Webinars: September 1, 2026, 3:00–4:00 p.m. PT; September 4, 2026, 12:00–1:00 p.m. PT
- Application Deadline: 15 October 2026
- Fellowship Announcement: 14 January 2027
- Fellowship Period: January–December 2027
- Creative Catalyst Fellows Retreat: February 16–18, 2027
- Artwork Completion Deadline: 15 August 2027
- Promotion of Completed Artwork: August–December 2027
Location
United States
Additional Details
The Creative Catalyst Fellowship is particularly suitable for artists whose practices combine artistic production with cultural storytelling, community engagement, social justice, and public communication. A strong proposal should demonstrate both artistic quality and the potential to connect with audiences beyond conventional art-world or activist communities.
The fellowship does not require applicants to address elections or voting. The central theme for this cycle is Belonging, and projects should demonstrate a clear relationship to AAPI communities, experiences, cultural perspectives, histories, or contemporary concerns.
The program favors standalone projects rather than components of much larger projects. Applicants working in media that are normally large-scale or infrastructure-intensive should explain how their proposed project can be transformed into a concise, portable, reproducible, and publicly accessible format.
Fellows are expected not only to complete the artwork but also to participate in the cohort experience, attend the required retreat, take part in virtual check-ins, and submit a narrative report. Participation in additional AAPI Fund events or opportunities to showcase the work may be offered but is optional.