OVERVIEW

The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture (MOAC) believes artists and cultural workers play a vital role in shaping a healthy, vibrant, and just society. To support this belief, the Opportunity Fund provides project-based grants to Boston-based artists and cultural workers to create and present creative community-centered experiences that expand access to arts and culture across all neighborhoods.
 

The Opportunity Fund was created in response to Boston residents' call for more neighborhood-based arts activities, greater recognition of local cultural assets, and stronger support for artists. By investing in the creative labor of individual artists and cultural workers through a structure that prioritizes our communities’ access to the arts, the fund strengthens Boston’s civic fabric and supports more equitable participation in the arts for all Bostonians. It affirms MOAC’s belief that every neighborhood should be home to meaningful cultural expression—and that local artists are essential civic partners in that work.
 

This grant is designed to help artists take advantage of immediate opportunities to showcase their work through a quick, easy-to-complete application (about 20 minutes). Many artists and cultural workers may already have an upcoming project they are planning that could be eligible. Funds may support all or part of a confirmed project that is publicly accessible, offers a clear community benefit, and is entirely free to participants and audience members. Applicants are encouraged to share how their work promotes inclusion, representation, and shared cultural experience.
 

Recipients will be selected through a weighted lottery process, which ensures timely processing of applications while prioritizing equity in the distribution of funds. Weighted priority given to:

• Performing artists 
• Individuals from low-income backgrounds or experiencing financial insecurity
• Artists living in Chinatown, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Mission Hill, and Roxbury
• Artists proposing projects in the neighborhoods where they reside
• Applicants who were not awarded the Opportunity Fund in last year’s application cycle (you CAN apply if you have received funding in the past, you just will not receive weighted priority in this category)
   

Please read through the full grant description prior to applying. Please note: If you are signed in to Submittable and have scrolled to the bottom of this page, you will find an eligibility form. If you are eligible for this grant program, the application will become available below these guidelines, after you press "next" under the eligibility form, at the bottom of this page.
 

THE BASICS

Contact: For questions regarding the Opportunity Fund grant please email artsgrants@boston.gov and use the subject line, “Opportunity Fund Grant Questions.” You can also call 617-635-4445.

Funding Source: Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture Operating Funds

Size of grants: $3,000

Important Dates: The application opens on September 2, 2025. The deadline for submitting an application is October 16, 2025 at 5:00PM. Grant-funded projects must occur between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026. Grants will be awarded and disbursed by December 31, 2025. 

Applicants can apply to support eligible projects happening this fall, before decisions are made and grants are disbursed. If they are chosen as an Opportunity Fund grantee, they will receive funding after their project has occurred. Applicants are not guaranteed to receive funding. 

FUNDING ELIGIBILITY AND PRIORITIES

Eligibility: Who is eligible to apply?

Individual applicants should meet all of the following criteria to be eligible. 

• You are 18+ years of age
• You are an active working individual artists, creative/cultural workers, teaching artists, and cultural practitioners of all artistic backgrounds and disciplines (subsequently referred to as “creative workers” throughout these guidelines) 
• You are currently a resident of the city of Boston, and have lived in the city of Boston for at least one full year at the time of this application
• You are not currently enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student or graduate student
• Due to limited funding and the goal to partner with a diverse range of arts stakeholders, the following are ineligible for this grant:                                                                                                          
  • Previous Neighborhood and Downtown Activation Grantees who received over $20,000 in total.

Creative Community-centered Experience Criteria

• Experiences must be in a location that is publicly accessible and ADA accessible in the city of Boston. Examples include but are not limited to: public buildings such as libraries, schools, or less traditional arts-learning spaces such as community-based organizations, businesses, and parks. 
• Experiences must be entirely free to the public. 
• Applicants must ensure that they have or will receive permission to use the location that they propose hosting their experience or the appropriate permits. Learn more about common permits for special events in Boston.
• Creative community-centered experiences must take place by the end of August 2026.
• Some examples of a Creative Community-centered Experience are, but are not limited to: a dance class, a concert or performance, a gallery exhibition, an arts educational class, or a cultural event.
   

Grant Fund Restrictions

• City of Boston employees or immediate family of City of Boston employees are not eligible to apply
• Non-individuals (such as artists collectives, businesses, or organizations) are not eligible to apply
• This funding cannot support inherently religious programming
• Funding cannot go towards the purchase of alcohol as a project expense
   

Funding Priorities

Please note that the funding priorities are different from the eligibility requirements. We encourage you to apply if you meet the eligibility requirements, but do not meet all, some, or any of the funding priorities below. To learn more about  how we chose our funding priorities click here.

• Creative workers with an individual annual income under 80% of the median household income in Boston ($92,650)
• Creative workers with an individual annual income under 30% of the median household income in Boston ($34,750)
• Performing artists
• Applicants who did not receive the Opportunity Fund in our most recent application cycle.
• Artists proposing projects in the neighborhoods where they reside.
• Residents in neighborhoods who live in the following neighborhoods: Chinatown, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Mission Hill, and Roxbury. 
• Creative community-centered experiences planned in the neighborhoods listed above.
   

Additional information to consider 

• You must provide a physical address where you reside in Boston. 
• MOAC reserves the right to request additional documentation to verify Boston residency.
• You may need to pay taxes on grants you’ve received.
• Payment will be made to you as an individual 
• If you receive public benefits that are income-limited and/or include asset limitations, this grant may impact those benefits.
   

APPLICATION PROCESS AND TIMELINE 

The application is available here on Submittable, below these guidelines, and open from September 2, 2025 through October 16, 2025 by 5:00 PM. No late applications will be accepted, and MOAC staff will not be available after 5pm on October 16. To avoid technical issues, it is strongly recommended to submit your application before the deadline. If you do experience any last minute technical issues, please email us before the 5:00 PM deadline with both your completed application (in a document) and screenshot of the issue.
 

MOAC understands grantwriting is labor intensive. We specifically made this application as accessible and time sensitive as possible, and it should not take an applicant more than 20 minutes to complete.
 

A condensed application and review process is as follows. Click here to review our evaluation rubric, which includes detailed descriptions of eligibility criteria and weighted priority areas.

• Submit a brief application outlining your Creative community-centered experience via Submittable 
• MOAC will review of applications to ensure applicants meet eligibility criteria following the submission deadline
• Eligible applicants who self-identify as members of priority areas will receive additional entries into the lottery
• Eligible applicants will be entered into a lottery
• Grantees will be chosen using Random Picker
• Applicants will be notified of the status of their application status
• Funding will be disbursed to grantees
   

Grant Payments and Requirements

• To receive funding, grantees will need to establish a Supplier ID before payment is processed. You can go here to learn how to create a Supplier ID (also sometimes referred to as a “Vendor ID”). Please email vendor.questions@boston.gov or call 617-961-1058 for additional assistance.
• All grantees will be asked to submit a brief final report describing how their project contributed to their community.
   

Review Application Questions

Applications will be accepted here, through Submittable. If you would like to review application questions before applying, you can review them here.
 

Accessibility and Accommodations 

Interpretation and translation services are available to you at no cost in English | Español | Kreyòl ayisyen | 繁體中文 | Tiếng Việt | 简体中文 | Kriolu | العربية | Русский | Português | Français | Af Soomaali here. You can view our Notice of Language Interpretation (available in multiple languages) for more information.

If you need accommodations or assistance with your application, please contact the grants team at artsgrants@boston.gov with subject line “Opportunity Fund,” or leave a message at 617-635-2787, and someone from the grants team will be in touch with you.