New Bedford Creative Grant Programs Now Open for 2025 Applications, Empowering Local Creatives to Shape the City’s Vibrant Future

NEW BEDFORD, MA — New Bedford Creative has opened its 2025 grant programs for applications, inviting residents across the city to bring their visionary ideas to life. The two distinct grants, Art is Everywhere! and Wicked Cool Places, provide a platform for artists, entrepreneurs, community groups, and organizations to make a meaningful impact on New Bedford’s cultural landscape. Designed to enhance the city’s unique identity, both grants aim to empower citizens to enrich neighborhoods, stimulate growth, and celebrate community.

“New Bedford Creative’s grant programs have empowered many local artists to leave their creative mark on the City,” Mayor Jon Mitchell said. “The City’s Arts, Culture and Tourism Fund continues to support artists and programs like this and others that make New Bedford a beehive of arts and culture.”

New Bedford Creative is eagerly anticipating a broad array of proposals on its online application portal found at NewBedfordCreative.org from residents, each promising to contribute to New Bedford’s ongoing transformation into one of America’s most dynamic creative hubs. 

Art is Everywhere!

Initiated in 2020, Art is Everywhere! continues to prioritize innovative solutions that integrate the arts into everyday spaces, boosting neighborhood resilience and vitality. Grants fund initiatives that directly benefit residents, businesses, and visitors while promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA).

Wicked Cool Places

Aimed at creating lively public spaces rooted in community, Wicked Cool Places supports projects that create or sustain New Bedford’s neighborhoods. This program seeks to foster environments that residents and visitors can enjoy, strengthening New Bedford’s reputation as a city that values and supports cultural expression.

Grant Awards & Eligibility

Grants range from $1,500 to $10,000, making them accessible to a range of projects, large and small. Funding can be used for materials, project costs, operational expenses, staffing, and more. Applications are open to individuals, nonprofits, community organizations, and for-profit businesses, with eligibility based on a commitment to improving the city’s creative and cultural fabric.

Selection Process

An independent selection committee of residents and community groups from New Bedford will review and evaluate proposals based on quality, community impact, partnerships, planning, and budget considerations. Applicants should be prepared to demonstrate how their projects align with the goals of Art is Everywhere! or Wicked Cool Places in a way that advances New Bedford’s cultural scene.

Financial support for these grant programs is provided by the City’s Arts, Culture, and Tourism Fund, with additional support from Barr Foundation, Bristol County Savings Bank, and Mass Cultural Council. All applications must be submitted through New Bedford Creative’s online portal. For more information and to apply, please visit www.newbedfordcreative.org.

About New Bedford Creative at the NBEDC

New Bedford Creative is a program of the New Bedford Economic Development Council (NBEDC), a nonprofit organization with a mission to cultivate and promote a transparent, credible, and business-friendly environment. New Bedford Creative is specifically tasked with implementing the City of New Bedford’s first-ever strategic arts and culture plan, with the vision that “In New Bedford, the creative community is an engaged and powerful partner, inspiring social, economic, and cultural growth. In this authentic seaport city, each and every person enjoys an opportunity to experience a diversity of cultures. Art is everywhere, encouraging fun, provoking thought, and nurturing the soul.”

Photo description: A woman participates in the Wicked Queer Puppet Theater during the AHA! Pride Block Party in downtown New Bedford on Thursday, June 13, 2024.

Photo credit: Josh Souza