The North Carolina Arts Council is pleased to share this list of opportunities for artists. This is a free listing service where the entries are compiled via submissions from the field and updated weekly. If you have questions about a specific opportunity, please reach out to the organization listed directly.

Click on the DEADLINE heading to sort opportunities by due date, or the DATE POSTED heading to sort for recently listed opportunities.

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  • South Arts
    South Arts is a nonprofit regional arts organization empowering artists, organizations, and communities, and increasing access to arts and culture. 
  • NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
    The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources awards grants to individuals and organizations to foster historical, cultural, recreational, and environmental pursuits.
  • Local Arts Councils
    Check with your local arts council for regional artist opportunities and grants. 

  • ARTS North Carolina
    Publicizes job and internship opportunities through its membership listserv. Arts North Carolina will not post job listings that do not provide a salary range or that request candidates provide a salary history. Members may submit unlimited listings at no charge. Non-members pay $100 per listing.
  • Jobs in North Carolina Government
    Jobs openings are listed for all agencies within the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, including the N.C. Arts Council.

  • Americans for the Arts
    A service for both job seekers and arts employers. Job seekers can post their resumes and use the searchable database of nonprofit and for-profit arts management positions at organizations across the United States. For a moderate fee, employers can post a job opening and use the searchable database of online resumes to find qualified professional candidates.
  • New York Foundation for the Arts
    Job seekers can access listings for free and arts organizations are charged a moderate fee to post a job opening or artist opportunity.

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Visual Art Black and White International Art Competition

Blue Koi Gallery invites artists to submit their visual work for the Black and White Online Art Competition. This is an opportunity to showcase your creativity using any medium to evoke emotions, convey moods, or tell captivating stories. All 2D and 3D visual art forms are welcome, including painting, mixed media, photography, digital art, and sculpture. The competition is open to artists globally, and all applicants must be 18 or older.


Fees or awards
Entry fee is $15, awards offered.

Saturday, December 21, 2024
Multidisciplinary Grey Cube Gallery

Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the fifth Abstract online art contest for the month of January 2025. Contest is open to all artists worldwide over 18 years of age. The gallery invites artists and photographers from around the world to submit their best nonrepresentational artworks in all kinds of concepts and mediums. All visual art mediums (except video and sound) are allowed. Winning artwork (Best of Show) will be on the poster of the show.

Fees or awards
$20

Thursday, December 26, 2024
Grants & Fellowships Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability

The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University proudly announces Emerge, a three-year initiative made possible thanks to a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation. This support will allow the Longmore Institute to lead a five-week workshop for emerging Disability Studies scholar-activists, for thirty total fellows over three consecutive summers at San Francisco State University with an option for hybrid participation.

Why is this Fellowship program occurring?
Emerge seeks to promote Disability Studies scholar-activism, the bridges and relationships that allow academics, activists, and creatives to better support each other in the shared pursuit of social change. This initiative will cultivate relationships among the next generation of Disability Studies leaders, further diversify the conversation, and promote more scholar-activism in the field.

Friday, December 27, 2024
Visual Art Primary Colors Art Competition

The Blue Koi Gallery invites you to explore the bold and dynamic influence of red, blue, and yellow. Whether you specialize in traditional art, mixed media, digital art, sculpture, or photography, this theme encourages you to showcase how one or more of these foundational colors shape your artistic expression—or use all three.
The winner of the “Primary Colors” competition will receive $100 USD cash, a professionally designed certificate and extensive media.

Fees or awards
Entry fee is $15, awards offered.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Literary Arts Bellevue Literary Review’s Call for Submissions: Animalia

Bellevue Literary Review is an award-winning independent literary journal that probes the nuances of our lives in illness and in health. BLR publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that brings together the perspectives of patients, caregivers, family members, students, healthcare professionals, and the general public. BLR is committed to seeking a diversity of voices from all communities and all walks of life.

Animalia: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human
BLR is seeking creative writing about the ways in which animals figure into our lives and the way they live theirs. Whether companion or wild, predator or prey, animals’ experiences of health can shine a light on our own. BLR invites submissions that explore how health and healing both transcend and interconnect species, and what this can teach us about being human. 

Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Grants & Fellowships South Arts - Express Grants

South Arts believes that rural communities deserve great art, and can require specialized support to make that vision viable. Distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis, Express Grants support rural organizations and communities with expedited grants of up to $3,000. To be eligible for funding, applicants must program arts experiences featuring a Southern artist.

Express Grants are an opportunity for organizations in South Arts' nine-state region to receive fee support to present Southern guest film directors, visual and performing artists, or writers from inside or outside of the presenter's state.

Projects must include both a public presentation (film screening, performance, reading, or exhibition) and an educational/community engagement component. Based on the artist fee, the maximum request is $3,000. The grant requires a dollar-for-dollar cash match (for example, an applicant that requests $3,000 must provide a $3,000 cash match for a project with a $6,000 artist fee).

Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Visual Art Artist Call: Pullen Arts Center Solo Exhibition

Pullen Arts Center is seeking solo artist submissions for the 2026 exhibition program.

Persons 18 years of age or older, residing in the City of Raleigh, who participate or make art at Pullen Arts Center are prioritized. However, artists working across the region are encouraged to apply. We define “all artists” to include the range of human differences (race and ethnicity, gender identity, age, socio-economic and housing status, religion, political affiliation, physical, and mental ability) and the broadest definition of an arts professional. All artists are welcome to apply.

Wednesday, January 01, 2025
Visual Art Artist Space Gallery

We are pleased to announce our second Green online Art Competition for the month of January 2025.  You are welcome to submit any style or subject matter as long as the theme color "Green" is prominent. All visual art mediums are allowed. In addition to the selected artists, the jury will select award winners in the following art categories: painting, photography, sculpture. All selected artists will receive a digital award certificate.

Fees or awards
$20

Wednesday, January 01, 2025
Multidisciplinary International Art Competition Animals

Contemporary Art Room Gallery is proud to announce their 8th “Animals” Online Art Competition for the month of January 2025. This is an international competition and artists from around the world are welcome to submit their work. Through this call artists and photographers are invited to submit their best artworks related to the world of animals. A variety of interpretations of Animals theme can be submitted (representative, abstract, conceptional). All visual art mediums are acceptable (painti

Fees or awards
$20

Thursday, January 02, 2025
Residencies McColl Center

The McColl Center invites applications for the Fall 2025 Artist-in-Residence program. Artists receive private housing, a large studio, curatorial guidance, marketing support, and a stipend. This residency is an opportunity to take creative risks, engage with Charlotte’s art community, and focus on artistic exploration. Residency dates: September 9 - December 15, 2025. Application deadline: January 3, 2025. Apply now!

Fees or awards
$6,000 Stipend

Friday, January 03, 2025