Here is an open call for TENDER 2025: A Caribbean Arts Regranting Initiative. Here are excerpts describing grants for Barbados-based and Caribbean-based artists at different places in their careers, ranging from recent visual arts graduates to established visual artists. Please visit Fresh Milk for more information and eligibility requirements for visual arts organizations and for curators / art historians / writers / researchers. Artists must not be previous recipients of a TENDER Grant. The application deadline is June 6, 2025.
Those fitting the criteria and based in the following countries may apply: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Barthelemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands.
[ten-der] definition:
1. gentle, loving, or kind;
2. something offered especially money, as in payment.
The Fresh Milk Art Platform, partnering once again with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and the additional support of the Panta Rhea Foundation and the Clara Lionel Foundation, is excited to launch the second edition of TENDER: A Caribbean Arts Regranting Initiative.
The ethos of this programme is centred on generosity, faith, and care; Fresh Milk has always had an unwavering belief in the talent and potential of artists from this region, and as an artist-led space, we are intimately familiar with the range of challenges involved in maintaining a practice. These nineteen (19) unrestricted grants will be awarded to eligible creatives, who can use the funds as they see fit. Whether it is towards creating new work, acquiring materials, research and development, designing new or continuing existing programmes, pursuing further studies, exhibition preparation or production, participating in artist residencies, or any general living expenses; this tender gesture signifies an appreciation for the recipients’ commitment to the arts and culture in the Caribbean.
Along with financial support, the work of each successful grantee will be promoted widely through Fresh Milk and the NCF’s local and regional networks in the form of a featured page on our website, extensive social media coverage, and an interview with the recipient discussing their practice. In this way, we also hope to strengthen artists’ networks, further contributing to a sense of community and the public archiving of Caribbean creativity.
Fresh Milk is interested in supporting experimental contemporary visual art, and curatorial and research-based practices that explore structure, content, and expanded exhibition approaches in new ways. The grants will fall into the following categories:
SIX (6) grants valued at USD $1,500.00 each, which will be awarded to:
- THREE (3) Barbados-based recent visual arts graduates;
- THREE (3) Caribbean-based recent visual arts graduates.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
- Artists must have completed a BFA or equivalent degree within the last 6 years (2020-2025);
- Artists must be currently living and practising in the Caribbean;
- Artists’ work can span any discipline/media of contemporary visual arts practice (painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, mixed media, sculpture, installation, video, new media, experimental audiovisual art, performance art, interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary);
- Artists must demonstrate a high standard of work in keeping with their level of experience, and a commitment to the continued development of their practice.
FIVE (5) grants valued at USD $2,500.00 each, which will be awarded to:
- TWO (2) Barbados-based emerging visual artists;
- THREE (3) Caribbean-based emerging visual artists.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
- Artists must have been living and practising in the Caribbean between 7 – 12 years;
- Artists’ work can span any discipline/media of contemporary visual arts practice (painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, mixed media, sculpture, installation, video, new media, experimental audiovisual art, performance art, interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary);
- Artists must demonstrate a high standard of work and professional endeavours (participation in exhibitions, residencies, workshops, programming etc.) in keeping with their level of experience.
FOUR (4) grants valued at USD $3,500.00 each, which will be awarded to:
- TWO (2) Barbados-based mid-career visual artists;
- TWO (2) Caribbean-based mid-career visual artists.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
- Artists must have been living and practising in the Caribbean between 13 – 19 years;
- Artists’ work can span any discipline/media of contemporary visual arts practice (painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, mixed media, sculpture, installation, video, new media, experimental audiovisual art, performance art, interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary);
- Artists must demonstrate a high standard of work and professional endeavours (participation in exhibitions, residencies, workshops, programming etc.) in keeping with their level of experience.
TWO (2) grants valued at USD $7,500.00 each, which will be awarded to:
- ONE (1) established Barbados-based visual artist;
- ONE (1) established Caribbean-based visual artists.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
- Artists must have been living and practising in the Caribbean for a minimum of 20 years;
- Artists’ work can span any discipline/media of contemporary visual arts practice (painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, mixed media, sculpture, installation, video, new media, experimental audiovisual art, performance art, interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary);
- Artists must demonstrate a high standard of work and professional endeavours (participation in exhibitions, residencies, workshops, programming etc.) in keeping with their long and influential careers [. . .]
All applicants will also be asked for a brief statement on why the receipt of this grant would be timely for their practice.
OPEN CALL 2025 – IMPORTANT DATES:
- May 5th – June 6th, 2025 – Open call submission window
- June 16th – July 25th, 2025 – Review of applications by jury
- July 31st, 2025 – Contacting of successful applicants
- August 9th, 2025 – Announcement of results
- August 18th, 2025 – Commence disbursal of funds
For more information, visit https://freshmilkbarbados.com/2025/05/05/open-call-tender-2025-a-caribbean-arts-regranting-initiative/
Here is an open call for TENDER 2025: A Caribbean Arts Regranting Initiative. Here are excerpts describing grants for Barbados-based and Caribbean-based artists at different places in their careers, ranging from recent visual arts graduates to established visual artists. Please visit Fresh Milk for more information and eligibility requirements for visual arts organizations and for curators
