Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice

At New England Foundation for the Arts, we believe that public art has the power to shift public culture and change the future, for the better. Creating positive social change requires collective imagination.

Everything created must first be imagined, including our collective future. Social imagination is a prerequisite to positive social change.

– USDAC.US 

How It Works

Please read all the information below before starting an application. 

Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice grants support teams of Massachusetts-based creatives and community members to do the important work of imagining:

What does public art that fosters positive social change look, sound, and feel like in your community?

The Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice grant aims to support teams that are dreaming up what public artmaking can be as we strive for more just futures for our public spaces and public culture. 

A new cohort of Collective Imagination Teams will be selected to participate in a six-month imagination journey, from January through June 2025. Each team will receive a $6,000 grant.

Applications are due: October 21, 2024, 11:59p ET.

Note: This is NOT a project grant. If you are looking for funding for a specific project, you may be interested in the Public Art for Spatial Justice Grant. 

About NEFA’s Public Art Programs 

Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice is one of NEFA’s grant programs supporting artists in the field of public art. 

For more information about other elements of NEFA’s Public Art programs: 

VISIT THE public art PROGRAM PAGE 

Eligibility Criteria 

Eligible applicants must be a team of at least three members, based in Massachusetts. 

At least two team members must be available to participate in the NEFA-facilitated monthly virtual cohort gatherings from January-June 2025.

Teams must include:

• an artist/creative 
• a community member who lives/works where the team is focusing their imagination journey

Teams are welcome to have more artists and community members. And we also recognize that team members may wear multiple hats as both artist and community member.

Teams may be led by an individual or an organization rooted in the community. Teams may include community-based organizations, activists, cultural organizers.

Not Eligible

• Project-specific funding requests. If you have a specific project that you are ready to implement, please consider applying for a Public Art for Spatial Justice Grant. 

Past CISJ grantees are not eligible to apply to CISJ again for two full calendar years. (E.g., If a CISJ grantee completes their final cohort gathering/grantee report on June 30, 2024, they are ineligible to apply in 2025, and eligible to apply again in 2026.)

Funding Criteria and Priorities 

A new cohort of Collective Imagination Teams will be selected to participate in a six-month imagination journey, from January through June 2025.

Teams who meet the above eligibility criteria will be selected based on:

• Clarity of intentions. We recognize that public spaces are not neutral. And public art made in public spaces is not neutral. We want to know what has brought your team to this moment of exploration and imagination, and why now? What are your intentions for embarking on an imagination journey together? 
• Commitment to participate in virtual cohort gatherings in 2025.

Priority will be given to teams that share in NEFA’s public art values and are commitment to the work of dismantling the legacies of racism, anti-Blackness, and white supremacy culture. In particular we are prioritizing teams that are…

• Led or co-led by Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), and more specifically BIPOC artists and creatives. We believe the path to dismantling the legacies of racism and white supremacy culture includes centering BIPOC-led creative exploration and expression in public spaces. 
• Built on trust and accountability. Teams that are aware of the power dynamics within their Collective Imagination Team and broader community and are actively working towards addressing imbalances in power dynamics.
• Rooted in community and/or demonstrate deep relationship to place – particularly rural places and/or places where folks are experiencing/have experienced displacement.
• Wrestling with the intersectionality of spatial justice and racial justice in their community and public spaces.

Application Process & Deadlines 

The next deadline for Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice is October 21, 2025, 11:59 PM ET.

Applications are accepted through our online grant portal.

Collective Imagination teams will be selected by early December 2024 for our 2025 cohort. 

Grant year: January - June 2025
Grant Amount: $6,000

Each team will receive a $6,000 grant at the beginning of the grant year. In your application you’ll be asked to provide a budget to explain how these funds will best support your team’s imagination journey. We want to honor the work of imagination, and the time it will take for us to be on this journey together. Examples of acceptable uses of the grant include, but certainly are not limited to, stipends for team members’ time, transportation, or childcare expenses that allow diverse team members to fully participate, etc. Please use the budget section to help us understand how this grant will specifically support your team’s ability to participate in this imagination journey with us!

Reminder: Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice grants are taxable income to individual recipients and reportable to the IRS. All grantees will receive a 1099 from NEFA.

Grantee Cohort Requirements

Cohort Requirements and Schedule

Grant year: January - June 2025

Virtual Cohort Gatherings: Collective Imagination Teams are expected to participate in monthly virtual cohort gatherings (90 minutes) facilitated by NEFA. Reminder: At least two team members are required to attend each of these virtual gatherings. Date/Time of cohort gatherings TBD after teams are selected.

Collective Imagination Teams are also expected to do independent imagination work in between the NEFA-hosted cohort gatherings. For example, this may include but is not limited to, meeting regularly with your imagination team, connecting with community, taking time to further learn more about and experience the public spaces that your team is imagining into!

Teams will also have access to meet with NEFA’s Public Art staff one-on-one, and the opportunity to connect with fellow Collective Imagination Teams across Massachusetts who are also on their own journeys.

In lieu of a Final Grantee Report, Collective Imagination teams will be asked to participate in a conversational report back at the June 2025 Cohort Gathering.

Each team will be asked to prepare reflections on their collective imagination journey and participate in a group conversation.

NEFA’s public art team is learning with and from this collective imagination journey alongside our grantees!

These conversations will not only help us to better understand the impact of the grant and cohort model for the 2025 CISJ teams but help us understand how we can continue to evolve this program to meet the current needs of our creative communities and the field of public art in Massachusetts.

If a Collective Imagination Team is unable to participate in the June Cohort Gathering, please contact NEFA staff as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements.

To get a quick introduction to our three Public Art grant programs, watch the video above or read the transcript.

See Past Recipients of the Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice Grant