2027 Rainmaker Craft Microgrant Program
Rainmaker Craft Initiative is an educational platform committed to creative inquiry founded on craft. Focused on advancing partnerships within the greater Portland community and nationally, RCI emphasizes material practice and community exchange. RCI is dedicated to fostering socially conscious, critically engaged makers across a spectrum of mediums, outcomes and aspirations. We have instituted a grant program to further this mission.
2027 Microgrants Timeline
Deadline for applications: November 9, 2026
Awardees Announced: January 12, 2027
Projects must be completed and final reports received by September 30, 2027
Purpose of Artist Microgrants
The Oregon Craft Microgrant program is an annual award provided by the Rainmaker Craft Initiative that awards outstanding achievement and creativity in the field of craft. These grants are intended to support platforms providing education to others. This could include creating scholarships, fellowships, residencies, workshops, or other educational projects. Please contact RCI if you have questions about the eligibility of your project. Craft education is the key component here, so we hope this encompasses a wide range of projects.
Guidelines
Applications must include the following:
Description of the educational opportunity or project in PDF or Word document, not to exceed 1000 words
Artist’s statement in a PDF or Word document, not to exceed 500 words
CV not to exceed two pages
5-10 images of your work in PDF format. *High resolution is preferred *Image files must be labeled with your last name and image title
Please indicate if you are open to giving an Artist’s talk, or participating on a discussion panel.
Award Amounts
Awards are $2000, with no matching funds required.
There will be a total of 3 microgrants awarded.
Payment Schedule
Grant awards will be paid within two months of notification of receiving an award. Applicants should plan accordingly.
Requirements & Limitations
Deadline: All applications must be submitted no later than 12:00am on November 9, 2026 to be considered for review.
All applications must meet guidelines and be submitted through THE LINK BELOW
$10.00 Application Fee
2027 Call for Makers: Craft Talk + Workshop
Want to lead an in-person community-based Craft Talk + Workshop? If there is a material, process, skill, tradition, technique, or way of working that you would enjoy sharing with others while having conversation, we would love to hear your ideas.
We are inviting makers, artists, craftspeople, and designers to lead a Craft Talk + Workshop, a reciprocal participatory gathering where conversation and making happen together and where knowledge is shared and passed along.
Rather than giving a formal lecture or teaching a step-by-step class, the invited maker will share knowledge, stories, techniques, materials, processes, or questions from their practice while everyone works with their hands alongside them and joins in on the discussion.
The format is intentionally informal and collective. Participants might learn a simple process, experiment with a material, practice a technique, or make something small while listening, asking questions, and talking together about the act of making and being in the world together.
What We’re Looking For
We are interested in makers who would like to share something they know through a combination of:
All engagements are in person and not held online
Hands-on making or material exploration that focuses of reciprocal exchange of conversation that veers away from the top down workshop model
Stories and knowledge from their practice
Demonstrations or techniques
Conversation and questions
Histories, traditions, cultural knowledge, or contemporary approaches connected to the work
The activity does not need to result in a finished object. The emphasis is on learning through making together and creating space for knowledge to be shared through conversation, materials, and hands-on experience.
Guidelines
Applications must include the following:
Submit a 1000 word proposal that includes:
Workshop title
A brief description of what you want to share and what participants will make, try, or do
Materials or tools that you will provide
Tell us about your practice and how it relates to the knowledge or process you are sharing
Let us know where this will be held and please note whether it is ADA accessible
Artist’s statement in a PDF or Word document, not to exceed 500 words
CV not to exceed two pages
5-10 images of your work in PDF format. *High resolution is preferred *Image files must be labeled with your last name and image title
Award Amounts
Awards are $2000, with no matching funds required.
There will be a total of 2 microgrants awarded.
Payment Schedule
Grant awards will be paid within two months of notification of receiving an award. Applicants should plan accordingly.
Requirements & Limitations
Deadline: All applications must be submitted no later than 12:00am on November 9, 2026 to be considered for review.
All applications must meet guidelines and be submitted VIA THE LINK BELOW
$10.00 Application Fee
::COMPLETED:: Glean Call for Submission
Deadline September 13th 2026 at 11:59pm PDT
One student position available
Free to apply
Applicants must be Multnomah, Washington or Clackamas County residents
One of the 5 Glean Artists to be selected for their exceptional level of Craft in their portfolio.
::COMPLETED::
rainmaker craft initiative: Oregon craft microgrants 2026
Application Deadline: November 3, 2025
Application Slideroom Link: https://rci.slideroom.com/#/permalink/program/86290
::COMPLETED::
2026 Fellowships Timeline
Deadline for applications: November 3, 2025
Awardees Announced: December 19, 2025. Awards distributed January 2026.
Projects must be completed and final reports received by September 30, 2026.
::COMPLETED::
TOWNSHIP 10 Open Call: artist Residency 2022
Application Deadline: November, 30th 2021.
At the core of Township10’s residency is an invitation to utilize the property and its resources in service of the artist’s needs/desires. The residencies are funded (no cost for studio/accommodations), the 2022 spots are 4-6 weeks and the program is currently seeking proposals in ceramics, with a few fibers/painting/drawing spaces available for the mixed media studio.
To apply for the ceramics residency visit: https://rci.slideroom.com/#/login/program/62615
To apply for the fibers/mixed media residency visit: https://rci.slideroom.com/#/login/program/64296
::COMPLETED::
East Creek Golden Spot Residency
Application Deadline: on a rolling basis through 2021.
Thanks to the generous financial support of The Ford Family Foundation, East Creek offers a one-month, fully funded residency in Willamina, OR with stipend of $1,000. There will be six Golden Spot residencies offered in 2020, and twelve in 2021. Each Golden Spot resident will have use of a private studio space as well as East Creek's shared tools and resources.
To apply visit: https://rci.slideroom.com/#/login/program/60207