Graduate Student Arts Research Grant (GSARG)

The Arts Initiative will consider funding requests for new and ongoing arts research projects. A single application may request a maximum of $3,000. GSARG does not provide repeat funding for the same project activities, but students may apply for a clearly distinct phase, expansion, or new development of an ongoing project.

This grant is open to current U-M graduate students from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses.

Applicants do not need to be enrolled in an arts-designated program. GSARG welcomes projects from any field when the arts are central to the project’s questions, methods, materials, collaborations, or public engagement.

We seek projects that expand disciplinary boundaries using the arts, including but not limited to:

• Interdisciplinary and experimental art forms

• Visual arts, including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, visual culture, and material culture

• Performing arts, including theater, music, dance, performance, sound, ritual, and embodied practice

• Digital arts and media, including video, new media, animation, digital storytelling, mapping, and digital humanities

• Literary arts, including poetry, prose, playwriting, translation, adaptation, and hybrid forms

• Arts-based research in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, public policy, health, education, environment, design, technology, or community-engaged scholarship

• Archival, curatorial, museum-based, exhibition, documentary, or public humanities projects

• Projects engaging artists, cultural workers, creative communities, performance traditions, visual/material culture, literature, film, sound, design, or other arts-based practices

GSARG offers two application cycles each academic year. Applicants should apply to the cycle that best aligns with their project timeline.

Fall 2026 Cycle

• Application deadline: Monday, October 19, 2026

• Award notifications: Early November 2026

• Funds available: Late December 2026 / early January 2027

Winter 2027 Cycle

• Application deadline: Friday, January 22, 2027

• Award notifications: Mid-February 2027

• Funds available: Late March / early April 2027

Virtual Info Sessions + Q&A

Prospective applicants are invited to join an info session to learn more about GSARG, including eligibility, the application process, and the kinds of projects the program supports. Each session will include time for questions with Arts Initiative staff.

• Thursday, September 24 | 11:00–11:45 a.m. | Zoom

• Thursday, November 12 | 4:00–4:45 p.m. | Zoom

Students can register here

GSARG funds may be used for expenses that directly support the proposed arts research.

Eligible expenses may include:

• Materials, fabrication, and production

• Space and equipment rental

• Documentation and post-production

• Software, licensing, archival access, and digital tools

• Translation, transcription, and accessibility services

• Printing, publication, and other forms of dissemination

• Honoraria and fees for collaborators or other project contributors

• Costs associated with bringing invited collaborators or contributors to campus

GSARG does not support:

• Outbound travel by graduate student applicants, including research, conference, performance, exhibition, or archival travel

• General living expenses, tuition, or fees

• Retroactive expenses

• Alcohol or food and beverages exceeding 10% of the project budget

• Expenses not directly related to the proposed arts research

• Standalone Guest lectures and events: Invited artists, speakers, or other contributors may be supported when their participation is part of a broader graduate student-led arts research project. Standalone lectures, talks, or events are not eligible.

Students whose projects require travel are encouraged to seek additional support through other University funding sources, including resources listed here

Additional restrictions and University policies may apply to individual expenses.

Submission Materials:

1. Online Application: Go to our submission portal. You will be asked to provide a brief and a more extended description of your project and the type of activities it will involve, a timeline and budget, etc.

2. Optional Portfolio: Include up to three media files showcasing previous work or relevant project materials.

3. Detailed Timeline and Budget: Please, download and fill up the following budget template.

4. Advisor’s Letter: A brief letter from your advisor confirming that your project will not interfere with your course of studies. Your advisor can send their letter to gsargqueries@umich.edu.

Your project proposal will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Clarity, Imagination, and Quality of the Proposed Project

  • Does the proposal clearly describe the project’s goals, questions, methods, and arts research approach?

  • Does the project demonstrate originality, rigor, and creative or scholarly significance?

  • Projects may be exploratory, process-based, developmental, or in progress; they do not need to result in a polished final product.

• Centrality of the Arts

  • Are the arts central to the project’s questions, methods, materials, collaborations, or public engagement?

  • Are the arts part of how the research happens, rather than simply a way to illustrate, decorate, or disseminate the work after the fact?

  • Projects may engage artistic practice, performance, visual or material culture, sound, film, literature, design, archives, exhibition-making, translation, digital media, community arts, or other arts-based methods.

• Feasibility of the Project

  • Does the proposal include a realistic timeline, appropriate scope, and clear budget?

  • Do the requested funds directly support the proposed arts research, and can the project reasonably be completed within the grant period

• Campus Sharing and Engagement

  • Does the proposal include a feasible way of sharing, activating, or extending the work with the U-M community?

  • Campus sharing may be modest, informal, in-process, digital, collaborative, or public-facing.
    
    

• Applicants should explain how their project aligns with one of the program’s focus areas:

  • Broad and Inclusive Engagement with the Arts

    • How does the project broaden participation in, access to, or understanding of the arts?

    • How does it engage communities, audiences, collaborators, students, or publics within or beyond arts-designated programs?

  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Innovation

    • How does the project create meaningful exchange across disciplines, methods, units, fields, or communities?

  • Transformative Impact and Enhanced Understanding

    • How does the project use the arts to investigate complex questions, generate new perspectives, or deepen understanding of important issues, histories, communities, practices, or contemporary concerns?

GSARG funding will not be transferred directly to a student account. Expenses will be managed and tracked by the awardee’s unit financial administrator or Single Administrative Point of Contact (SAPOC).

Applicants will be asked to provide their SAPOC’s contact information as part of the application. If you do not know who your SAPOC is, contact your graduate program coordinator, department administrator, or school or college graduate office for assistance identifying the appropriate person.

Your SAPOC should be someone who can help manage project expenses such as purchases, reimbursements, vendor payments, honoraria, or rentals if your project is funded.

Other Considerations

• The decision of the GSARG Review Committee is final.

• GSARG may support new projects as well as clearly distinct phases, expansions, or new developments of ongoing arts research projects.

• GSARG does not provide repeat funding for the same project activities.

Awarded projects must:

• Participate in a GSARG awardee gathering hosted by the Arts Initiative to connect with fellow awardees and briefly share their projects.

• Complete the funded project within the 12-month grant period. Exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

• Include a feasible way of sharing or engaging with the U-M community.

• Provide images and a brief project description for possible use on the Arts Initiative website, Michigan News, and related University communications.

• Submit a GSARG Final Report at the conclusion of the funding period.

• Acknowledge support from the Arts Initiative by including the appropriate Arts Initiative logos in printed and web materials related to the funded project

GSARG-funded projects are expected to include a feasible way of sharing the work with the U-M community. This may be modest, informal, in-process, digital, collaborative, or public-facing, and may focus on process or emerging ideas rather than a completed work.

Applicants do not need a confirmed venue, date, audience, or campus partner at the time of application. Formal exhibitions, performances, screenings, or large events are welcome but not required. Reviewers will consider whether the proposed sharing plan is thoughtful, feasible, and proportional to the project.

Examples may include:

• Research talk, brown bag, or informal presentation

• Class visit or guest discussion

• Workshop, demonstration, or skill-sharing session

• Open studio, open rehearsal, critique, table read, or work-in-progress sharing

• Screening, reading, listening session, or small showing

• Digital documentation, website, short video, podcast, zine, or process document

• Collaboration with a course, department, center, lab, museum, library, student organization, or research group

• Guest artist, collaborator, performer, consultant, or community partner visit to campus when integrated into the graduate student-led project

• Participation in a GSARG awardee gathering, peer exchange, or cohort conversation