Are you a mid-career Arkansas artist looking for financial support and mentorship for your work? If so, head to Mid-America Arts Alliance (maaa.org) to learn more about the Catalyze Grant, which annually awards $10,000 practice-based fellowships to support the creative work of 25 artists with partnership from the Windgate Foundation. The 2025 grantees have just been announced, and applications open for 2026 in January.
“Catalyze is built on the belief that artists deserve the time, space, and support to pursue their work on their own terms,” said Diane Scott, director of artist services at Mid-America Arts Alliance.
“This year, we’re especially proud to expand the program’s reach to 31 counties across Central Arkansas and the Arkansas Delta—bringing more voices and more perspectives together. Each of these artists is making a meaningful impact in their community, and this fellowship fuels that momentum.”
Selected 2025 artists are from a wide range of practices and disciplines, such as a furniture maker, Western and wildlife artist, film director, wild pigment potter, metalsmith, hip-hop artist, and dance choreographer. This year’s cohort includes Hot Springs resident, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts teacher, bassoonist, composer, and conductor Tom Dempster, as well as the writer of this column, Erin Wood. The cohort will be led by five facilitators, including Hot Springs poet and Wednesday Night Poetry host Kai Coggin.
Click the grantee’s name to learn more about them. Andrew Myers (Bryant) • Ashley Hood (North Little Rock) • Brenda Morgan (Dardanelle) • Bryan Borland (North Little Rock) • Courtney Bennett Baker (Little Rock) • Dallas Martinez (Jonesboro) • Emma Estelle Chambers (Little Rock) • Erin Wood (Little Rock) • Faye Duncan-Daniel (Helena) • Tyler Lewis (White Hall) • Jalache Davis (Little Rock) • Joel Boyd (Little Rock) • Khem K. Aryal (Jonesboro) • Mattius Yohance (Little Rock) • Myriam Saavedra (Little Rock) • Paige Martin Reynolds (Little Rock) • Paige Murphy (Little Rock) • Patrice Bax (Little Rock) • Penn Davis (Hensley) • Raeden Greer (Benton) • Stacey Bowers (North Little Rock) • Stephen Koch (Little Rock) • Todd Belin (Little Rock) • Tom Dempster (Hot Springs) • Zina Al-Shukri (Little Rock)
To make sure you don’t miss the deadline for 2026 applications, head to maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/catalyze.
Hot Springs native Erin Wood is a writer, editor, and publisher in Little Rock. She owns and runs etaliapress.com. Wood is the author of “Women Make Arkansas: Conversations With 50 Creatives” (2019) and editor of and a contributor to “Scars: An Anthology” (2015).
