RUBYS ARTIST GRANTS
The Rubys Artist Grants provide direct funding of up to $15,000 to Baltimore-area artists to support innovative projects with significant impact. Grants are offered in four broad discipline categories—Performing Arts, Media Arts, Visual Arts, Literary Arts—for the creation of new artwork. Applications in each discipline category are accepted once per year.
2026 Rubys Artist Grants Cycle
THE ROBERT W. DEUTSCH FOUNDATION
ANNOUNCES THE 2026 RUBYS ARTIST GRANT AND NEW GRANT STRUCTURE
The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the 2026 Rubys Artist Grant cycle and the fourth Rubys Alumni Grant. Beginning in 2026, the Rubys Artist Grants will adopt a rotating, two-discipline structure designed to deepen cohort experience and tailor support to artists’ fields of practice. Founded as a project-based funding opportunity for artists in Baltimore city and county, the Rubys Grant program will continue to invite artists to propose new, innovative, and experimental projects for consideration in an annual, open call while offering supplemental support to the awardees.
The artistic categories open in 2026 are Visual and Performance arts. Artists working in those categories and meeting the additional eligibility requirements are invited to apply.
Each year, the program will support 12–15 artists with $15,000 grants, award one $25,000 Alumni Grant, and provide two $2,500 Microgrants for early-stage projects. Previous recipients of Rubys Grants, a group of more than 190 artists, are invited to apply in this grant cycle to the Rubys Alumni Award which will recognize one outstanding project annually with $25,000 in funding. Unlike the regular Rubys, artists in the Alumni category are not geographically bound, but will be asked to work with the awardees in their artistic discipline in a mentor capacity - offering studio visits, feedback and presenting an artist talk to the grantees and broader public. This year, the Rubys Awards are open to the Visual and Performance Arts creative disciplines, and will be reviewed by notable professionals in those creative fields. Applicants have a month to apply and have the opportunity to participate in three informational sessions on the application process. In the 2027 cycle, the grant will be open to artists working in Literary and Media arts.
In addition to project funding, the Rubys will provide awardees with professional development services, networking opportunities, and an enhanced community of alumni and mentors. The Rubys will also work with several Deutsch Foundation projects such as Open Works, BmoreArt, and outside partners to outfit awardees, when relevant to their work, with access to tools, technologies, equipment, performance and event space, exposure and dialogue. By concentrating on two disciplines annually, the Rubys fosters stronger peer connections, more focused professional development, and meaningful mentorship relationships.
The 2026 Rubys will, once again, utilize a two-phase application, which opens February 2025. The award invites artists in the first two categories: Performing Arts, and Visual Arts, to apply, and projects will be reviewed by experts in each discipline. Outstanding projects will move on to round two, where applicants will be asked to outline their full project narrative, budget, supporting portfolio, and public components. The Alumni Award selection will follow the same process and applicants will be limited to the same artistic disciplines.
Since its launch in 2013, the Rubys Artists Grants have become highly valued opportunities for Baltimore area creatives and have helped to fund a diverse range of projects by 158 artists. By supporting future projects holistically, the Rubys aim to support Baltimore’s creative community to enable artists to continue to have sustainable and successful careers.
OVERVIEW
The Rubys were established in 2013 to provide project-based support for individual artists. The goal of the program is to provide meaningful support to individual artists to allow for the creation of new work. The Rubys supports the notion of risk-taking (in practice, content, process, and/or outcome) and equally values artistic integrity, strong ideas, feasibility, and communal meaning. The program is open to artists at any stage of their career and favors projects that have significant creative work left to accomplish.
UPDATES:
In 2020, the maximum grant amount per artist was increased to $15,000. This remained the maximum grant amount for the 2026 cycle.
In 2023, the required public component of Rubys projects, which was waived during the initial pandemic years, was reinstated. All years following require applicants to present their work publicly.
In 2024, the Alumni Award was created. Previous recipients of the Rubys Artist Grants are invited to apply for a single annual award of $25,000. Alumni are asked to serve as mentors to the Rubys Awardees in their same discipline and to present a public artist talk during the year of the grant cycle.
Grant at a Glance
Artists may apply for grants of up to $15,000 to be applied to a project over a 12-month period. Artists may submit only one application during each funding round. Grants may be used to support projects that are already in process, a project not yet begun, or a distinct phase of a longer-term project.
Artistic Categories
LITERARY ARTS
Includes but is not limited to: nonfiction; fiction; poetry; graphic novels; cross-disciplinary; experimental/emerging fields.
MEDIA ARTS
Includes but is not limited to: film; audio and video projects; animation; computer graphics; sound art; digital arts; screenplay; teleplay; cross-disciplinary; experimental/emerging fields.
PERFORMING ARTS
Includes but is not limited to: dance; music; theater; musical theater; opera; puppetry; performance art; playwriting; spoken word; storytelling; traditional/folk art; cross-disciplinary; experimental/emerging fields.
VISUAL ARTS
Includes but is not limited to: painting; photography; sculpture; works on paper; craft; installation; traditional/folk art; cross-disciplinary; experimental/emerging fields.
ALUMNI GRANTS: For artists who have received a Ruby award as an individual artist or with their consistent collaborator. If the same creative collaborators are applying for new project funding, it should go through the alumni grant process. If, however, a single member of a collaborative group that previously received the award is applying for a project in their own, solo, practice, they may apply to the regular grant pool in their artistic category. Beginning in 2026, Alumni awards will rotate with the two-discipline schedule.
Eligibility
In addition to making work in one of the two open, artistic categories (in 2026 these are Visual and Performing Arts), at the time of application, an artist must:
Be a resident of Baltimore City or Baltimore County.
Have a valid U.S. tax identification number
Be at least 21 years old
Be a practicing artist: Those who have actively and continually pursued their profession in this discipline for more than three years (as evidenced on your resume with application)
Artist duos or groups may apply together but will receive payments as individuals.
***Rubys Alumni Grant Applicants may reside anywhere, but MUST be willing to work with the cohort of new Rubys in their creative discipline as a mentor, conducting studio visits and critical conversations, and to present an artist talk to the Rubys cohort and broader community during the one year grant period.***
The following are not eligible for grants from this program:
Organizations
Full-time or part-time students in a degree-earning program
A current board member, committee member, staff, contractor, fellow, or consultant for the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, or their immediate family members
Questions?
For questions, please email us at rubys@rwdfoundation.org
“The Rubys are guided by the core values of experimentation, risk-taking, and unfettered creativity in support of new artistic projects.”
Launched in 2013, the Rubys Artist Grant program was conceived, designed, and initiated with funding from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation. The Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA) was selected to administer the first phase of the grant program. During the initial five years of development, the Rubys were established as an important and respected opportunity for artists in the Baltimore region. To date, the program has granted over $680,000 to 92 artists. The Rubys Artist Grant Program was inspired by the work of Creative Capital in New York City and named in honor of its visionary founder, Ruby Lerner.
Grantees represent all artistic disciplines on a two-year rotational basis, with selected projects ranging from jazz oeuvres and immersive theater to experimental film and poetic memoir. Past grantees have gone onto critical acclaim with fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, United States Artists, and Halcyon Arts Lab, and have taken their projects to the Maryland Film Festival, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
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Questions?
Email rubys@rwdfoundation.org with your question.