Joyce Awards
The Joyce Awards provide direct, catalytic support to Great Lakes-based artists and culture bearers whose visionary creative practices meaningfully impact and advance racial equity in their communities.
Overview
The Joyce Awards provide direct, catalytic support to Great Lakes-based artists and culture bearers through unrestricted awards of $100,000, paired with a $40,000 grant to a Great Lakes organization selected by the artist to help realize, expand, or deepen the impact of the artists’ work in the region. Artists and culture bearers working in the visual arts, performing arts, film and media, multimedia, literary arts, or other traditional, interdisciplinary, or community-based cultural practices are eligible for nomination. Eligibility will rotate by state: artists based in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will be eligible in 2026, while artists in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio will be eligible in 2027. Following a nomination, application, and panel review process, four Awards will be awarded in each year.
How We Collaborate
In 2024, the Joyce Foundation began convening and listening to artists, arts leaders, and past awardees to reflect on twenty years of the Joyce Awards and shape the new program. In 2025, USA was engaged by the Foundation to administer the 2026 and 2027 Joyce Awards as an unrestricted model of support directly to artists and culture bearers. The program now welcomes both peer and self-nominations, and for the first time in the Awards’ twenty-year history, the Foundation is broadening eligibility to include artists and culture bearers living and working in any community within eligible Great Lakes states – across major cities, as well as rural, suburban, and tribal communities.
2026 Cycle Nominations
Artists and culture bearers who meet the eligibility requirements may be nominated by invited arts professionals (in a process conducted earlier this spring) or through a public, online self-nomination portal that is open now through May 4, 2026. Eligible nominees will be invited to submit applications, which will be reviewed by a panel of regional and national arts leaders who will recommend four Awards.
The Joyce Awards will support artists and culture bearers whose visionary creative practices meaningfully impact and advance racial equity in their communities through collaborative approaches. Artists and culture bearers working in the visual arts, performing arts, film and media, multimedia, literary arts, or other traditional, interdisciplinary, or community-based cultural practices are eligible for nomination. Geographic eligibility will rotate by state across two award cycles: artists based in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will be eligible in 2026, while artists in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio will be eligible in 2027.
The 2026 awardees will be announced in Fall 2026. The 2027 cycle will open in Spring 2027 for artists and culture bearers in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
Before submitting a self-nomination, please carefully review the eligibility requirements and FAQ. Visit the link below to learn more and submit a self-nomination.
Duration: 2026 - ongoing
Services: Program design, administration