All competitions · Prize / award
Forward Art Prize 2026 (Women Artists Forward Fund)
Women Artists Forward Fund (Madison Community Foundation) · Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Two annual unrestricted $10,000 prizes for women-identifying visual artists resident in Dane County, Wisconsin; 2026 applications ran 1 May to 14 June 2026 with awards announced in autumn 2026.
Your eligibility
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Who can enter
- Location
- United States (by country of residence)
- Local area
- Dane County, Wisconsin
- Age
- 18 and over
- Career stage
- Any
- Mediums
- Any medium
- For
- Women artists
- Education
- Not open to anyone in full-time education
- Collectives
- Collectives and duos welcome
- Submission
- Online submission
- Also
- Women-identifying visual artists resident in Dane County, Wisconsin for the previous 12 months and at award time; 18+; not students at award time; no single arts grant of $10,000+ received 2022-2025.
About
The Forward Art Prize, funded by the Women Artists Forward Fund held at Madison Community Foundation, awards two unrestricted $10,000 prizes each year to women-identifying visual artists (or women artist collaboratives) living in Dane County, Wisconsin, who show exceptional creativity and compelling prospects, with preference for those lacking access to other funding.
For 2026 the application opened 1 May and closed at midnight CDT on 14 June 2026, with awards announced in autumn 2026. Applicants must have resided in Dane County for the previous 12 months and at the time of the award, be 18 or over, not be students when the award is given, and not have received $10,000 or more in arts funding from a single entity in 2022-2025.
Applications are made online via Airtable; no fee is mentioned. The 2027 cycle is expected to open 1 May 2027.