You and your collaborators do not have to live in Rockville to submit a proposal. Great sustainable vision in another place may fit perfectly in another place. Please consider the particular cultural and environmental make up of the site you envision for your proposal.  Projects that blend the human and non- human environment with practical, poetic, utopian, or idealist ideas will help frame, visualize, and shape the future.

Projects that may receive funding represent a diverse cross section of contemporary artistic, social, design and scientific practices. Performances, community events, visual, sonic, tactile, olfactory discoveries, documents, parades, paths, maps, participatory actions, poetic data analysis, interviews, stories, games… No project or medium is incongruous with F.E.A.S.T. We encourage artists, thinkers and organizations to move outside their everyday practice and produce work that encourages situations where interaction and participation are essential.  Frame the future!

F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts 2017 (Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics) is a bridge between artists and the community.  F.E.A.S.T. is a public meal designed to use community-driven financial support to democratically fund projects that use art and creative thinking to impact the community. F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts 2017 will take place on September 24th on the Rooftop at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland, 11:30 to 4:00 PM. Patrons will give a donation for which they receive a meal of locally produced and prepared food and a ballot. Diners listen to and review a series of project proposals and converse with the artists and thinkers behind each idea. Attendees cast a vote for their favorite proposal, and by the end of the event, the artist who garners the most votes is awarded a grant comprised of the event ticket money.

F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts invites artists, thinkers, and organizations to submit proposals for funding up to $1,000. Project proposals will address the theme Future Framers: Envisioning 2040.  The deadline for applications is midnight on Tuesday, August 1, 2017.

F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts is based on F.E.A.S.T. in Brooklyn’s  (www.feastinbklyn.org) model for sustaining artist projects directly through community participation and InCubate (http://incubate-chicago.org). Another great resource: sundaysoup.org

Only complete proposals will be reviewed. Only finalists will be invited to the F.E.A.S.T. All applicants will be notified by September 1, 2017 if they are finalists. All finalists must be present at the September 24th F.E.A.S.T. to be eligible to appear on the ballot.
Should you win a F.E.A.S.T. grant, you must attend the next F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts (2018) to discuss the progress of your project. No application fee. Questions or advice:  Feel free to contact [email protected]