If you’re a New York City artist trying to get your next project off the ground, there could be some money waiting for you. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has doubled the maximum award for the city’s individual artist grants, from $5,000 to $10,000.
Valuing Artists
Announced Oct. 2 alongside NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Diya Vij and Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, the increase marks the first time in nearly 20 years that the city has raised the grant amount. The funding is available to a wide range of artists, including musicians, filmmakers, writers, dancers and visual artists.
Mamdani also has a history with hip-hop as a rapper. Before entering politics, he recorded music under the names Young Cardamom and Mr. Cardamom. His 2016 song “#1 Spice” was featured on the soundtrack of “Queen of Katwe,” the Disney film directed by his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair.
Mamdani also recently sat down with Nas for a documentary short about hip-hop’s New York roots. The mayor stressed the importance of ensuring New York remains a place where artists can build careers, rather than simply a city that gets credit for giving birth to hip-hop.
According to ZipRecruiter, artists in New York City earn an average of about $65,021 a year, or roughly $31.26 an hour. However, earnings can vary significantly depending on the type of work and whether an artist is employed full time or works independently. Pay can also differ by borough, with reported hourly averages higher in Staten Island and Manhattan than in Queens.
The new grants could help artists offset some of the costs of creating in New York. According to the city, the funding has remained unchanged even as the cost of living has climbed dramatically over the past two decades. Artists can now apply for up to $10,000 each.
The grants are distributed through local regrant partners in each borough — Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Application deadlines range from Oct. 11 in Brooklyn to Nov. 17 in Queens.
Mamdani, who is married to artist, animator, illustrator, and ceramist Rama Duwaji, said the increase recognizes that artists face the same rising costs as other New Yorkers, from rent and groceries to child care.
In addition to the grant increase, current artist grantees will have access starting this month to a dedicated shopping day at Materials for the Arts, where they can obtain free donated materials on the first Monday of each month.
