• The right grant can help a female artist start or continue her work.female artist image by Leticia Wilson from Fotolia.com
  
  Grants are available for artists of every discipline: photography, writing, painting, sculpting, printmaking, script writing and filmmaking. Some are only available to women, and aim to support women's professional artistic endeavors. The list that follows is by no means exhaustive, as there are hundreds of grants available from individuals, organizations and governments around the world.
  
  

A Room of Her Own

• A Room of Her Own (AROHO) was started in 2000 by two women--one who wanted the time and freedom to write, and another who had the resources to make her dream a reality. Mary Johnson and Darlene Chandler Bassett met on a retreat in July 2000, and Johnson became the first benefactor of Bassett's soon-to-be-launched women's fund A Room of Her Own. Today, AROHO offers a "Gift of Freedom Award" of $50,000 to one recipient every two years. Applicants must request funding for a specific project and demonstrate the ways in which that project will benefit the community-at-large.
  
  A Room of Her Own Foundation
  P.O. Box 778
  Placitas, NM 87043
  ARoomOfHerOwnFoundation.org
  
  

The Shirley Holden Helberg Grants for Mature Women

• Sponsored by the National League of American Pen Women, the Shirley Holden Helberg Grants for Mature Women are available to female artists age 35 and up. One $1,000 grant is awarded every year in each of three categories: art, letters, and music. Submissions are due by Jan. 31 of each year.
  
  National League of American Pen Women
  Pen Arts Building
  1300 17th Street N.W.
  Washington, D.C. 20036
  202-785-1997
  AmercianPenWomen.org
  
  

Women's Studio Workshop

• The Women's Studio Workshop was founded in 1994 by four female artists who wanted to create a space that would encourage and promote the development of other female artists. Today, the workshop offers several grant/residency programs: Artist's Book Residency; Art-in-Education Visiting Artist Residency; Geraldine R. Dodge Residency (open to New Jersey residents only); Ora Schneider Art Writer Residency; and Studio Residency.
  
  Women's Studio Workshop
  P.O. Box 489
  Rosedale, NY 12472
  845-658-9133
  wsworkshop.org