It’s been a nervous year for creatives, with Trump 2.0 canceling National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants for hundreds of cultural groups of various sizes. A fraught funding environment does not mean Northeast Ohio’s makers are putting down their paintbrushes and pens—the term “starving artist” exists for good reason.

“I’m not super concerned [about federal funding], because I’m used to working with little or nothing, or with just enough,” says Sequoia Bostick, co-creator of Vagabond Comics, an anthology of short, narrative tales she also helps illustrate. “Working artists will always find a way to keep arts in our communities. This just makes us want to work harder.”

Supporting Bostick and her fellow creators is Assembly for the Arts, which recently opened applications for its 2025 Creative Impact Fund (CIF) grant program. The initiative, aimed at new and experienced Cuyahoga County artists, is open until July 18, with selected grantees announced in November.

This year, the CIF will provide grants to 30 creatives—$5,000 each to 15 early-career artists professionally practicing for five years or less; and $10,000 each to 15 mid-late career artists in the field for six years or more.

The CIF is a public sector grant backed by Cuyahoga County’s cigarette tax, which hadn't been affected by federal mandates, says Assembly director of artist funding programs Meg Matko. The nonprofit launched the fund in 2023, backed by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, one of the nation's largest public funders for arts and culture.

Assembly received a public grant to operate both the CIF and the Boost Fund, which provides $1,500 microgrants to 140 regional artists throughout the year.

Collectively, these funds support veteran artists while helping emerging creators gain recognition, says Matko, part of an arts nonprofit centered on advocacy, research, cultural policy, racial equity initiatives, and nonprofit marketing.

“In some cases, we’re seeing these grants put people on the map as far as their career goes,” Matko says. “They’re getting support for new projects, or to establish an [artists’] collective. We just started the Boost microgrant, but the stories I hear are incredible.”

For instance, Matko cites an artist who recently lost all their supplies in a fire. “So $1,500 was a major step in rebuilding their ability to create,” she observes.

A vital support

The CIF is open to Cuyahoga County artists creating in the disciplines of craft, dance, design, film, interdisciplinary work, media, music, theater and performance, traditional arts, visual art, and writing/literary art.

Vagabond Comics creator Bostick, who procured $10,000 as a 2024 CIF recipient, used the funds for supplies, equipment, a studio remodeling, and for the renewal of her website. The grant’s unrestricted nature—meaning it can be utilized for living expenses and other practical needs—is a massive boon in a time of economic uncertainty, she says.

“It took this huge weight off just wanting to purchase things to better my artistic practice,” says Bostick, who also helms Genghis Con Cleveland, a small press and indie comic convention.

Cleveland educator and trumpet player Theresea May, another 2024 CIF grant recipient, invested her $10,000 in sound equipment and other gear to support her private studio and busy performance schedule. Just as crucially, the money served as savings during her recovery from a surgery in December.

Though May says she has received previous project-based grants, the CIF offers a boost of confidence for artists facing the threat of high-level funding cuts.

“It’s very important that this opportunity exists for me and all the creatives out there,” she says. “But it’s unfair to ask what one grant can do, versus all the federal funding being cut. I wish I had more answers moving ahead.”

In hot pursuit

NEA’s cultural shift hit comics creator Bostick at her day job, the Midtown printmaking studio Zygote Press. Amid extensive federal cutbacks, the studio's artist-in-residence program has been sustained by individual donations, highlighting the crucial role of the CIF and similar initiatives, she says.

“People are always asking how I can make money doing this,” says Bostick. “The CIF, and other funds like it, show that there are people who believe in the artist community.”

A rapidly changing funding landscape is transforming arts advocacy itself, bringing business coaching and community development to the forefront. Yet, that should not stop artists from actively pursuing grants like the CIF, says Assembly director Matko.

“I’d encourage artists to consider applying this year, whether they’ve applied for grants or not,” Matko says. “We are here to help out artists in any way we can.”