Small grants, plain language, and a bar low enough to step over.

Microboost lowers the barriers to an intimidating grant process and promotes multi-artist collaboration across mediums. We focus on up-and-coming artists working in non-traditional arts. This project is a collaboration between Like Really Creative and Something 2 Chew On.

What it is

A community-decided micro-grant

For Memphis creatives, especially the up-and-coming and the experimental. Most arts money flows to established institutions and polished fine art. We want to help out newcomers.

Why it matters

86% have never been funded

Most Memphis creatives told us they've never been successfully funded by a grant. They also deal with time and exposure barriers. Microboost wants to give creatives all three, and more.

The research · Memphis Creative Index

What 144 Memphis creatives told us.

The Memphis Creative Index is partly research: a free, public record of who’s making things in Memphis and an honest look at what they need. 144 creatives have named the truth about their work. Two needs rise above the rest: income and visibility.

Reaching an audience

The #1 barrier

Named more often than any other obstacle. The work is good, but the room is empty. So we tell your stories. LOUDLY.

Funding + time

The other top barriers

Money and time land in a dead heat right behind audience reach. They’re the same problem wearing two hats: time disappears into the job that pays the bills.

60%

Not yet full-time

Don’t yet make a full-time living from their art. The talent is here. The income and the visibility are what’s missing.

86%

Never grant-funded

Have never been successfully funded by a grant. Most never even applied: 78% have never submitted one, because the traditional grant world was built for somebody else. That’s the whole reason for Microboost.

Paid gigs

Helps most

The support that would move their work forward most. Microboost funds collaborations. The Index sends hiring straight to artists.

Exposure

The other most-wanted

Right behind paid gigs. A Boost comes with a photoshoot, a feature, video, and a launch that puts your name in front of the whole city. The funding is one part of it.

72%

Money issue

Of the creatives who name funding as a top barrier, 72% have never applied for a grant. The people who need the money most aren’t in the pipeline at all. Microboost was built for them.

164

24 disciplines · 20 neighborhoods

Creatives counted so far, and growing: musicians, designers, writers, photographers, muralists, makers. 144 of them opted into the research.

Early findings from a growing dataset. The numbers keep evolving as more creatives join the Index.

Join the Index

The Boost · The Winner’s Package

Win more than money.

When you win a Microboost round, you get launched, on top of getting funded. Microboost invests in the whole artist: the work, the story, and bringing your project to the public.

The grant

$500 to bring your project to life, however you need, without receipts.

The exposure

A professional photoshoot, a featured interview, and original video content so the whole city sees who you are, what you made, and how you made it.

The space

Free studio and meeting space at Curio Commons to build the work and gather collaborators.

The moment

A launch party, show, or performance at Curio Commons, where you debut your work to the public.

Apply now