The Division of the Arts believes in the capacity of students to change the world, and that the
arts can catalyze this change. The Division’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA)
Committee is pleased to announce the opening of the second year of funding for the Artivism
Student Action Program (ASAP).
Available to UW–Madison students in any year or major of study, ASAP was launched in the fall
of 2021 in response to students’ desires to use activism-related art to bring about a more
equitable world. The program provides financial support for student-led, art-based
interrogations of longstanding oppressions, biases and inequities. Funding awards will range
from $100 to $1,500 (individual students applying can receive up to $750).
This target funding program is again available to UW–Madison students, student teams and
Registered Student Organizations. Cross-campus and community partnerships are encouraged.
Funding examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
• catering, venue or equipment rental to host guest artists or students (poets, musicians,
scholars, filmmakers, actors, etc.) to present on systemic racism or implicit bias;
• purchasing materials for creating visual art with artists of various physical and
intellectual abilities;
• production of a film, musical or dance performance that reimagines the status quo;
• curation of a virtual or in-person arts installation investigating “phobias.”
While this is not exhaustive of what ASAP will fund, projects should feature, center, benefit
and/or be led by people marginalized due to their racial, sexual, religious, cultural and gender
identities; physical abilities; socioeconomic status; or any other form of identity-based
oppression not listed here. The program funds projects emerging from the intersections of art
and activism to address social issues, facilitate dialogue and create spaces to design and
imagine social transformation.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the 2022-2023 academic year and
will be evaluated soon after they are received. $9,000 of funding is available in the fall 2022
semester. Spring funding will open on January 24, 2023, with at least $6,000 of funding
available. Applicants will receive notification of acceptance within one week of receipt, except
during university breaks.
Proposals will be evaluated based on five main areas: quality and creativity, urgency, public
benefit and impact, feasibility and demonstrated need.
For more information on the program, scoring or previous projects, email asap@arts.wisc.edu or drop in to virtual information sessions with Division staff on November 7 and November 14-16.
The 2022-23 ASAP funding is made possible by the generous support of the Evjue Foundation,
the charitable arm of “The Capital Times” newspaper.