Bobby Anspach Foundation Grant Program

About the Grant Program

The Bobby Anspach Studios Foundation was established to carry forward the vision of Bobby Anspach: that art holds the power to fundamentally transform how we understand ourselves and each other.

Our inaugural grant program supports artists, scientists, and researchers whose work advances dialogue on meditation, psychology, creativity, and collective engagement as pathways to global harmony and health.

"This conversation — about consciousness, about healing, about what art can open in us — is one that artists everywhere are already having, often without the space or support to pursue it fully.

— Paula Baldoni, Executive Director

The Bobby Anspach Studios Foundation received 3,337 applications from artists around the world for its inaugural grant program. We are honored to announce our first grantees — five artists whose work embodies Bobby's belief that creativity and consciousness have the power to transform how we relate to ourselves, each other, and the world around us.

2026 Grantees

This year's two flagship $50,000 grants support artists whose work uses immersive technology and sensory experience to open new pathways into consciousness, empathy, and collective transformation:

Bobby McElver

Bobby McElver, sound designer and spatial audio artist, with Ying Choon Wu and Tommy Sharkey for The Known and Unknown Mind, a biofeedback-driven installation combining Wave Field Synthesis audio and real-time EEG data to guide participants toward states of ego dissolution and self-transcendence.

Julianne Swartz

Julianne Swartz, multisensory installation artist, for Heart Flow Instrument, a large-scale contemplative environment that sculpts visitors' own heartbeats and brainwaves into shared sound, light, and water, drawing on vibrational medicine and meditation practice.

Three additional $10k grants recognize artists whose practices engage communities in acts of repair, attention, and shared presence — each finding in art a means of tending to what connects us:

Derrick Woods Morrow

Derrick Woods Morrow, for Salt Primer: The Evidence of Things Un/Seen, a sculptural and sonic installation built around hand-grown Atlantic sea salt that frames sensory experience as knowledge and ecological awareness as inseparable from histories of labor and survival.

Jimena Sarno

Jimena Sarno, for Rhapsody and Life in the Forest, two interconnected projects exploring collective repair, resourcefulness, and the slow, intimate work of mending social and material fabric through collaboration and public workshops.

Nikolas Soren Goodich

Nikolas Soren Goodich, for The Luminous Community Center, a monumental edge-lit glass pavilion debuting in South Central Los Angeles in 2028 that functions simultaneously as public artwork and community gathering space.

Juried by a distinguished panel of thought leaders across disciplines — including architect and designer Suchi Reddy, musician and composer Eluvium, a longtime collaborator of Bobby Anspach, and Adam Levine, Director of the Toledo Museum of Art — the program awarded two unrestricted grants of $50,000 and three grants of $10,000.

In recognition of the extraordinary depth of the applicant pool, the Foundation also chose to award fifteen micro-grants to a select group of finalists, a decision driven by the strength of the applicant pool and the Foundation's commitment to sustaining a broader creative community.

Throughout 2026, the Bobby Anspach Foundation will spotlight the work of all grant recipients across its platforms and through Foundation programming — events, conversations, and gatherings designed to share this research across disciplines and introduce these artists to new audiences. This is, the Foundation emphasizes, the beginning of an ongoing relationship with the artist community, not a single moment of recognition.

Annual grant cycles will continue, with future years expanding to additional fields. The Foundation looks forward to what each cycle will reveal: the innovation, resilience, and generosity of mind that today's artists bring to the most essential questions of our time.

2027 Grant Cycle

Applications for the 2027 cycle will open later this year. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified.

About the 2026 Grant Program

  • Two Major Grants

  • Three Emerging Artist Grants

  • All grants are unrestricted, offering artists trust and freedom to advance their practice.

  • No application fee.

Application Deadline // CLOSED

January 5, 2026 (11:59 PM EST)

Eligibility

  • Open to visual artists working in any medium or approach
    (painting, sculpture, installation, digital and new media, performance, community/social practice, craft, interdisciplinary practices, and more)

  • Artists at any career stage are welcome to apply

Focus Areas

We are seeking proposals that engage with one or more of the following:

  • Environmental Consciousness & Climate Awareness — works addressing climate change, sustainability, and humanity’s relationship with nature

  • Human Connection & Empathy — art that fosters compassion, dialogue, and shared experience

  • Transformative & Consciousness-Raising Practices — projects that shift perspectives, deepen awareness, or inspire reflection

Timeline

  • Applications Open: September 30, 2025

  • Deadline: January 5, 2026

  • Review Process: January - May 2026

  • Grantees Announced: June 22, 2026

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

For reference — updated guidelines will be shared when the 2027 cycle opens.

  • Q: Is the grant open to international applicants?
    A: Yes.

    Q: Can organizations or collectives apply, or only individual artists?
    A: The grant is open to individual artists and collaborations, but not organizations.

    Q: Are projects based outside the United States eligible?
    A: Yes, projects can be based outside the U.S., but they should demonstrate the possibility, relevance, or potential to be shared within the U.S. This should be reflected in the project proposal and budget.

  • Q: What types of artistic mediums are eligible?
    A: All artistic mediums are eligible.

    Q: Are any mediums excluded?

    A: No mediums are excluded.

    Q:Are performance, film, and interdisciplinary works accepted, or only visual art?
    A: Yes. Performance, film, and interdisciplinary projects are all considered part of the visual arts focus for this grant.

  • Q: Can I apply with an ongoing or previously created project?
    A: Yes. Applications may include new or ongoing projects.

    Q: Is a public exhibition or community component required?
    A: Yes. The work must be public-facing or involve some form of community engagement.

  • Q: Is there a fee to apply?
    A: No. There is no application fee.

    Q: What should the Budget Brief include?
    A: A short description of how you intend to use the funds. An explainer is provided in the application form.

    Q: How should video links or large media files be submitted?
    A: Files should be uploaded directly through the application portal.

    Q: How long is the grant period?
    A: There are no fixed restrictions; applicants may define their own project timeline.