Sacramento’s Creative Growth Fellowship: A Lifeline for Local Artists
A bold new chapter in supporting the arts has begun in Sacramento. On September 1, 2025, the City of Sacramento’s Office of Arts and Culture officially launched the Creative Growth Fellowship Program, delivering $850 in monthly, unconditional stipends to 200 artists across the city—providing each with a full year of financial stability and creative freedom. In total, the program disperses $2.04 million to Sacramento artists through August 31, 2026.
Genesis and Purpose
The Creative Growth Fellowship is rooted in the City Council’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on arts and culture. In October 2024, the Council established the Creative Growth Support Fund, using federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) monies to back artists struggling to rebuild their practices. The fellowship emerged as a tangible commitment to rebuild Sacramento’s creative ecosystem.
Melissa Cirone, grants and programs manager at the Office of Arts and Culture, described the program as “more than just funding—it’s about creating space for artists to grow and thrive in Sacramento.”
Application Journey
The guidelines were published on May 1, 2025, offering clarity from the start: the fellowship would support up to 200 artists with $850 per month over 12 months.
Applications opened June 2, 2025, and closed on June 20, inviting artists to apply early and thoughtfully. An informational webinar was hosted on May 19, helping applicants prepare compelling responses and gather necessary documentation.
Eligibility Criteria
Artists had to meet three key requirements:
- City residency: Only individuals living within the City of Sacramento limits were eligible. Applicants had to submit proof of residency dated within the last 60 days.
- Adult age: Applicants needed to be 18 years or older at the time of submission.
- Artistic practice in eligible disciplines: A broad swath of creative fields—including visual arts, music, theater, dance, literary arts, craft, film, design, interdisciplinary work, oral traditions, traditional arts, performance, and social practice—were welcomed. Some fields like cosmetology, culinary art, architecture, and wellness were explicitly excluded.
The Selection Process
The response was overwhelming: 883 eligible applications poured in by the deadline. Reviewers evaluated submissions based on artistic merit, commitment, and potential public benefit. The highest-scoring applications were then entered into a random lottery to determine the final 200 fellows.
Artists were notified by August 31, and distributions began in early September, running through August 2026.
Program Scope and Impact
Each participating artist will receive $850 each month for 12 months, totaling $10,200 per person, culminating in $2.04 million injected directly into Sacramento’s creative community.
Designed as an unconditional stipend, the funding allows recipients to prioritize their creative endeavors—be it materials, studio time, or simply time to reflect and experiment.
The Office of Arts and Culture noted that every district across the city is represented among the 200 awardees, indicating a geographically equitable distribution.
A New Approach: Guaranteed Income for Artists
The Creative Growth Fellowship is part of a growing wave of Guaranteed Income (GI) initiatives targeting creatives and beyond. These programs deliver no-strings-attached payments intended to reduce precarity and free up artists to deepen their practice.
A notable comparison: Minnesota’s Guaranteed Income for Artists Pilot, launched by nonprofit Springboard for the Arts, gave rural artists $500 per month. That pilot expanded from 75 to 100 artists and remains a model of how GI can enrich both culture and economies.
Advocates celebrate such programs for mitigating economic insecurity and giving artists breathing room to create. Critics, however, caution about the financial burden of scaling GI.
What’s Ahead?
As of now, officials have signaled that no further rounds or continuations of the program are planned. The focus remains on successfully executing the 2025–2026 cohort.
City leaders will monitor outcomes: How do artists use the funds? What ripple effects emerge in the cultural ecosystem? How does creative production shift, both artistically and economically?
Voices from the Ground
While the full list of recipients isn’t public, the overwhelming response and high demand reflect the deep need for creative support in Sacramento. As Cirone put it, “The richness and variety of artists in our community is inspiring, and it shows the incredible depth of creativity that Sacramento has to offer.”
Final Reflections
The Creative Growth Fellowship Program is more than a financial gesture—it’s a statement of belief in artists as economic, cultural, and community builders. By providing $850 per month, the city offers artists not just dollars, but the freedom to think, experiment, and share their voices.
As those months unfold, Sacramento will see how generously the community reaps this investment in creativity.
