2025 MASB Artist Travel Prize

2025 MASB Artist Travel Prize Call for Artists 

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) is proud to announce the 10th edition of the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City (MASB) Artist Travel Prize, sponsored by MASB. MASB was founded in 1899 as part of the City Beautiful movement. It is one of only two remaining societies to be operating under its original charter “to provide sculptural and pictorial decoration and ornaments for the public buildings, streets and open spaces in the City of Baltimore, and to help generally beautify the City.” Artistic contributions to the City span more than one hundred years.

In 2016 the MASB embarked on a path to provide new opportunities to Baltimore artists and art places within the City. This prize will award $7,000 to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators, living or working in Baltimore City. Successful proposals will be selected from submissions that clearly articulate the artist’s reason for travel to the chosen destination and how it relates to their work, their use of or interest along with the support materials. The $7,000 prize is intended to function as funding for travel essential to an artist’s studio practice that an artist may not otherwise be able to afford.

May 27, 2025: Call for Artists released

June 20, 2025, 11:59pm: Application due
August 2025: Prize recipient announced

Previous Artist Travel Prize Recipients:

2016: Stephen Towns

2017: Nate Larson

2018: Erick Antonio Benitez, Erin Fostel

2019: LaToya Hobbs, J.M. Giordano

2020: Hoesy Corona, Schroeder Cherry

2021: Rosa Leff

2022: Jackie Milad, Elena Volkova

2023: Jill Orlov

2024: Sherry Insley

(Image of Elena Volkova from "Transmission," a 2024 exhibition of past travel prize recipients at School 33 Art Center.)

Application Process 

The Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City Artist Travel Prize will be accepting online applications at this site.

You will be asked to submit the following:

Written Proposal (one page max, PDF only) 

This should include where you would go if awarded the prize, a section about your work, and an explanation of how this opportunity would advance your studio practice. The primary goal of this award is to advance an artist’s work by broadening one’s experience through travel and observation. One’s proposal does not need to be tied to a possible or secured artist residency. Travel can be the objective of one’s proposal however, if this is the case, please explain why you have selected your destination, what you hope to see, and how this trip might enhance the way you think about your work. Your proposal should include a post travel public presentation, which would be an artist talk presented with BOPA and MASB.

Resume (two pages max, PDF only)

Images

• Artists must submit 10 images of their work most relevant to their proposal.
• Images should be in jpeg format, and not be larger than 1 MB. (1240x900 pixels, 72 dpi)
• Please label your images last name, first name and number corresponding to your image list (example: DoeJane_01.jpg, DoeJane_02.org, etc.)

Videos

Artists wishing to submit video work in lieu of images may do so by submitting a maximum of 3-5 links to their videos on YouTube, Vimeo, etc., or submit video directly to the application. Videos should not exceed two minutes; you do not need to submit your whole project. Pick a representative sample that will give jurors a good example of your work.

Travel Budget 

Please provide the most realistic budget for your proposed travel, including all things that need to be funded to realize the trip. Do not feel compelled to pad your travel with the highest number of locations or quantity of travel — the budget should reflect the needs as described in your statement and the most realistic use of the funds. Please keep funds specific to the artist's needs for travel. Equipment costs are not eligible, and childcare and non-contributing partner expenses should be avoided.

Guidelines

1. Artists living and/or working in Baltimore City are eligible. Artists must live or work (studio practice or arts/arts related organization/program) within Baltimore City during time of application and during the entire granting period.
2. Artists must be at least 21 years old and may not be full-time students or enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of the granting period, Summer 2025 to Fall 2026. (Although current seniors and last semester graduate students are encouraged to apply.)
3. Artists who apply as individuals must submit original artwork that is principally created by them. It is understood that sometimes individual artists may employ the work of another artist to complete a larger scale project. For example, an artist who works in video may choose to include sound in the video that is composed by another artist. In such cases, the individual artist applying to the MASB Artist Travel Prize must be the primary creator of the work, they must disclose any assistance received on artwork submitted for consideration and they must obtain permission from the contributor to submit the work for consideration. Failure to disclose this support will disqualify the applicant, and the artist will be required to return any prize monies awarded.
4. Upon Eventeny's receipt of application materials, artists will be sent an automatic email confirmation. If an artist does not receive this confirmation within 48 hours, please contact Lou Joseph at ljoseph@promotionandarts.com.
5. The award will be paid in two installments: $6,000 will be paid upon signing a contract with BOPA, wherein the artist agrees to the guidelines outlined here. The second payment of $1,000 will be paid upon the completion of travel by written notice to Lou Joseph at ljoseph@promotionandarts.org
6. The artist award may not be used for the purchase of equipment or materials for art production.
7. Winners of the MASB Artist Travel Prize will be responsible for paying all applicable federal, state, and local taxes. 1099 MISC Form will be issued for tax purposes. The Budget prepared for the submission will also be submitted to the Fiscal agent in support of the funds distribution
8. The MASB and BOPA reserve the right to reproduce images of applicants’ work for printed or internet publicity, catalog, or marketing purposes.
9. Previous winners of the MASB Artist Travel Prize are not eligible to apply for this award, as are recipients of the Henry Walters Travel Prize.
10. MASB and BOPA reserve the right to reproduce images of applicants’ work for printed or internet publicity, catalog, or marketing purposes.
11. The decisions of the jurors are final. The jury consists of the members of the board of the MASB, and jurors/board members may change without notification.
12. BOPA and MASB Board members, employees and/or immediate family (defined as children, spouse, domestic partner, or parents) are not eligible to apply for the MASB Artist Travel Prize.

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