Call for Applications – 2025 Creative Justice Cohort
The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) is now accepting applications for the 2025 Creative Justice cohort. This one-year, part-time opportunity embeds emerging Twin Cities-based artists into CURA’s community-based research and organizing work. Applications open in July 2025, and the program begins in September 2025.
Overview
Creative Justice: Art as Inquiry, Art as Action bridges art, organizing, and community-based research by supporting 1–2 emerging artists whose creative practices are rooted in participatory design, visual storytelling, graphic recording, creative communications, or illustration.
This program is for artists who see their work as part of broader efforts to advance equity and justice. The Creative Justice cohort will collaborate with CURA’s Community Programs team on community-led research and organizing initiatives that shift power, uplift community voices, and support collective action. Through creative tools, artists will help deepen engagement, translate complex issues, and support storytelling across CURA’s projects.
During the first nine months, cohort members will work alongside CURA staff and local partners to support coalitions and campaigns led by communities most impacted by systemic injustice. In the final phase, each artist will design and implement a community-engaged project, supported by an $8,000 grant from CURA.
These artist-led projects should use arts-based strategies to strengthen relationships, increase community participation, and build momentum toward community-defined change. Artists are encouraged to work in accountable, place-based ways, grounded in the histories, cultures, and leadership of the neighborhoods they know best.
The program includes mentorship, training, peer learning, and access to CURA’s organizing and research resources. It is designed to help artists build sustainable, community-rooted practices grounded in social transformation.
Creative Justice artwork by Onibaba Studio.
2025 Creative Justice Cohort Application Details
Timeline
- July 2025: Applications open
- September 2025 – May 2026: Creative Justice cohort is embedded with CURA’s Community Programs team
- September – December 2026: Artists implement their own community-based creative project with $8,000 grant
- Ongoing: Mentorship, peer learning, and public sharing of work
Fellowship Support
- Hourly Pay: $33/hour for 10-20 hours/week, based on artist preference and schedule
- Grant: $8,000 grant for the last three months of the cohort
- Location: CURA offices and community partner sites across the Twin Cities
- Duration: 9-month team placement + 3-month project implementation
- Additional support: including mentorship, training, and professional development
What Artists Will Do
- Be embedded within CURA’s Kris Nelson Community-Based Research cohort, while also collaborating with other CURA staff across programs
- Contribute creative work to support community-based research and organizing projects
- Collaborate with CURA staff and partners to identify design, storytelling, and communication needs
- Receive mentorship from CURA staff and established Twin Cities artists
- Plan and implement an original, community-engaged art project supported by a grant
- Participate in Neighborhoods Now!, CURA’s training program for community organizing and advocacy
- Share their work publicly through a final exhibition or public presentation
Program Goals
- Support emerging artists in building sustainable, equity-centered careers
- Enhance community organizing efforts with creative strategies and storytelling tools
- Strengthen neighborhood well-being through artist-led, community-informed projects
- Expand CURA’s capacity to engage visually and creatively in community-based research
Eligibility
Who should apply:
- Emerging artists living in the Twin Cities metro area
- Artists whose work is grounded in the lived experiences of their communities
- Individuals interested in the intersections of art, equity, and systems change
Required experience or interest in:
- Participatory design
- Visual storytelling
- Creative communications
- Graphic recording or illustration
Click here to see examples of past work CURA has done in collaboration with local artists.
We especially encourage applications from artists who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+, and those from underrepresented neighborhoods or communities.
How to Apply
Applications open in July 2025 and will be open until August 15
As part of your application to the Creative Justice: Art as Inquiry, Art as Action program, you’ll be asked to submit the following materials:
- Narrative Responses
You’ll respond to a series of questions about your artistic practice, your relationship to community, and how you think about collaboration, storytelling, and change. These responses help us understand your experience, values, and vision for participating in the Creative Justice cohort. - Initial Project Proposal
We ask applicants to submit an early idea for a community-based art project that could be supported by the $8,000 ANPI grant during the final three months of the program. This proposal is not a final commitment. Your ideas may evolve during your time at CURA. This is simply a way for us to understand your planning process and creative approach. - Portfolio
Upload a portfolio that showcases 3 to 5 examples of your past creative work. No written descriptions are required. The portfolio should reflect your artistic style, medium, or community-based practice. - Resume or Artist CV
Include a brief resume or artist CV that highlights your experience with creative work, community engagement, or related efforts. Formal education or institutional experience is not required.
Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee made up of CURA staff and practicing artists based in the Twin Cities. The committee will consider a range of factors, including the strength of the applicant’s artistic practice, their connection to community, alignment with the goals of the Creative Justice program, and their approach to collaboration, storytelling, and social change.
A small group of applicants will be invited to participate in interviews at CURA as part of the final selection process. These interviews are an opportunity to get to know applicants beyond their written materials and to learn more about their interests, values, and potential fit within the Creative Justice cohort.
Final decisions will be based on both the application materials and the interview.
Lee Guekguezian
