Spencer Museum, Charlotte Street announce Rocket Grants 2026 call for artists

LAWRENCE — The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas and Charlotte Street have announced the 2026 open call for Rocket Grants, with applications opening May 6. 

The deadline to apply is June 27. An information session will be held May 21 at the Spencer Museum for artists interested in applying.

With support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Rocket Grants provide direct funding to artists in the Lawrence and Kansas City area who are creating exceptional, under-the-radar and artist-centered projects in public spaces. Artists, curators, collectives and collaborative groups residing within an 80-mile radius of the Kansas City metropolitan area are eligible to apply.

The Rocket Grants program awards project-based grants of $6,000 to individuals or artist groups for projects that exist outside established venues such as museums, galleries, theaters or arts districts. Artists are encouraged to address the community at large or choose a smaller targeted audience. The long-term goals of the Rocket Grants program are to encourage emerging and nontraditional artistic practices in the Lawrence and Kansas City area, to contribute to a thriving arts community and to build bridges between geographic and cultural communities.

“The Rocket Grants program provides critical funding to individual artists and culture bearers who have bold ideas and build unconventional projects. We are grateful to our partner, the Spencer Museum, for helping us build a dynamic arts and culture ecosystem and to the Warhol Foundation for their forward-thinking vision that brings regional artists into the national spotlight,” said Elizabeth Spavento, co-executive director at Charlotte Street.

Rocket Grants projects are selected by a jury of four arts professionals working both locally and nationally. Proposals are evaluated on criteria including innovation, thoughtful context, feasibility and meaningful impact.

To apply, artists must submit a Letter of Interest (LOI) online by June 17. The LOI should include a project summary, the artists involved, the intended audience, the specific context of the work, budget needs and relevance of the project. The jury will assess the LOIs and invite selected projects to complete a full application in July 2026. Rocket Grants recipients will be announced in September 2026.

For any questions regarding the application process, please contact Kimberly Kitada, Charlotte Street’s gallery & programs manager, at kimberly@charlottestreet.org.

Related Programming

The public is invited to attend in-person information sessions that will answer questions about the application and jury process.

Spencer Museum informational session

May 21, 6-7 p.m.
Spencer Museum of Art, 1301 Mississippi St., Lawrence

Charlotte Street informational session

6-7 p.m. June 10
Charlotte Street, 3333 Wyoming St., Kansas City, Missouri.

A recording of the May 21 session at the Spencer Museum will be made available online.