ART GRANTS
AN ARTISTIC OASIS DEEP IN THE DESERT
At the heart of our festival and commune is a deep commitment to creativity, self-expression, and community-driven art. To foster this, we offer Art Grants that encourage artists from all backgrounds to bring their most visionary ideas to life by erecting large-scale installations onsite. Our Art Grants provide financial support to artists who wish to create immersive, interactive, and site-specific installations that align with the spirit of our off-grid commune, campground, and festival. These grants are designed to help artists cover the costs of materials, transportation, and construction, allowing them to dream big and bring their most ambitious projects to life in the New Mexico desert.
We are looking for works that engage with themes such as:
Community and Collaboration:
Projects that invite festival-goers to participate, co-create, or interact with the artwork, fostering a sense of community and shared experience.
Sustainability and the Environment:
Art that highlights eco-consciousness, the climate-crisis, resource-exploitation, renewable energy, or the relationship between humans and nature.
Magic and Mystery:
Art that invokes the ancient, the sacred, and the unknown.
Innovation and Futurism:
Bold ideas that push the boundaries of technology, creativity, and the future of human society.
WHY DO WE OFFER ART GRANTS?
Art is a central part of our community's ethos. By supporting artists, we are creating a platform for innovation, providing a space where experimental and visionary art can flourish in an off-grid, intentional community setting. Here’s how our Art Grants benefit both artists and the community:
Artists Get to Experiment Freely: By covering essential costs, our grants enable artists to focus on the creative process without worrying about financial constraints. This allows for greater freedom of expression, pushing boundaries and experimenting with new forms, mediums, and ideas.
Fostering a Collaborative Environment: We believe art has the power to bring people together. Our festival is built around the idea of collaboration, and we want artists to be an integral part of that by creating pieces that invite attendees to participate, explore, and engage with one another.
Making Art Accessible to All: By funding large-scale public art, we make the campground and festival space a living, breathing gallery where people of all ages and backgrounds can experience transformative art in the heart of nature. This not only enhances the festival experience but also nurtures a culture of creativity and inclusivity.
BRINGING VISIONARY ART TO LIFE
A PLATFORM FOR TRANSFORMATION
Through these grants, we create a living gallery within our festival grounds—one where art not only decorates the landscape but transforms it. Artists are given the opportunity to build monumental installations, create interactive environments, and design pieces that foster deep connections between attendees, the land, and the creative process itself.
By encouraging large-scale, community-centered, eco-conscious art installations, we’re not just supporting individual artists—we’re building a culture of creative activism. Many of the works reflect the principles of sustainability, community, and reimagining the future. In this way, our festival becomes a space for experimentation, dialogue, and inspiration, where every installation serves as a call to action for a more mindful and sustainable world.
For artists seeking to use their work to inspire, provoke, and engage, our Art Grants offer a unique opportunity to create in a setting that is radical, transformative, and committed to changing the world through creativity.
ART GRANTS
Apply for A Grant
HOW THE PROCESS WORKS
SUBMIT AN APPLICATION
Artists from all disciplines (sculpture, multimedia, performance, etc.) are invited to submit proposals for their installations. Proposals should include a detailed description of the concept, how it ties into our themes, and a budget breakdown.
FUNDING
AND SUPPORT
SELECTION PROCESS
Our team of community members and curators will review submissions, looking for projects that are innovative, interactive, sustainable, and community-centered. We prioritize proposals that push creative boundaries while also embracing eco-conscious principles.
Selected artists will receive grants to help fund their projects, with support ranging from $500 to $5,000, depending on the scope and needs of the installation.
In addition to financial backing, our team provides logistical support, helping artists with transportation, materials, and setup.
BUILDING THE ART ONSITE
Artists are invited to the commune weeks before the festival to begin constructing their pieces. This immersive experience allows them to connect with the community, collaborate with fellow artists, and fully engage with the land.
COMMUNITY ART
Community art is a cornerstone of the creative spirit at Happy Castle, designed to enhance both the campground and festival grounds, making the space a living canvas of expression. As Villagers, we take pride in designing and building our own art installations, contributing to the unique and whimsical environment that defines our home. But it doesn’t stop there—we also invite artists from outside the commune to submit their own ideas for large-scale, permanent art installations. These projects tend to be more ambitious, whether in scale or physical impact, often requiring several weeks or even months to complete. Visitors to the Happy Castle Art Camp are invited to join our artists in collaboratively constructing their art projects, sharing in the often hard work of bringing creative ideas to life. We'll strive to maintain a constantly evolving selection of new Community Art Projects in various stages of development for visitors to admire and engage with, contributing to the culture of Happy Castle as a place for community to co-create and connect.
COMMUNITY ART GRANTS
Community Art Grants are for artists who wish to create large, permanent installations that enrich the campground and serve as ongoing, immersive experiences for visitors. These projects are long-term in nature and are often grander in scale, designed to integrate into the landscape of the commune. Artists receiving this grant will have extended timeframes to complete their work and are encouraged to think about how their installations contribute to the overall aesthetics, culture, and philosophy of Happy Castle.
Community Art pieces should also be functional or interactive where possible, encouraging participation and discovery year-round, as the commune hosts campers, visitors, and events. Grant recipients will have access to shared tools, resources, and may collaborate with residents and volunteers to bring their vision to life. These projects become a permanent part of Happy Castle’s artistic ecosystem, creating an ever-evolving artistic environment.
FESTIVAL ART
Festival Art at Happy Castle is all about enhancing the immersive experience of our annual festival. These projects can take many forms, from traditional large-scale art installations to interactive experiences and live performances. Each piece of Festival Art is designed to spark creativity, provoke thought, and engage attendees in unique and memorable ways. Whether it’s a stunning sculpture, a playful art piece that invites participation, or an unforgettable live performance, Festival Art enriches the festival atmosphere, making it more than just an event—it's a journey of artistic discovery and expression.
FESTIVAL ART GRANTS
Eternal Art Grants:
The Eternal Art Grants support the creation of permanent art installations that are intended to be revealed for the first time during the Happy Castle Festival. Unlike the Community Art Grants, which allow for construction over a longer period, these installations are unique in that they must be built in the short two-week window between the campground's closure and Day One of the festival.
These grants are intended for artists who want to leave a lasting legacy at Happy Castle, but with the added twist that their work will be kept under wraps until the festival, offering a grand unveiling to festival-goers. Eternal Art pieces should be striking, memorable, and aligned with the ethos of the festival and the community. The pressure of the two-week build window adds a sense of excitement, both for the artists and the audience, who will witness the installation for the first time. Artists working on these projects will need to be efficient in their planning and execution to meet the tight deadline.
Ephemeral Art Grants:
Ephemeral Art Grants are focused on temporary and performative art pieces designed specifically for the festival. These grants fund installations that may only exist for the duration of the event, such as theme camps, pop-up performances, dance routines, musical sets, art cars, and mobile art pieces. The purpose of these projects is to create immersive, participatory, and fleeting experiences that capture the spirit of the festival.
The emphasis here is on creativity, community engagement, and experimentation, with the understanding that these works may not have the permanence of other grant categories but are equally vital to the festival’s dynamic and ever-changing energy. Ephemeral Art Grant recipients often work collaboratively with other artists, performers, and festival attendees, bringing together diverse talents to create something truly special and unique for the event. These projects enhance the festival's atmosphere, offering playful, interactive experiences that will live on in the memories of those who participate.
Artist
Campground
Revenue split
BUILD YOUR ART AND EARN YOUR SHARE OF HALF OF ALL CAMPGROUND REVENUE
We want to support artists and see that their art gets made and that they get paid. When you build art or store your art at Happy Castle Art Camp, whether permanently or not, you'll be entitled to a share of half of all Art District Campground revenue. From now until forever, you'll earn passive income on your art. The more campers that visit the campground to see your art, the more income you'll make. This way, the artists and visionaries that help create Happy Castle will always be a part of it, sharing in its success.
APPLY FOR
AN ART GRANT
Community Art Grants
Do you have an exciting idea that you want to share with the Happy Castle community?
Submit a Community Art Project Grant and get your project funded, a site selected, and a date chosen for its construction. Your project's details will be broadcast on our website for any interested campers to pull-up and help you build it.
We have dozens of dedicated Build-Days throughout the year for campers who enjoy, not simply hanging out and relaxing in a 160 acre art-garden, but who want to get their hands dirty building the next attraction.
Eternal
Festival Art Grants
Do you want to erect a new permanent art-installation onsite, but keep it's details a surprise only to be unveiled at the Happy Castle Art Festival?
Then submit an Eternal Festival Art Grant and get your project funded. Arrive onsite early with other artists like yourself to build your collective projects and prepare for the Art Festival along with our many talented Villagers.
Or maybe part of your project involves waiting until the day of the Art Festival to build it collaboratively with a sea of volunteer attendees. Put it up and leave it here to forever add to the beauty and wonder of your campground.
Ephemeral
Festival Art Grants
Have a fabulous idea for an art-project that you want to present during the Art Festival, except it's more temporary in nature?
Perhaps you're in a band and want to perform live, maybe it's an interpretive dance, or a portable art-piece you take from place to place and just want to lend its beauty a few days before packing up and moving on.
Whatever it is, we're excited to give artists like you a platform. You make Happy Castle what it is. Submit an Ephemeral Festival Art Grant and let us return the favor of helping bring your vision to life.