Call for applications 2025: Artist grants
The deadline for submitting applications is 16:00 (4:00pm) on the last day of the application period. This is the absolute deadline by which time Taike must receive the application.
Grant applications may be submitted online during the application period.
The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) requires that applicants familiarise themselves with the call for applications before filling in the application.
Intended recipients
State artist grants are intended for professional artists and art journalists in different fields of the arts. A professional artist is one who creates, performs or interprets art as their primary or secondary occupation. A professional artist has an education in a specific field of the arts or otherwise acquired professional expertise in the arts.
The grant period begins in 2026. The number and duration of awarded grants vary by artform from six months to five years.
Taike recommends that applications be submitted for only one artform. Select the artform when filling in the application. Multidisciplinary art refers to professional artistic activities that combine different artforms in new and unusual ways – not established artforms, such as musical theatre or playwriting.
Who decides
Grant decisions are made by national arts councils based on presentations by special advisors.
Purpose
Artist grants are intended to support professional artistic work. These grants are not awarded for studies or thesis work related to vocational qualifications or higher or lower university degrees.
Grants are not available to applicants
- who will continue to receive in 2026 a multi-year artist grant previously awarded by Taike
- who have been awarded a working grant for 2026 lasting at least 6 months awarded by a body other than Taike
- who have been awarded a supplementary artist pension
Amount
- The amount of each artist grant in 2025 is 2 196,30 € per month.
- The grant is paid monthly.
- Artist grants may be awarded for a period of ½ year, 1 year, 3 years or 5 years. You can apply for all of these periods on the same application. You can only be awarded a grant for the period you have applied for. The work plan must cover the entire grant period that you have applied for.
- The grant period begins at the start of the year 2026. Half-year artist grants may begin in July 2026 upon request.
- The grant recipient is obligated to pay the statutory pension insurance contribution in accordance with the applicable Farmers’ Pensions Act (MYEL), which covers also grant recipients. The premium percentage rate is 13–25% of the total amount of the grant. The amount of the insurance premium is based on the recipient’s age and computational annual earnings, as stipulated in the insurance decision. The insurance must be applied for within three months of payment of the grant. Insurance applications should be submitted to the Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution Mela. Further information can be found on the Mela website.
Decision-making criteria
The arts councils review all applications. The awarding of grants is based on an evaluation and comparison of applications, as well as an overall assessment. Factors that may influence the decision include the applicant’s prior artistic activities and the work plan, which must cover the entire grant period.
Equality and non-discrimination are taken into account in the decision-making process, as are the regional distribution and language of applicants and the amount of available funding.
When evaluating applications, the diversity of applicants is taken into consideration, including cultural and linguistic background. All grants are discretionary and there is no automatic right to them, even if all the criteria are fulfilled.
Evaluation criteria 1. Previous artistic merits of the applicant
- Is the applicant a professional?
- What are the merits of the applicant’s previous artistic works?
- How noteworthy is the applicant in their field of the arts?
Evaluation criteria 2. Quality of the work plan
- How clear and strong is the artistic idea on which the working plan is based?
- How long-term, well-planned and feasible is the artistic work?
- Does the work plan involve professional development, new ideas or methods?
What to include with your application?
- Mandatory for all applicants: Artist CV.
- Applications related to works in the visual arts, design, illustrations and comics, or photographic art must also include 3 to 5 images of the artist’s works or a similar work sample as a single pdf file, including details about the name, technique, size and year of each work.
- For videos (for example, for cinema or media art), a link to the publishing platform with any passwords should be included. Remember to check the link to make sure it works.
- The maximum file size is 4 MB.
In addition, you may also include two more attachments that are relevant to your application. The file names should describe the content.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that the attachments include all the required information as specified in the call for applications.
General terms and conditions
- The grant recipient must take a leave of absence from his/her regular paid employment during the grant period if the grant is awarded for 1 year or longer. Part-time paid employment is permitted during the grant period for up to 10 hours per week or on a 30 % contract.
- Full-time paid employment is permitted during the grant period only for recipients of ½-year grants.
- The grant recipient must submit after the grant period written clarification of how the grant funds were used.
Grounds for disqualification
- If the application arrives after the application deadline. Applications must be received by Taike no later than 4:00pm on the last day of the application period.
- If the application is incomplete.
- If the applicant has not submitted written clarification of previously awarded Taike grants before the given deadline.
Grant decisions are subject to the Artist Grants Act (734/1969), the Artist Grants Decree (845/1969), the Act (657/2012) and Decree (727/2012) on the Arts Promotion Centre Finland; the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001); and the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003). Taike monitors the use of grants and is entitled if necessary to review the finances and activities of the recipient.
How to apply
LOG IN AND FILL IN THE APPLICATION ONLINE (USER INTERFACE IN FINNISH)
To log in you will need eBanking identifiers, a mobile certificate or an electronic ID card.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING ONLINE SERVICES
If you are unable to use our online services, please contact Taike’s customer service.
Information about artist grants
Notification of decision
All applicants will be notified of the decision in writing by 30 September. Applicants will be informed by e-mail when the decision can be accessed from our online services. If you do not receive the e-mail to your inbox, remember to check also your junk mail folder. Applicants are responsible for checking their e-mail messages on the address supplied in the application.
Publicity of applications
Applications submitted to Taike are public documents, about which everyone is entitled to receive information according to Finnish law (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999). For example, the media and Employment Services may request to view applications. Taike does not disclose confidential information. Matters related to a person's privacy, for example contact information and matters related to health and financial situation, are always confidential. Work plans are also confidential to the extent that they contain information considered to be business secrets, such as artistic ideas.
All positive grant decisions made by Taike are published on the Tutkiavustuksia.fi service. The submission of decision information to the Tutkiavustuksia.fi service cannot be refused (Act on Discretionary Government Grants 688/2001 and Government Decree 1394/2022).
In addition, Taike publishes positive grant decisions on its own website. On the application form, you can select whether you consent to having your decision published on the Taike website.
Further information
Customer service
t. 0295 330 700
[email protected]