The Goa Open Arts CATALYST Grants were instituted in 2020 in response to the devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the art world. The closure of institutional and educational spaces, galleries, festivals, workshops and other places of gathering became an incredible burden on the artist community and for many artists, continuing their practice under those circumstances proved to pose serious challenges. The aim of the CATALYST Grants was to provide an impetus to artists to continue their practice under difficult situations by providing financial support to initiate new work and create opportunities to showcase their work at public events.

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The first edition of the Goa Open Arts Catalyst Grants awarded 6 Goa-based artists and culminated in ‘Retellings’, a public exhibition of the artists' work in collaboration with Sunaparanta Center for the Arts. The consequence of the grants was far more meaningful than just the financial support. It provided motivation to our awardees to initiate new projects, created engagement, triggered creativity and the resulting exhibition amply showed that. 

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In 2021 we initiated the Goa Open Arts ENGAGE Grants. The purpose of this endowment is to support projects and artist led initiatives that benefit and engender community engagement. The first Grant resulted in a project which brought together 40 children from Aldona village in Goa to create a mural under the mentorship of 3 artists.

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The Goa Open Arts Grants have had a positive impact and are now a recurring annual award to promote new artistic explorations and bring them to public viewing.

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