Did you know that the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) has a grant specifically meant to support artists (including writers) who want to pursue professional development?
The Professional Development Opportunity Grant is open to Maryland residents on a rolling basis, awarding up to $2,000 to individual artists and arts organizations.
I applied for the grant in 2024 but did not receive it. I applied again in October 2025, and this month I learned my application was successful! Thanks to this grant, I will be retuning to Zigbone Farm in March 2026 for their alum retreat.
MSAC makes the grant application process as simple as possible. Once you have identified a development opportunity that you would like to take part in, you go to the MSAC website, answer four questions about why this opportunity is worth funding, and then wait for their decision. Grants are awarded each month.
If your application is denied, you can request feedback from the MSAC and apply again at a later date. I did this in 2024 and learned my original application was not detailed enough.
In 2025 I corrected this problem. I realized I had applied under the wrong impression that the evaluators valued conciseness. This is because the boxes on the application are very small; I thought “small box, they want a short answer.” I was wrong.
This year, I crafted my answers in a separate Word document so I would not be swayed by the size of the boxes. It was also easier to be detailed since I had attended a similar retreat in February 2025. With the first application, I could only guess at what I would get out of the retreat and whether it would truly be a valuable experience. This time around I could say with more certainty that, yes, I would get a lot out of the time away from home and family.
Winning the grant has been encouraging. The application is not based on a writing sample, so being awarded the grant does not directly indicate that my writing is any good. However, having an outside group say that, yes, what you are doing IS worthwhile, changes your perspective.
I will be using my time at the retreat to revise the manuscript for The Last Best Days of Caroline Cook. What opportunity have you wanted to take part in but didn’t because of cost? Could a MSAC Professional Development Opportunity Grant be in your future?
Thank you, MSAC! To discover more about the Maryland State Arts Council and how they impact Maryland, visit msac.org.
Resources
List of grants from MSAC: https://msac.org/opportunities/opportunities-artists
Information on the Professional Development Opportunity Grant: https://msac.org/programs/professional-development/professional-development-opportunity-grant
Video with step-by-step grant application instructions: https://youtu.be/w8qp_yQN9-U
State and regional arts organizations: https://www.arts.gov/state-and-regional-arts-organizations
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