Creative Industries Division Grant Opportunities

This funding opportunity is designed for organizations with a demonstrated history of impactful work in supporting creative entrepreneurs and advancing creative industry development across New Mexico. This includes organizations that support creative industry companies and workers. Whether building networks, offering technical assistance, providing creative business incubation, or strengthening regional creative ecosystems, this grant supports continued leadership in growing New Mexico’s creative economy. Open to local governments, Nations, Tribes, Pueblos, nonprofits, and for-profit organizations. Anticipated awards up to $62,500, subject to change.

2025 application, projected timeline:

• Application Period: Sept. 29-Oct. 24, 2025 (6 pm MT)
• Review Period: Nov. 2025
• Processing Period: Dec. 2025-Jan. 2026
• Project Period: Feb. 2026–Feb. 2027

Grant information

Grant overview webinar

Grant Q&A

Returning program for existing creative businesses.

Eligible businesses must:

• Have a minimum of three-year history of operations
• Be a for-profit entity in good standing

Preferential points will be given to businesses with fewer than ten employees including part time staff, and to businesses located in rural areas per statutory language that requires 50% of grant funding to go to rural and underserved businesses, and language that specifies support for projects and proposals that support small creative businesses. Eligible businesses are also identified in the grant FAQ, division statute by industry area, and corresponding NAICS codes available in Appendix C on page 206 of the 2024 Division Study.

Uses include:

• inventory
• equipment
• marketing, promotion, digital presence
• small infrastructure improvements that can be completed in a 12-month period
• technology and software improvements
• uses that help strengthen the businesses capacity for measuring impact, engagement, evaluation, and economic contributions

Non-allowable use: Hiring of full-time personnel

Prospective applicants will be asked to describe their plans to leverage potential grant funding for greater returns on investment. Anticipated awards up to $25,000, subject to change.

• Cycle 1 Application Period: Dec. 1-26, 2025 (closes at 6 pm MT)
• Cycle 2 Application Period: Feb. 2-27, 2026 (closes at 6 pm MT)

Please note applicants may only apply for one cycle for this program per fiscal year (July 1– June 30). This grant is available to for-profit, legal entities only, sole-proprietor applications are not accepted. The only exception is, if the business recently reorganized to an LLC, they are required to submit legal supporting documentation that proves the business was in operation before the registration shown by secretary of state such as federal or state tax information, or prior registration.

Watch the informational webinar

The Creative Industries Division (CID) is inviting county, municipal, Tribal governments, and state agencies to submit public development project concepts that support creative industries in New Mexico.

This concept phase is designed to give public entities time to plan, build partnerships, and outline projects that may be considered in a future funding round anticipated in Fall 2026.

This call builds on the 2024 Creative Industries Division Study and the Division’s initial funding of 18 public projects statewide.

This is not a grant application. This pre-application phase allows public entities time to plan and outline projects that may be considered in a future funding opportunity anticipated in Fall 2026.

Applicants must submit to the pre-application phase to be eligible for the grant funding round in Fall 2026.

Projects Should:

• Strengthen local creative industries
• Support small creative businesses and entrepreneurs
• Build or improve public infrastructure connected to creative industries
• Support workforce development initiatives
• Expand economic opportunity through creative industries in rural and underserved communities

Submission Requirements:

• A narrative (maximum 3 pages / 1,800 words)
• Proposed timeline (1–2 years)
• Preliminary Budget Projection (Total project cost, requested funding amount – maximum funding ceiling $150,000.00 not including estimated matching financial support or in-kind support)
• Up to three letters of support
• NM CreativeCon representative attendance (Optional but highly encouraged)

Projected program timeline:

• Application Period: Mar. 2-Jun. 30, 2026 (6 pm MT)
• Review Period: Jul.-Sept. 2026
• Grant Application Opens: Fall 2026
• Projected Project Period: Jan. 2027–June 2028

Apply using the blue button at the top of this page.

Creative Industries Division Grants are awarded to legal entities, not individuals. Legal entities include state, counties, municipalities or other political subdivisions of the state, Indian nations, tribes or pueblos, and for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Sole-proprietorships and individuals are not eligible for any grants.

Individual grants may have varying applicant pools, but they are still restricted to this broader group as per statutory requirements.

Grantee recipients are responsible for any applicable state and federal taxes, including Gross Receipts Tax, and will receive a 1099 from the state. Tax-exempt entities are excluded.

Final scores are based on the scoring rubric provided in the respective grant application.

Each grant program is scored competitively by scoring committees that include division and department staff, division ambassadors and potentially others, all of whom are required to sign a conflict-of-interest agreement.

In accordance with statute, at least fifty percent (50%) of all funds awarded from the Creative Industries Fund shall be awarded to projects or programs located in rural or underserved communities, as defined by the division.

Funding will be awarded on a competitive basis to projects or programs that demonstrate the potential to stimulate community or economic development through creative industries and demonstrate or support one or more of the following statutory requirements.

• Broad local support, including in-kind or financial support from local governments and surrounding communities or neighborhoods
• Assistance to small businesses with fewer than ten employees
• Expansion of existing creative industries
• The promotion of inclusion and diversity

Questions related to grants can be asked & answered during the grant overview webinar, usually the Friday of the week of a grant announcement.

Questions permitted during grant cycles, outside of the overview webinar, will only be considered if they are related to application accessibility or other technical questions not associated with the content of perspective responses, applications or proposals.

Division staff cannot aid anyone directly in the application process of an active grant or answer questions about the content of prospective responses, applications or proposals.

Other questions related to grants must be submitted before or after the grant period or during a grant overview webinar at info@edd.newmexico.gov.

It can take at least 8-16 weeks or more to process grants and disperse payments, depending on the communication with the division and the internal state processes to evaluate, check and confirm information.

Sometimes processing time can take longer than expected if the internal finance team, or other state agency is backlogged with other applications and review of documentation.

The agency runs numerous grant programs that must be approved by other agencies, including the Department of Finance Authority and Taxation and Revenue.

Grant recipient response times and incomplete tax information can also cause processing setbacks.

W-9’s, which are required, can take several weeks to process through respective agencies.

All grant applications close at 6 pm Mountain Time on the specified date.

If you are having technical difficulties with your application, please reach out to us at least 8 hours before the application closes so we can address any issues while staff are available.

If applications are received after the posted date and “end of day” time (6 pm MT), the application is deemed invalid and will not be evaluated.

Applicants may apply for separate, distinct programs in the division, as long as the project scopes do not interfere or overlap in intent, budget, funds, execution or uses.

Grant awardees may NOT apply for an additional grant from the same program if they are still within a project period for the initial grant, i.e. awardees who received funding in 2025, who do not submit a final report until June 30, 2026, cannot apply for additional funding from the same program before June 30, 2026, or before the final report due date.

Some of our grants include infrastructure and will have different improvement funding. Allowable uses for individual programs will be articulated in the respective grant application.

All organizations must have a three-year minimum history of operations, programming and/or services at the time of application. Please review grant-specific guidelines for additional information.

1. Read the guidelines for each individual grant in full before beginning an application.
2. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare and submit an application.
3. Be specific and be clear. Successful proposals address the grant program requirements and goals.
4. Be authentic. Celebrate what makes your proposal unique. Avoid jargon and unedited AI-generated responses in your narrative.
5. Prepare your responses in a word processing application (MS Word or Google Docs) before inputting your narrative into the online grants management system.
6. Check the online application for specific instructions about uploads and documentation that are not detailed in the guidelines.

The division does not support businesses, organizations, or people engaged in enterprises involving film. Film refers to any “filming activity supported by the New Mexico film division of the department,” (the New Mexico Film Office).

Any business receiving/reporting a tax incentive in the most recent tax year to Taxation and Revenue and/or the NM Film Office is not eligible for division programs.

All projects/program participants must make a sincere effort to include participants rooted in a wide swath of creative industries and not overly favor certain specific industries.