Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Fellowships and Grants
2026 ACC Fellowships and Grants
The Asian Cultural Council (“ACC”) is pleased to announce the 2026 Grant Cycle’s open call for applications, which begins on October 1, 2025, and ends on November 19, 2025.
ACC welcomes applications from artists, scholars, arts professionals, and organizations that propose cultural exchange and immersion activities that support ACC’s mission to advance international dialogue for greater mutual understanding and respect in Asia and the United States.
ACC’s fellowships and grants offer arts communities in Asia and the U.S. unique opportunities for long-term, self-designed, immersive exploration of other cultures that expand grantees’ horizons, nurture their perspectives and creative growth, and foster valuable international connections. ACC supports immersive cultural exchange experiences with the aim of improving appreciation and respect for communities and cultures in Asia and the U.S.—a critical foundation to healthy and strong cross-border relations. We seek applicants who share this commitment to advancing cultural exchange as part of their ongoing personal and artistic growth and their relationship with the world around them.
ACC takes an unconventional approach by not funding production-based grants, such as the creation of artwork, a film, an exhibition, or a performance. Instead, our grants seek to provide transformative and educational cultural enrichment opportunities for selected grantees. We find that through funding a period spent in an unfamiliar environment where grantees can take a break from their day-to-day responsibilities and deadlines, they are more open to expanding their perspectives and integrating learned experiences into their creative practices and engagement with the world around them.
ACC values long-lasting relationships with our grantees. We support grantees before and during their travels and bring them into a growing global community of ACC alumni.
Application and Selection Timeline
ACC's 2026 Grants Cycle will follow the timeline below.
Call for Applications Opens: October 1, 2025, at 9:59 AM U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Call for Applications Closes: November 19, 2025, at 9:59 AM U.S. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Letters of Recommendation Due: November 26, 2025, at 9:59 AM U.S. EST
Review and Selection Process: November 2025 - April 2026
Notifications to Applicants: Mid-May 2026
Grant Period (When ACC-funded travel and activities must take place): August 1, 2026 – December 31, 2027
General Eligibility Criteria and Requirements
Applicants for an ACC fellowship or grant must meet the general eligibility criteria and requirements included below.In addition to these, each fellowship and grant program has additional requirements, which you can find in the relevant program-specific guidelines (see under “Fellowship and Grant Opportunities”).
Selection Process and Criteria
ACC staff will first conduct an internal review to ensure applicants are eligible. ACC will then invite regional, national, and international experts in a wide range of disciplines, including ACC alumni, to serve as review panelists and participate in the selection process.
Fellowship and Grant Opportunities
ACC offers four distinct fellowship and grant types to support immersive cultural exchange. Please carefully review the guidelines below to learn more about our fellowships and grants and open the relevant “Apply now” text to review instructions and begin an application. Please also note that applicants can only apply for one grant type per cycle.
New York Fellowship
The New York Fellowship is a six-month program that offers artists, scholars, and arts professionals from Asia a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich and varied cultural life of New York City and the United States, and to develop their artistic practices and perspectives from this cultural immersion experience.
Individual Fellowship
The Individual Fellowship program offers an opportunity for artists, scholars, and arts professionals in Asia and the United States to pursue research and a self-directed cultural exchange experience in another country, territory, or region.
An Individual Fellowship is not a residency to produce new work, a fund to attend or participate in a single conference or event (i.e. not a travel grant), or an individual’s public relations tour. Rather, Individual Fellows explore focused research questions and activities that enable and promote cultural immersion, dialogue, relationship-building, collaboration, and the exchange of knowledge and ideas among peers. These experiences and relationships lead to invaluable creative inspiration, collaborative opportunities, and a more global and nuanced perspective.
Graduate Fellowship
ACC gives a small number of Graduate Fellowship grants to support the travel and living expenses of graduate students from Asia who choose to study in the United States because comparable programs are not available in their home country, territory, or region and/or because they work in a field that is underrepresented in their home country, territory, or region.
ACC’s Graduate Fellowship program aims to advance international cultural exchange and to enrich and broaden scholarly narratives and critical discourse by increasing access to academic training in the arts and cultural fields.
Organization Grant
The Asian Cultural Council’s (ACC) Organization Grant program offers an opportunity for arts and culture organizations in Asia and the United States to pursue travel and activities that enable a deep cultural exchange experience for the organization, their staff, and other individuals and communities with whom they connect.
ACC’s Organization Grants support a range of activities that advance international dialogue, the sharing of practices and ideas, and the building of relationships across borders. Organization Grants may support travel to another country, territory, or region for their activities and/or hosting activity participants in the country, territory, or region where the organization is based.
Deadlines
Applications must be submitted by November 19, 2025, at 9:59 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Letters of recommendation must be uploaded by November 26, 2025, at 9:59 AM EST. Learn more about the letter of recommendation requirements further below.
