The Center for Art and Public Life has hosted the Impact Awards each year giving the students an opportunity to receive funding and mentorship for their impact project.

The Center for Art and Public Life invites CCA students to apply for the 2026 Impact Awards, an annual opportunity to receive funding, mentorship, and support for bold, justice driven creative projects.

This year’s theme Designing Tomorrow, Disrupting Today recognizes that shaping a more just and livable world requires both radical imagination and immediate action. We live in a time of converging crises: climate collapse, widening inequality, technological acceleration, displacement, and threats to basic human rights. But within this uncertainty lies an opportunity: to use creative practice not just to respond but to reimagine and reconfigure what’s possible.

We’re seeking proposals that ask hard questions and offer hopeful, courageous interventions. What systems need to be dismantled? What futures can be co-created through art, design, and community-led experimentation? How can your work intervene in today’s broken structures while charting new paths forward?

Proposals may address issues such as abolition and restorative justice, Indigenous sovereignty, climate futures, algorithmic bias, queer and trans liberation, housing justice, collective healing, or any other area where your creative practice meets urgent social need. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches and projects at any stage of development (from early concept to community) collaborative implementation.

Whether your work lives in a gallery, the streets, the screen, or the classroom, the Impact Awards are here to help you deepen your process, connect with mentors, and make meaningful change.

Let’s build the future - together, and now.

2026 Award Opportunities:

Community Impact Recipient of $10,000

Exceptional Innovator Recipient of $5,000

Outstanding Startup Recipient of $2,500

2026 Impact Awards Upcoming Events:

April 7th Impact Finalist Announced

April 10th Workshop for Finalist

April 17th Impact Juror Interviews

April 21st Impact Award Finalist Announced

Impact Award 2025 - 2026 Application.

Applications Open: March 18, 2026.

Applications Close: March 31, 2026.

Applications consist of:

• A 250 word project proposal.
• 3 to 5 images (mock-ups, samples, concepts) of your proposal Jpeg/pdf format Maximum file size 8.0 MB.
• An 8-10 minute (max) video presenting your project, the issues it addresses, and the anticipated outcome.
• A 24” x 36” Poster showcasing your project Jpeg/pdf format.Maximum file size 8.0 MB

Information:

Rubric here

2026 Impact Award Jurors:

Janette Kim

Josh Silverman

Pia Zaragoza

Want Application Advice?

Email tracy.tanner@cca.edu or schedule a 1:1 via Calendly!

The CAPL Impact Awards celebrates creativity in advocating for equality, human rights, and social justice, especially in a time when personal freedoms are at risk. With the shifting political climate surrounding the U.S. Presidential election, activism alone may not be enough to drive change. Now, more than ever, we need new, innovative ways to cultivate empathy and understanding for differences and address urgent social issues. This year, we are looking for student projects that explore these challenges through social health design, including but not limited to gender equity, LGBTQ+ inclusivity, transgender rights, disability rights, and immigrant inclusion.

We seek art, design, and social entrepreneurship projects that fosters change, sparks dialogue, and promotes empathy to contribute to the well-being and harmony of society. Does your project tackle one of these key issues? Is it created to inspire action and provoke meaningful change? Whether through visual art, design, interactive projects, or digital media, we welcome all creative forms that promote knowledge, perspective, and understanding.

The Impact Awards offer an opportunity to further develop projects with support through funding, feedback, and mentorship. Whether you have identified a community partner or are just beginning with an idea, we are here to help you grow your idea. Apply for mentorship, brainstorming sessions, and partnership opportunities today. Help shape a more compassionate world where creativity fuels lasting impact.

Soft Matter is a design intervention aimed at rethinking the way materials can foster empathy, comfort, and human agency. By repurposing materials, including packaging beans, bubble wrap, scrap foam, and other waste materials, this project challenges the conventional, rigid design practices that often shape public spaces. Through soft, tactile elements, Soft Matter seeks to create environments that promote emotional well-being and inclusivity, encouraging individuals to form deeper connections with their surroundings. The project will feature a range of soft interventions, such as seating installations, cushions, and public art pieces, each designed to be interactive and inviting. These objects will evoke comfort and warmth, providing a stark contrast to the harsh, often impersonal nature of typical urban design. The use of recycled materials highlights sustainability, transforming waste into purposeful, inclusive design elements that prioritize comfort and connection. By reimagining materials as tools for human interaction, Soft Matter redefines public spaces as places of emotional engagement, where the design encourages reflection and personal connection. The ultimate goal is to create public environments that place empathy, human agency, and inclusivity at their core, sparking conversations about the potential of design to cultivate a more compassionate and just world.

Last year, a self-portrait project became an unexpected journey of self-discovery and radical acceptance. What began as an exploration of the relationship between myself and the camera evolved into profound personal transformation and an essay in Art Journal Open reflecting on the process. Now, I wish to share this powerful experience with others. I am seeking funding to extend this opportunity to Black women of diverse backgrounds, ages, and body types. Eleven participants across the United States—ranging from mid-30s to 80s—will form the inaugural workshop cohort. Each participant will receive a Polaroid camera, five packs of black and white film, self-portraiture tips, and reflective prompts. The process involves participants working through each film pack by specific deadlines, followed by group reflection sessions. This cycle repeats five times, fostering both personal exploration and community building. Upon completion, I'll conduct individual interviews, help select images for publishing, and facilitate a final group reflection. My previous work, Black in Denver, demonstrates my commitment to social practice projects centered on selfhood and community. This initiative feels particularly timely especially in light of the rise in authoritarianism and our current political climate. The enthusiastic response from participants to this project also confirms its resonance. Funding will support the pilot program, necessary supplies, artist sustenance, and lay groundwork for future cohorts and safe spaces where Black women can challenge limiting narratives and embrace self-love. While potentially culminating in a book or exhibition, the project's primary focus remains personal transformation and empowerment within a communal setting.

Non Alien Box is a mobile public art project that reclaims decommissioned newspaper boxes across San Francisco to share absurd, often invisible stories of non alien residents navigating the U.S. job market. Drawing from lived experience, the project exposes labor inequities shaped by visa restrictions—low wages, prolonged internships, and narrow employment paths—and uses humor and design to spark public reflection. Building on its first installation, Non Alien Box is an ever expanding project which includes an ongoing collection of stories and the creation of custom-designed “job ads” for those in need. Through collaborative workshops, we continue to help individuals from immigrant and precarious labor communities translate their personal stories into visual language, then distribute them via transformed newspaper boxes. Each box serves as a decentralized platform for underrepresented voices. It is an art object in gallery settings. It also is a functional, camouflaged communication tool in public space. As we gradually occupying more sites, this project will weave a visible network of presence, survival, and belonging across the urban landscape.