Meet Our 2026 Grantees

We are dedicated to supporting artists, creative entrepreneurs, and organizations through various grant opportunities. Our funding programs are designed to nurture creativity, enhance cultural experiences, and strengthen the arts community in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Explore the different grants available and learn how you can benefit from our resources.

Lydia McCain Artist Fellows

The McCain Fellowship grant awards are unrestricted. Funds are flexible, and can be used for any part of the artist's creative process, including professional development, purchasing equipment or tools, and support for basic needs. The Fellowship supports one artist in each career level: Emerging, Mid-Career, and Established. Erie Arts and Culture (EAC) awarded $11,000 in unrestricted grants to support the creative careers of three Erie County artists.

Emerging Artist Fellow Tess Carletta

Tessa Sayre (she/her) is an independent author based in the heart of North East, Pennsylvania. Her published works feature diverse characters in magical worlds, with an emphasis on queer joy and the quest to understand the human condition. After writing casually for over fifteen years, Sayre published her debut novel, Kit & Basie in 2023. Praised for its cozy whimsy, Kit & Basie is a gentle study on love and the meaning of home. It has been nominated for 9 indie publishing awards.

Tess writes, "A good book is one you can escape into. A great book is one that, when you return from that escape, you see the real world through a lens that is wider, wiser, and kinder... [My] published and in-progress works are a call to action to chase wholeheartedly after a meaningful existence."

Learn more at: www.tesscarletta.com

Mid-Career Artist Fellow Clayton Bradshaw-Mittal

Clayton Bradshaw-Mittal (they/them) writes queer, working-class stories, essays, and poems. Winner of the Plaza Short Story Prize, their creative work can be found in Story, Third Coast, The Masters Review, Fairy Tale Review, Hole in the Head Review, Friction, South Carolina Review, and elsewhere. Other writing appears in The Rumpus, Barrelhouse, New Ohio Review, and additional journals.

They are the recipient of a MASS MoCA Fellowship and Residency, the Carlisle Family Scholarship from Community of Writers, a Scholarship from the Vermont Studio Center Residency, and an Emerging Artist Fellowship from Partners for the Arts. In addition, their work has been supported by a Sundress Residency, a Twisted Run Residency, and the Tin House Winter Workshop.

Clayton writes about their practice, "I became a writer out of necessity... it was literature that saved me and showed me hope for the future. There was no other space for me outside of books, and I... felt a need to etch my name into the world."

They are currently querying a short story collection titled "Soft Goodbyes Through Broken Veils". The collection is a group of loosely linked short stories that explore what it means to be an artist coming from the working class.

Learn more at: www.writerclaytonbradshaw.com

Established Artist Fellow Preach Freedom

Ronald “Preach Freedom” Williams is a musician, composer, ethnomusicologist, and educator whose career spans global stages, classrooms, and community movements. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Preach has spent decades using music as a powerful tool for connection, resistance, and healing.

A founding member of acclaimed groups such as One World Tribe, Preach Freedom and Connect, and the Buffalo Afrobeat Orchestra, Preach Freedom blends soul, Afrobeat, hip-hop, reggae, and funk to create music that is deeply human. His compositions speak to the collective struggle for justice, the beauty of our differences, and the core belief that music is a tool that brings people together. His band One World Tribe was awarded 1st Prize in the Renaissance Artists and Writers Association's 2016 Songs for Social Change Competition for the track “We Are One,” featuring Grammy-winner Terrance Simien.

Preach's ethos is evident throughout his entire career. He shared, "My entire practice can be summarized as 'each one, teach one'. With One World Tribe, we didn’t write for major labels, we wrote to impact our communities... 'We Are One' wasn’t just a song; it was a call: Think globally, act locally. Music is both a mirror and a movement. It’s how I see the world, and it’s the legacy I leave. Preach Freedom is more than my name; it’s my call to action."

Creative Sector Flex Fund

EAC awarded $100,000 to 20 grantees, through the Creative Sector Flex Fund. Grantees represent arts programs and arts organizations in Erie, Crawford, Warren, Venango, and Lawrence Counties. The Creative Sector Flex Fund (CSFF) is a grant program of the Pennsylvania Creative Industries, powered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), that provides $5,000 in flexible-use grants to support artistic programming and/or arts services in NWPA.

McBrier Family Fund

The McBrier Family Fund supports 501(c)(3) arts organizations working in partnership with artists to develop arts and cultural programs. Erie Arts and Culture prioritizes requests that activate partnerships with folk and traditional artists. With $4,922 this year, we supported:

Erie Art Museum - Activating Sculpture in Bronze Exhibition with traditional Indian dance

McCain special projects grant

The McCain Special Projects Grant supports new arts projects in Erie County. Erie Arts and Culture defines a “Project” as a one-time, public effort that involves some degree of innovation or risk-taking. This year, Erie Arts and Culture was able to support two projects with $11,974:

Citizens Against Racism in Erie • AmeriMasala Festival 2026

GeekErie • Erie Stories for Eerie Readers: A Comics Anthology

Beyers Fund for Music Performances

Erie Arts and Culture uses the annual distribution from the Clarence E. Beyers Fund to support Erie County non-profit organizations and independent efforts that present quality musical performances for the public. With $28,454 many organizations were supported:

McCain Next Steps Grant

The Lydia McCain Next Steps Grant for Arts Organizations provides $5,000 annually to four arts organizations that are prepared to take a strategic next step related to their mission, operations, or programs.This year, we supported:

McCain Artist Opportunities Grant

The Lydia McCain Grant to Advance Artist Opportunities provides funding for artists in Erie County who have a strong artistic vision and a timely opportunity that will help advance their artistic career. Examples of such opportunities may include exhibitions and performances, visiting artist residencies, leading a community-centered arts-based project, and more. With $18,713 we supported:

Rugile Morelli

Madison Wood

Victoria Angelo

Adam Calfee

Vieser Fund for Arts Education

Erie Arts and Culture uses the annual distribution from the Virginia P. Vieser Fund to award a $4,400 grant to one non-profit arts organization implementing a new and innovative arts in education project.

“Learn to Turn” Events by Presque Isle Woodturners