Call for Proposals
Creative Reuse of the Fronteridades: Nurturing Collaborative Intersections in the U.S.-Mexico Border
The Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry invites Southern Arizona creatives and scholars to submit proposals for creative reuse of the Fronteridades: Nurturing Collaborative Intersections in the U.S.-Mexico Border. Fronteridades is a multi-year program that supports collaborative research, artistic practice, storytelling, and public engagement rooted in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and amplifies its complexity, multidimensionality, and richness of life, culture, ecosystems, artistic production, and lived experience, elements that have created community partnerships across the region.
We are accepting proposals for projects and/or scholarships that creatively analyze, contextualize, reinterpret, or build upon the primary source materials, stories, and public programming featured across the Fronteridades website, including Voices of Fronteridades (oral histories, blog, and podcast series), the Undergraduate Internship Program, Fronteridades Fellows and Scholars (faculty, graduate, and creative scholars), the Fronteridades Lecture Series, the Border Arts Collective, and Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Stories. Deliverables could include articles, essays, art pieces, poems, performances, podcasts, digital media, or video series that challenge reductive or dominant portrayals of the borderlands and instead highlight collaboration, creativity, care, and community knowledge.
To be considered for up to $4,000 in funding, please upload the following no later than April 3, 2026:
Project proposal and Resume/CV, including all proposal components listed below and using the naming convention “LastName_FirstName_ProjectProposal_2026” (PDF or word document)
Proposal Components:
Project Summary (max 250 words): This should provide a concise overview of the proposed project, highlighting its main objectives and intended outcome(s). This summary may be used to promote or publicize your project.
Project Narrative (max 800 words): Here, the applicant should articulate how they plan to utilize the materials and programming featured on the Fronteridades website to deepen or contextualize our understanding of U.S.-Mexico borderlands histories, cultures, artistic practices, migration experiences, community knowledge, or collaborative research.
Applicants may engage with, for example:
- Fronteridades Fellows and Scholars projects
- The Lecture Series
- Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Stories
- Border Arts Collective initiatives
- Community partnerships and public-facing programming
Fronteridades in the New
It is essential to emphasize the innovative, creative, and transformative aspects of the proposed project. Proposed projects must include at least one discernible product.
Timeline for Completion: A detailed timeline outlining the various stages of the project, from research and engagement with Fronteridades material to creation and presentation of the final product. This helps to ensure that the project stays on track and that it will be completed within the stated timeframe. Applicants should propose activities that can be completed by July 31, 2026.
Impact on Individual or Community (max 200 words): Here, the applicant should articulate how receiving this funding would impact them and/or their community. How will this project contribute to the applicant’s intellectual development, scholarly/artistic career, community engagement, or other aims? How might it further the collaborative and intersectional mission of Fronteridades.
Budget (100 words max): Explain how funds will be used and the applicant will make this project possible.
Award amount: $4,000
How to apply
Proposals must be submitted through the following link: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eQGNhTdDG8Yy4jY
Deadline to apply: April 3, 2026, 11:59 PM MST
Eligibility: Community-based artists, community members, cultural practitioners, students, and academic professionals based in Southern Arizona, including those affiliated or non-affiliated with University of Arizona. Qualified candidates must be eligible to work in the United States. Previous recipients of Confluencenter funding are not excluded from eligibility.
Selection Process
A review committee will evaluate the proposals and make recommendations to the Confluencenter Director. Awardees will be notified via email mid-April 2026.
Award Distribution
Awards will be disbursed in two installments; the first in April and the second in May.
Post-Award Commitments
Confluencenter staff will contact fund recipients on an ongoing basis for updates on outcomes. Recipients may be asked to participate in future Confluencenter events. The Confluencenter may publish recipients' names and projects on the Confluencenter Fronteridades website and on Counfluencenters’ social media accounts.
Acknowledgments
Successful award recipients should acknowledge Confluencenter support in any publications or presentations made possible by this award and display the Confluencenters’ logo in any project-related publicity.
Important Dates
Application Due Date: April 3, 2026, at 11:59 PM MST | Award Notification Date: Mid-April 2026 |
Project Implementation Date: April – July 2026 | Final Product Due Date: July 31, 2026, at 11:59 PM MST |
Please contact Yadira Caballero with any general application questions at yadirac@arizona.edu.
A PDF version of this call for proposals can be download here:
FINAL-Call-for-Proposals-Creative-Reuse-of-the-Fronteridades.pdf