LACMA Offers Grants for Art & Tech Collaborations
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Art + Technology Lab has opened its global call for grant proposals. The program will award up to $50,000 for projects by artists and technology collaborators, with a submission deadline of April 22, 2026.
This grant program is a modern revival of LACMA's original Art and Technology program which ran from 1967 to 1971. That groundbreaking initiative paired iconic artists like Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg with major technology corporations to explore new forms of artistic expression. Since its relaunch in 2013, the Art + Technology Lab has supported 45 artist projects. The program is part of a major, long-term partnership with Hyundai Motor Company, which has been extended through 2037 and stands as the largest corporate programmatic commitment in the museum's history. In addition to funding, grant recipients receive in-kind support and mentorship from a formidable roster of tech and research partners. Collaborators include Hyundai, Snap Inc., SpaceX, and Google, along with advisors from institutions like the MIT Media Lab and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Past projects have spanned a vast array of disciplines, from gaming and augmented reality to blockchain and rocket propulsion. For example, 2020 grant recipients Virginia San Fratello and Ronald Rael used 21st-century robotics to reexamine Indigenous mud-based building materials. Other funded explorations include Tristan Duke's "Cold Cutting Edge," which utilized a camera with a lens made of ice to explore the intersection of photography and neutrino astronomy, and Matthew Angelo Harrison's work with 3D printing to replicate artifacts related to the African diaspora. Beginning with this 2026 cycle, the Lab is shifting to a new biennial structure. This updated framework will support cohorts of 3-5 artists selected through the open call, plus up to two additional invitational projects that may respond to recent technological breakthroughs. To further public engagement, the expanded program will also introduce a biennial Symposium for artists to present works-in-progress and a biennial Demo Day to showcase completed projects. LACMA is also releasing a 10-year anniversary publication highlighting the first 45 grant recipients.
