The professional artist grant aims to support and build meaningful relationships among the outstanding creative artists in Pinellas County, provide a solid foundation to nurture the creative community, and elevate Pinellas County as an arts and cultural destination. With this purpose in mind, Creative Pinellas provides up to ten grants for artists who have excelled in their artistic practice. The grant is unrestricted, and Grantees are encouraged to decide for themselves how to use the award for  their benefit and growth as an artist. Grants of $5,000 each are open to visual, literary, multimedia and performing artists doing original work in the areas of: • Dance (of all kinds) • Choreography • Interdisciplinary (a combination of more than one type of genre of art, often technology/digital arts are involved) • Literature including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction (does not include journalism, self-help, children's books,  and books with a structured commercial purpose.) • Media Arts such as film, photography, computer/digital arts, audio, interactive media, etc. • Musical Performance • Music Composition • Acting • Theater Creation, including playwriting, directing, musical direction, stage design, stage lighting, etc. • Visual Arts including 2D and 3D visual arts of all kinds. An additional $5,000 Artist Laureate Grant may be presented to one of the grantees who Creative Pinellas recognize as being able to be a model partner and collaborator, sharing their skills and expertise and supporting the organization's  mission over the grant period. Artists must indicate on their application that they would like to be considered for the Artist Laureate award.