The Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA; ''National System of Art Creators'') is program developed by the former

Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums ...

, and founded per presidential decree on September 3, 1993. Its goal is the advancement and acceptance of creative activities as an essential part of national identity. It is Mexico's most prestigious arts' grant and a majority of Mexico's most notable architects, fiction writers, poets, essayists, painters, photographers, visual artists, screenwriters, filmmakers, and others who have rendered outstanding services through their work to the creative identity of Mexico, have belonged or currently belong to the program. Every year a new set of 200 creators are selected based on the work produced and contribution to the culture of Mexico. This group of creators receives a special “Artistic Creator” title along with an up to 3-year stimulus (amount is based on the average minimum wage at the time) that can be used to fund their art endeavors. Creators may reapply once more 3 years after their grant has ended to be awarded again. The 2022 selection included 115 new artists and 85 '2nd time' artists to make up the total of 200 Creadores Artísticos, and all come from 28 different states in Mexico. The grant program of the SNCA includes bourses paid by the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA).''Reglas de Operación del Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte''
(Spanish). Due to a high volume of Mexican artists that do not yet meet the 35 year old age requirement to apply, another sub system was created in the early 2010s called Jóvenes Creadores (''Young Creators'').

The Application Process

Artists applying to Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte are required to be citizens of Mexico, at least 35 years at time of application, have a well developed portfolio, along with being well established for their work in Mexico and abroad. If an artist meets the age and citizenship requirements, they are encouraged to apply and submit a project proposal. The artist's portfolio of their best work and new art proposal will then be reviewed by a Selection Commission composed of artists in the respective media and other current Creadores Artísticos. The Selection Commission will then send their selections to be approved by the Board of Directors for SNCA and the Secretary of Culture and announce the new list of Creadores Artísticos. The official list of artists on each Selection Committee is also released with the announcement. The most recent call for artists to send in their applications and proposals was sent out in March 2023. The SNCA announced they will be funding each artist $32,173 pesos monthly for up to 3 years. SNCA will be receiving applications from March 30 to May 4, 2023, and the new selection of artists are announced towards the end of 2023.

Types of Distinctions

There are three possible titles an artist can receive once associated with SNCA: Creador Emérito (Creator Emeritus), Creador Artístico(Artistic Creator), and Creador Artístico Honorífico (Honorary Artistic Creator) Creador Emérito (Creator Emeritus): the artist has the right to claim this title and a stimulus for life. About one artist per discipline is chosen for this distinction per year. Creador Artístico(Artistic Creator): the artist receives a monthly stimulus for up to three years, subject to reevaluation of need for proposed project once a year. About 200 creators are chosen for this distinction per year. Creador Artístico Honorífico (Honorary Artistic Creator): the artists 3-year period has ended but has the right to keep the title for life without the monthly stimulus.

Duties of each Creador Artístico

In order to continue receiving the monthly stimulus, each Creador Artístico has a list of requirements to keep track, and a few are explained below. One of the first requirements is to submit a report to the Selection Commission once a year. This report should be a self evaluation and explain the progress they have made in the past year towards their project. This is to ensure that the artist is being an active member of SNCA. Along with that, all Creadores Artísticos who are younger than seventy years old have to hold a public workshop, course, conference, or exhibition once a year to ensure they are a positive influence on society and add to the culture of Mexico. Other benefits to being a part of SNCA is that their projects and public programs will be posted on official government websites and social medias which will help inform the public in Mexico and help the artists' success in reaching and having an effect on the people in their communities.

Jóvenes Creadores

The Jóvenes Creadores (Young Creators) is a sub system associated with SNCA that requires the applicant to be a citizen of Mexico and be between 18 and 34 years of age, though it does not provide as high of a prestigious title. This option does not require as much of a developed portfolio or very long experience in the public arts. The Jóven Creador will receive a monthly stimulus of $10,000 Pesos (about $550 US dollars) for up to one year. Along with the stimulus, the artist will get access to workshop and connect with well established artists to further their skills and art practices. The application process for this program is very similar to SNCA and the decisions are announce at the same time as well.

Notable Members

Visual Artists

Yvonne Domenge, Perla Krauze, Betsabeé Romero, Nahum B. Zenil, Flor Minor, Luis Argudín, Angélica Carrasco, Silvia Barbescu, Diana Salazar, Beatriz Zamora, Pedro Preux, Tomás Parra, Lucinda Urrusti, Jazzamoart, Alberto Beltrán, Jan Hendrix, Lourdes Grobet,

Gilberto Aceves Navarro Gilberto Aceves Navarro (September 24, 1931 – October 21, 2019) was a List of Mexican artists, Mexican painter and sculptor and a professor at the National School of Arts (UNAM), Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and Academy of San Carlos. Th ...

, Isaac Broid Zajman,

Carlos Mijares Bracho Carlos G. Mijares Bracho (April 26, 1930 – March 19, 2015) was a Mexican architect and founder of the "grupo Menhir".

, Aurelio Nuño Morales, Andrés Casillas de Alba,

Sebastián (sculptor) Sebastián (born Enrique Carbajal González on November 16, 1947) is a Mexican sculptor best known for his monumental works of steel and/or concrete in both Mexico and abroad. These include a number of “gate” sculptures such as the Gran Puer ...

, Demián Flores,

José Chávez Morado José Chávez Morado (4 January 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a Mexican artist who was associated with the Mexican muralism movement of the 20th century. His generation followed that of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqu ...

Composers

Gabriela Ortiz Gabriela Ortiz (born 1964) is a Mexican music educator and composer. Biography Gabriela Ortiz Torres was born in Mexico City of parents who were folk musicians. She learned folk music at home, and then studied in Paris at the Ecole Normale de M ...

, Manuel Rocha Iturbide,

Enrico Chapela Enrico Chapela (born January 29, 1974) is a Mexican contemporary classical composer, whose works have been played by multiple major orchestras and has been commissioned to compose for institutions such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Nation ...

Javier Torres Maldonado Javier Torres Maldonado (born 1968) is a Mexican composer internationally recognized for, mostly, his orchestral, chamber, vocal and electro-acoustic works. Biography Born in Chetumal (Mexico), José Javier Torres Maldonado studied violin and co ...

, Carlos Sandoval

Cinematographers

Luis Estrada, Gabriel Retes

Writers in indigenous languages

Natalia Toledo,

Natalio Hernández Natalio Hernández Hernández (born 27 July 1947), also known as Natalio Hernández Xocoyotzin and by the pseudonym José Antonio Xokoyotsij, is a Mexican Nahua intellectual and poet, from Lomas del Dorado, Ixhuatlan de Madero the state of Veracru ...

Marisol Ceh Moo Marisol Ceh Moo (also Sol Ceh born May 12, 1968) is a Mexican Maya writer and professor, born in Calotmul, Yucatán, Mexico. She writes in Yucatec and in Spanish, and is known for her efforts to revitalize and protect the Yucatec Maya language. He ...

Drama, Theater, and performing Artists

Edgar Chías,

Ximena Escalante Ximena Escalante (born 1964) is a Mexican dramatist who is known for her works reinterpreting ancient Greek and other texts along with those examining the creative process of more modern writers. Born into a theatrical family in Mexico City, she f ...

, Jaime Chabaud,

Michel Descombey Michel Descombey (28 October 1930 – 5 December 2011) was a French ballet dancer, choreographer and director. Descombay studied dancing in Paris, and debuted as a professional dancer of the Ballet de l'Opéra National in 1947. In 1959 he be ...

, Fernando Llanos

Writers

Elsa Cross, David Huerta,

Myriam Moscona Myriam Moscona (מרים מוסקונה) (born 1955 in Mexico City) is a Mexican journalist, translator and poet in the Ladino and Spanish languages who comes from a Bulgarian Sephardi Jewish family. She teaches at Miami University. She was the ...

, Alberto Chimal,

Tedi López Mills Tedi López Mills is a Mexican poet born in 1959 in Mexico City. She studied philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico for the first three years of her Bachelor's and finished at Sorbonne University in Paris. She later comple ...

Rosina Conde Rosina Conde (; born February 10, 1954), is a Mexican narrator, playwright and poet. Biography Hilda Rosina Conde Zambada was born in Mexicali, Baja California, February 10, 1954. She is the daughter of musicians and composers Guillermo Conde an ...

, Patricia Laurent Kullick, Roberto Ransom,

Marina Stavenhagen Marina Stavenhagen (born July 16, 1962 in Mexico City) is a Mexican screenwriter, writer, and film director. She is the daughter of anthropologists Rodolfo Stavenhagen and María Eugenia Vargas. Her family arrived in Mexico after escaping Nazi Germ ...

, Carlos Martin Briceño,

Ricardo Garibay Ricardo Garibay (January 18, 1923 – May 3, 1999) was a Mexican writer and journalist. He studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he was also a professor of literature. He also served as the chief of press for the Sec ...

, Mónica Lavín, María Luisa Mendoza, Rosa Beltrán,

Verónica Murguía Verónica Murguía (born 1960) is a Mexican fantasy writer who has won multiple prizes for her children's literature and novels. Her husband was poet David Huerta. Biography Verónica Murguía was born on 5 November 1960 in Mexico City, Mexico ...

Eraclio Zepeda Eraclio Zepeda (March 24, 1937 – September 17, 2015) was a Mexican writer, poet and politician. Education He attended college at the Universidad Militarizada Latinoamericana, where he started a Marxism study group with Jaime Labastida, Jaime ...

Sergio González Rodríguez Sergio González Rodríguez (26 January 1950 – 3 April 2017) was a Mexican journalist and writer who was best known for his works on the femicides in Ciudad Juárez from the 1990s to the 2000s, such as ''Huesos en el desierto'' (''Bones in the ...

, Élmer Mendoza, Francisco Serrano (poet), Jennifer Clement,

Jorge Volpi Jorge Volpi (full name Jorge Volpi Escalante, born July 10, 1968) is a Mexican novelist and essayist, best known for his novels such as ''In Search of Klingsor ( En busca de Klingsor)''. Trained as a lawyer, he gained notice in the 1990s wi ...

Social Media

Instagram username: @SistemaCreacion The social media for Sistema de Apoyos a la Creación y a Proyectos Culturales (Support System for Creation and Cultural Projects) periodically posts updates for the various groups associated with

FONCA The National Endowment for Culture and Arts (''Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes,'' FONCA) is a public agency of the Mexican federal government, attached to the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta). Funding for FONCA com ...

. Approaching the deadlines for the applications to SNCA and Jóvenes Creadores, this page posts informational videos about how to complete the process and tips for a strong application.

References

{{Clear Arts organizations based in Mexico Mexican art 1993 establishments in Mexico Arts organizations established in 1993