The Pixel Prize is a hybrid grant-award that promotes the use of technology in art. We believe art can be a vessel for subversive education, boundary pushing, and critical inquiry about the world around us. By commissioning this digital art piece, we aim to interrogate topics ranging from freedom of speech and censorship to data sovereignty and privacy.
For the 2025 period, we will focus on using blockchain as an artistic medium to drive this critical conversation – conversations around blockchain’s shortcomings and potential. Winners of the inaugural prize will gain exposure for themselves and their work.
Inspired by the Cascade Funding Model, JUST has selected GLITCH, spearheaded by Primavera de Filippi, to manage the selection and evaluation of artists who apply.
What is GLITCH?
GLITCH is a collective of avant-garde artists and visionaries operating at the intersection of art, technology, and societal transformation. The collective transcends traditional institutional boundaries, uniting a variety of polymaths who share a passion for collaborative exploration and a commitment to open source ideals. As such, GLITCH does not just create art, it catalyzes new paradigms for creativity, dissolving boundaries between disciplines while building an open ecosystem that embraces collaborative creation and technological innovation as pathways to artistic exploration.
COALA, The org behind GLITCH
COALA is a unique, collaborative, global and multidisciplinary community that brings together individual experts in the decentralized ecosystem to explore the implications and deployment of blockchain technologies at the nexus of our evolving social and economic order in the 21st century.
The Grant + Prize Structure
• Funds can be used to address costs including those associated with living expenses, technical costs, other art creation expenditures• Awarding THREE €6.000 micro-grants
• Awarding ONE €50.000 grand prize from the grantee pool
To submit an application, you must meet the eligibility requirements below:
• Applicants must be based in Europe
• Applicants may be collectives or Individuals
• No Companies or Traditional Institutions
• Applicants are limited to one application
Please bundle the following materials into one PDF, where possible, including links and portfolio separately if need be.
When you hit the 'Apply' button, you will be redirected to an email browser. Submit your application as an attachment, with a brief email body intro.
The submission should include:
• A video motivation letter and bio(3-5 minutes in length)
• Portfolio: website, videos, and images allowed (accepted file types: .pdf, .jpg, .png, .mp4, .mov) at the highest possible resolution• Written Artistic concept (500-1000 words)• One-Page Resume
Thematic relevance
The proposed artwork must align with one of the four established themes - See Focus Area Tab
Blockchain as a medium
The project must demonstrate blockchain integration through either a smart contract implementation, or a clear justification of what it qualifies as "blockchain as a medium" (i.e. with innovation beyond basic NFT functionalities).
Open Source Requirement
• All project components must be open source
• Must be licensed under a standard open source license
Project Novelty
• Projects need not be conceptually novel
• Projects shouldn't have been implemented in other calls
• Implementation must be eligible for exclusive grant status, and it must qualify for promotional purposes without stakeholder conflicts
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and will close when the three grantees have been selected. It is to your advantage to get applications in as early as possible.
Open Call – ROLLING: May 30 - July 30, 2025
Micro-Grant Recipients Announced: July 30, 2025
Grantee Exhibition: Nov 6-15, 2025
Prize Selection and Dinner: Nov 15, 2025
Grand Prize Exhibition: June 2026
Grantees are expected to produce an original work for exhibition in November. The work need not be in its final form, but should clearly showcase the concept the artist wants to convey.
Selection for the grand prize will be made based on the Grantee Showcase submissions. The grand prize will allow the artist to complete the full scope of work for their own solo exhibit in 2026.
Additionally, We expect:
• Regular check-ins
• A single piece or body of work that fulfills the theme requirements
• A record of how money was allocated
We want projects to explore the following themes:
• Privacy as a human right
• Data sovereignty
• Economic rights
• Censorship resistance
All applications will be evaluated by our call partner, GLITCH.
No, all documentation should be submitted in English.
The only requirement is that at least one artist in the project be based in the European Union. For solo creators, they must be based in the EU.
No, but you do need to be based in the European Union. Eventually, we’ll branch out to other locations.
You’ll have to wait until the next cohort. BUT! In the short term, you can join our Luma calendar to be notified of future events and calls.
Get in touch at grants[at]justopensource.io
