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First Open Call for the “2026 K-Art Young Creators Support Program” to Provide a Strong Foundation for Emerging Local Artists

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Park Heong-joon, announced that in cooperation with the Busan Cultural Foundation, it will launch an open call for the “2026 K-Art Young Creators Support Program.” The program is designed to assist young local artists by supporting the substantial preparatory stages prior to public presentation, enabling them to focus fully on their creative work.

The program covers a wide range of foundational arts fields, including literature, visual arts, performing arts (theater, musicals, dance, classical music, and traditional arts), interdisciplinary arts, and convergence arts. Support will primarily be provided to artists directly engaged in original creation, such as writers, directors, choreographers, composers, and critics.

The City expects that this initiative will move beyond the conventional support system centered on established artists and organizations, helping to alleviate the chronic financial instability faced by young artists in the pure arts sector and laying the groundwork for a stable creative ecosystem in the region.

A total of 300 individual young artists aged 39 or younger (born on or after January 1, 1986) and based in Busan will be selected. Each selected artist will receive 9 million KRW per year, disbursed in two installments—one in the first half and the other in the second half of the year.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, support will continue for two years through 2027. The City plans to continuously monitor both the creative process and its outcomes.

Applications will be accepted online through the National Culture and Arts Support System (NCAS) from 3:00 p.m. on March 4 to 3:00 p.m. on March 31. The results of the review will be announced on the Busan Cultural Foundation website following the evaluation process conducted in cooperation with the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute.

Detailed information about the program is available on the Busan Cultural Foundation and Arts Council Korea websites. For further inquiries, applicants may contact Creation Support Team 1 at the Busan Cultural Foundation (☎ +82-51-745-7233).

Cho Yoo-jang, Director General of the Culture Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “As the excellence of Korean culture continues to spread worldwide, expanding creative motivation and establishing supportive conditions for young artists in Busan are essential prerequisites for leading the future global content market.” He added, “Through the ‘K-Art Young Creators Support Program’ and other initiatives, the City will make every effort to promote youth culture policies so that young artists can settle in the region and realize their dreams, thereby establishing Busan as a leading cultural city.”