Cultural ARchive Fund for Spatial Storytellers

Supporting augmented reality creators who preserve, activate, and reimagine local culture through spatial storytelling in public space.

The Cultural ARchive Fund supports creators using augmented reality to document, preserve, and activate cultural stories in the physical world. From historic neighborhoods and main streets to murals, galleries, and public plazas, this fund champions projects that turn cities into living archives. We believe AR can expand access to culture, empower artists and civic partners, and create new forms of public art that are place-based, participatory, and future-proofed for generations to come.

medium:film-storytelling

Eligibility

This fund is open to artists, collectives, technologists, and public arts partners creating location-based AR projects that preserve or activate cultural narratives. Projects may be early-stage or in progress, but must demonstrate a clear plan for public-facing impact and cultural storytelling using augmented reality tools.
To qualify for this fund, projects must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Focus on cultural archiving, public art, immersive storytelling, or spatial mapping in real-world locations
- Be one of the following (or similar):
- Public arts teams presenting AR on a town or city’s main street
- Creators launching historical AR art walks or neighborhood tours
- Muralists integrating AR into their storytelling
- Artists canvassing cities with location-based AR works
- Spatial cartographers creating maps of culture
- Galleries introducing AR and web3 into brick-and-mortar spaces
- Use augmented reality map-making, AR publishing, geospatial registry, minting, or location-based AR tools (tool choice is open)
- Be designed for public access and engagement in physical space
- Align with Artizen’s values of originality, impact, and feasibility
Education & Resources (Strongly Encouraged):
- Join an Illust AR Creator Studio info session to learn more about AR publishing workflows: https://calendly.com/ar-convo-with-rob/ar-studio-info-session
- Creators are encouraged (but not required) to explore the Illust AR Creator Studio, a no-code, browser-based AR publishing suite for placing digital works anywhere in the world
- Get one free month of Illust AR Creator Studio by visiting: https://ar.illust.space/admin
- Enterin promo code ARTIZEN at checkout
- For questions, technical guidance, or partnership inquiries, contact: [contact redacted]
This fund is tool-agnostic and education-forward. Our goal is not to gatekeep technology, but to empower creators with the confidence, resources, and funding needed to bring cultural AR projects to life in the places that matter most.

Projects (45)

29 submitted · 11 curated · 5 funded

Project	Status	Raised
Coralverse - Reef Revival	funded	$3,709
Augmented Reality On-Chain	funded	$10,787
Curating Augmented Reality Exhibitions for a Global Public Space	funded	$155
American Season	funded	$0
America 250 - Echoes of Freedom AR Art/History Tour in Jersey City	funded	$1,860
😌 Being-Verse | a Meta-Death 💀	curated	$19,591
Remembering to Forget	curated	$9,097
🔮 The Oracle: The Earth's Guardian 🌱	curated	$6,710
FREERIDERS	curated	$12,909
Digital Rescue Lab	curated	$20
Snub Publishing	curated	$0
Love	curated	$0
SUANI — A Living Media Library of Indigenous Knowledge	curated	$1,120
Decimate: A Virtual Landscape	curated	$0
Universe Book	curated	$60
MiddleBelt Archive	curated	$1,742
Gaia Sound Temple	submitted	$5,056
TUNER	submitted	$87,139
FutureZoo	submitted	$215,046
Mango Magic Movement	submitted	$28,679
Living Towers Genesis – Frontier Tower SF	submitted	$14
GreenPill Uganda: Uganda's Regenerative Agriculture and web3 mission	submitted	$11
Butterfly ཐི༏ཋྀ󠀮 Effect	submitted	$2
Human After All	submitted	$10
Labour Union of Higherdimensional Shapeshifters	submitted	$360
SENSEI- ALL SENSES CULINARY EXPERIENCE	submitted	$4
Wild Voices: Conversations with AR animals	submitted	$42,361
Mshelias Design	submitted	$299
Akuya	submitted	$234
Cinemetropolis	submitted	$0
Code of the Ancestors	submitted	$0
Gypsy Blood - Movie	submitted	$624
Abductive Pathways	submitted	$23,899
Building Bridges: An Inspirational Community for Collective Liberation	submitted	$10,133
CD, Álbum de Kunarevolution	submitted	$20
Baraza TV	submitted	$7,581
Retelling History to Change Reality	submitted	$15,692
Frames of Us: A Living Cinematic Archive of Everyday African Stories	submitted	$1,685
The Conversation: Remixing the Collective Subconscious	submitted	$167
The International Artists Project Documentary	submitted	$563
Element of Chawaza	submitted	$1,356
Voices of my Community: Anthology Project	submitted	$0
Kanji School VR	submitted	$8,049
Hands of Hope Foundation	submitted	$0
Landscape Jpegs	submitted	$56