RISCA recognizes that Rhode Island is home to a wealth of talented design professionals who are skilled innovators, entrepreneurs and problem solvers.  The DIG program seeks to encourage these professionals to develop plans and concepts that represent a high level of creative problem solving and innovation in a design field. 

The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) will offer one competitive $6000 grant annually to Rhode Island designers for design ideas that are highly creative and show potential for innovation and/or implementation.  Grant proposals should address one of the following goals:

• Innovation of a specific kind of design, process or application
• Creation of a product or service that has a potential public benefit

The DIG grant is a cash award for Rhode Island designers who demonstrate excellence and innovation in their field.  Awards are based upon samples of past work and proposals for future work.  Grant recipients are not required to pursue implementation of winning design proposals or completion of design projects.  However, award recipients will be asked to pursue the next phase of their project such as meeting with potential partners, creating more detailed schematics, creating a project development plan, etc.