Grant writing and fundraising strategy · New England
Strategic fundraising rooted in community.
I'm Oscar Palacio, a Colombian-born artist and grant writer based in Greater Boston. I partner with arts and culture, LGBTQ+, immigrant-serving, and community development organizations to research funders, write proposals, and make the case for work that communities lead. I work in English and Spanish.
From the series Ghosts of the Oconee, 2025
The photographs on this site are my own. Each caption gives the title, place, and year as they appear on my artist portfolio.
Funding secured
$29,200
Bannister Grave Restoration Project
Three funded proposals: the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, and the Rhode Island Foundation's Neighborhood Grants and Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund. Lead grant writer, 2024–2025.
See the funded work2021
Public Art Learning Fund
New England Foundation for the Arts. My role: artist.
2020
Centering Latinx Pedagogy
Mass Humanities. My role: artist and facilitator.
Who I work with
Organizations where communities lead.
Shared values matter more than sector. I work with organizations whose leadership reflects the communities they serve, and where community members shape the work.
Arts and culture
Presenters, ensembles, galleries, and cultural centers, from state arts council proposals to national foundations.
LGBTQ+-serving organizations
Career and workplace programs, legal services, advocacy, and professional development, framed around economic opportunity and community strength.
Immigrant-serving organizations
Cultural preservation, language access, legal services, workforce development, and community organizing, in English and Spanish.
Community development
Neighborhood institutions, cultural facilities, and community land trusts, including capital campaigns.
A good fit
- Leadership that reflects the communities you serve, or shares their lived experience.
- Community members who shape programs, priorities, and decisions.
- A specific opportunity, or a funding calendar, we can build around.
- An annual budget under $2 million, the range this practice is built for. Larger organizations are welcome to ask.
Not the right fit
- Federal grant proposals.
- A full proposal due in under 30 days. On-demand services can move faster.
- Work paid by commission or a percentage of an award.
What sets this practice apart
Priced openly. Delivered in writing.
Fixed scope, published fees, and documents your team keeps and reuses.
Fees you can read first
Every fixed fee is published, from a $200 strategy session to a $6,500 proposal, and confirmed in writing before work begins.
Deliverables in writing
Strategy sessions end with a written summary. A declined proposal gets a written debrief you can bring to your board.
Mapped before drafted
Every requirement, character limit, and attachment is laid out before the first line of the proposal is written.
Evidence you can cite
Logic models and case statements carry Chicago-style citations to peer-reviewed and government sources.
Approach
Every proposal begins the way my photographs do: with research, with listening, and with attention to what the record leaves out.
1
Strategic
Deep funder research, honest guidance about fit, and a clear next step at every stage.
2
Ethical
Flat, published fees. No success fees or commissions, and no promised outcomes.
3
Community-centered
Narratives that describe conditions honestly and center community strengths, assets, and leadership.
4
Sustainable
Boilerplate, case statements, and calendars your team keeps and reuses long after we finish.
I follow the Grant Professionals Association Code of Ethics.
About
Artist, educator, grant writer.
Born in Colombia and based in Greater Boston, I have spent more than twenty years making photographs about how the American landscape holds memory, displacement, and history. My work is in the collections of the Harvard Art Museums, the Yale University Art Gallery, and the Addison Gallery of American Art. The habits that shape that work (archival research, listening to the people closest to a place, a commitment to historical truth) shape every proposal I write.
- Photography faculty, Lesley University2014–2024
- Founder and chair, faculty and staff affinity network, Lesley University
- Inaugural artist-in-residence, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia2025
- MFA, Massachusetts College of Art and Design1998
- Fundraising research and writing consultant, two capital campaigns2026
Let's talk.
Tell me what you're trying to fund, what you've tried, and what feels stuck. I reply to messages within two business days.
The conversation is thirty minutes, with no commitment. The strategy session is sixty minutes and ends with a written summary; the $200 is credited toward a proposal or retainer agreed within 30 days.