CALT Experiences Grants
Introduction
Central Appalachia Living Traditions (CALT) Experiences grants fund public-facing projects and events in Appalachian counties of Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia that bring community members together around traditional arts and cultural knowledge.
Funded projects will encourage broad public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of living traditions and/or grow and disseminate artistic skill and cultural knowledge within the community.
Non-profit organizations and individual folk and traditional artists/practitioners may apply. To be eligible, you must reside/be based in an Appalachian Regional Commission-designated county in Ohio, Virginia, or West Virginia.
The majority of project activities must take place within ARC-designated counties. Eligible project activities may include:
- hands-on learning experiences/workshops
- public art projects
- exhibitions
- performances or performance series
- film/video
- radio broadcasts or podcasts
- archival collections or fieldwork with a significant public-facing component
Grant support range: $1,000 – $10,000.
There is no match requirement for this program.
Eligibility and Schedule
Eligibility
To receive a CALT Experiences grant, you must be:
- An individual traditional artist/practitioner OR
- A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, unit of state or local government, or federally recognized Tribal government
- Fiscal sponsorship is not allowed for this program.
- Located in a county designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission in Ohio, Virginia, or West Virginia.
- In good standing with Mid Atlantic Arts, with no overdue or outstanding required reports and/or grant documents.
Please read full program guidelines for more information about eligibility.
Schedule
- Thursday, December 5, 2024, 3:00-4:00pm ET: CALT Experiences Grants: The Basics Webinar | View a recording here.
- Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 3:00-4:00pm ET: For Appalachian Applicants: CALT Experiences Grants vs. Folk & Traditional Arts Community Projects Grants | View a recording here.
- Wednesdays, 1:00pm-2:00pm ET (January 22, January 29, February 12, February 19, February 25, March 5): Drop-In Application Advising Sessions
- CLOSED – Monday, March 10, 2025: Application deadline
- Friday, June 20, 2025: Decision notification
- July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026: Funded project period
Guidelines and Application
The deadline to apply to the 2025-2026 Folk and Traditional Arts Experience program was Monday, March 10, 2025. The guidelines below are for information purposes only.
Guidelines and Webinar Recording
- Download the 2025-2026 Central Appalachia Living Traditions: Folk & Traditional Arts Experiences Guidelines as a PDF (link opens in a new window)
- Download the 2025-2026 Central Appalachia Living Traditions: Folk & Traditional Arts Experiences Guidelines as an accessible Word document (click link to download)
- View the CALT Experiences webinar recording here.
Display caption
A group of people work at a table set up in an outside pavilion prepping food for fermenting.
See the 2026 CALT Folk and Traditional Arts Experiences Grantees.
Panelists
For this program, Mid Atlantic Arts works with a panel of independent reviewers to recommend applications for funding. To be considered as a panelist for this and other programs, complete our Panelist Interest Form. You only need to complete the form once to be considered for multiple programs. Click here to access the Panelist Interest Form.
2026 Program Panelists
Laiken Blankenship,
Editor, Goldenseal magazine, musician
Charleston, WV
Caleb Brown
Documentarian, Appalachian State University
Boone, NC
Lucretia VanDyke
Herbalist, author
Asheville, NC, and New Orleans, LA
Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth
Folklorist, Director and Curator of Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA
Previous Program Panelists
