The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awards thousands of grants each year to provide diverse opportunities for arts participation. However, historically underserved communities with rich and dynamic cultural identities continue to report lower arts participation rates than other groups. To address these disparities and better understand these dynamics, the NEA, in partnership with South Arts and in collaboration with the five other U.S. Regional Arts Organizations, launched a new grant program, ArtsHERE. 

ArtsHERE supports organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to equity within their practices and programming and have undertaken consistent engagement with underserved groups/communities. Grants are for specific projects that will strengthen the organization’s capacity to sustain meaningful community engagement and increase arts participation for underserved groups/communities. Grantees have access to peer-learning and technical assistance opportunities designed to share knowledge and build networks. ArtsHERE will award approximately 95 nonprofit organizations with non-matching grants of $65,000 to $130,000.

As a pilot program, ArtsHERE will be documented and evaluated by the National Endowment for the Arts to better understand the project activities supported and how grantees approached this work.

For additional information about ArtsHERE, join us for an informational webinar on November 30, 2023, from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. The webinar will be recorded and made available on ArtsHERE.org afterwards.

The deadline to submit a Statement of Interest is January 19, 2024. To learn more, review the full guidelines, register for the webinar, and submit a Statement of Interest, visit ArtsHERE.org.

Mid Atlantic Arts' Central Appalachia Living Traditions program is partnering with Grow Appalachia and the Appalachian Studies Association to host the Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowship in 2024.

The Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowships are intended to honor, celebrate, and support foodways tradition bearers and practitioners in Central Appalachia. Fellows may include, but are not limited to home cooks and bakers, seed savers, farmers, community elders, keepers of recipes and traditional foodways knowledge, hunters, and foragers, who have made significant and long-term contributions to sustaining and supporting the foodways heritage of their communities. Applicants must be from an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) designated county and state and priority will be given to applicants from OH, VA, and WV.

The 2024 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellows will be honored at an awards ceremony and invited to present at a session at the 2024 Appalachian Studies Association Annual Conference in Cullowhee, NC. In addition to the monetary award of $4,000 to support their ongoing community-based work, fellows will receive a unique physical award created by an Appalachian artist. The deadline to apply to the 2024 program is December 15, 2023.

Applications are now open for the 2024-2025 ArtsCONNECT and Special Presenter Initiatives programs. The Project period for ArtsCONNECT and Special Presenter Initiatives supported projects is July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025.

ArtsCONNECT provides funding support toward diverse and robust live performing arts engagements for all audiences and communities across the mid-Atlantic region. Active participation for presenters of all sizes is encouraged.

Program Deadline: March 7, 2024

• Learn more at our ArtsCONNECT webinar on Thursday, November 16, 2023

The Special Presenter Initiatives (SPI) support the presentation of professional performing artists/ensembles at small and mid-size arts and community organizations based in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Federally recognized Native nations that share this geography.

Program Deadline: March 14, 2024

• Learn more at our SPI webinar on Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Image: "MoonStrike" by Jarod Impichchaachaahá Tate performance by ACMF musicians and narrator, CATF Talk Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at the Frank Center, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, West Virginia. (Chris Jusell, Audrey Pride, Danielle Wiebe Burke, Katie Tertell, & René Locklear White). Presented with support from the Special Presenter Initiatives program. Credit: Seth Freeman.

Come join us as our new Accounting Manager! We are proud to offer a welcoming workplace that supports our employees’ careers and strives for work balance. Mid Atlantic Arts is committed to building an inclusive working environment that supports a diverse community of staff and encourages applications from all qualified candidates.

The Accounting Manager reports to the Director of Finance and Human Resources and is responsible for managing the day-to-day accounting and finance functions. This includes compliance with accounting standards, financial policies, and procedures. Additionally, the Accounting Manager is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining effective financial systems and controls that support the organization’s mission and objectives. 

What was the impact of COVID-19 on arts participation? New research from the National Endowment for the Arts explores in-person and virtual arts participation during 2021/2022. Topline findings show that between July 2021 and July 2022, more than half of all adults created and/or performed art—similar to findings in 2017, the last time the survey was conducted. During the same time period, just under half of all adults attended in-person arts events, a significant drop from 2017. Reading of books continues to decline, with 48.5 percent of U.S. adults doing this activity in 2022. A separate survey shows that 82 percent of respondents watched or listened to arts activities through digital media between 2021 and 2022. Read about these and more key findings at arts.gov.

Opportunity Quick Links

• The New Jersey State Council on the Arts is inviting applications for its FY25 General Operating Support (GOS), General Program Support (GPS), and Projects Serving Artists (PSA) Grant Programs. GOS grants provide annual support for the overall operations of organizations with missions exclusively devoted to the arts and which meet the Council’s eligibility criteria. GPS grants provide support for the arts-related costs of full-time, ongoing, public arts programs that meet the Arts Council’s eligibility criteria. The PSA grant program provides support to help eligible organizations cover costs for technical support or services to artists who reside in New Jersey or whose work benefits New Jersey residents. Deadline: December 12, 2023 by 12 PM EST.

• Applications are now open for the next round of Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants. These grants support community-based arts engagement programming for military and veteran populations—including family members and caregivers. Matching grants are available to nonprofit organizations and state/local/tribal government entities and range from $10,000 to $50,000 each. This program is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance. Deadline: January 17, 2024.

• Saratoga Arts invites applications for its arts education grants program, which will provide grants of up to $5,000 to support arts education projects in public Pre-K-12 schools and community-based arts education projects in Fulton, Montgomery, and Saratoga Counties of New York. These projects must consist of “hands-on” learning in at least 3 separate sessions to ensure that learners of all ages are exposed to art in new ways. Deadline: November 28, 2023.

• The Shubert Foundation invites applications from a broad spectrum of arts organizations, from large to small, covering a wide range of locations, from urban to rural for its general operating support grants. The foundation is especially interested in supporting professional resident theatre and dance companies that develop and produce new American work. Not-for-profit, professional theaters in the United States are the primary recipients of Shubert Foundation general operating support grants. Deadline: December 5, 2023.

• The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation invites applications for its U.S. Venetian Research Program, which provides travel grants to individual scholars in support of historical research on Venice and the former Venetian empire and/or for studying contemporary Venetian society and culture. Scholars working in any discipline of the humanities and social sciences, including, but not limited to, archaeology, architecture, art, bibliography, economics, history, history of science, law, literature, music, political science, religion, and theater, are eligible to apply. Deadline: December 15, 2023.

• Stochastic Labs awards fully sponsored residencies to exceptional engineers, artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs worldwide. Residencies are of variable length and include a private apartment at the mansion, co-working and/or dedicated workspace, shop access (laser cutter, 3D printer, etc.), a monthly stipend, and a budget for materials. Residents become part of Stochastic’s creative community, participating in weekly dinners and invitation events. Residents may apply as individuals or as teams. Deadline: October 3, 2024.

Image: USAI provided support to Antonio Sanchez & Bad Hombre for their travel to the Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival in Croatia in September 2023. Credit: John Pavlish.