Three New Grant Cycles Now Open From SouthArts!

South Arts is opening three new grants cycles — In These Mountains: Infrastructure Grants, Individual Artist Career Opportunity Grants, and Presentation Grants. Keep reading to learn more about these opportunities, and watch for additional programs supporting artists, organizations, and communities in the coming months!

These grants of up to $2,000 are available for artists in our nine-state region (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, and TN) to take advantage of a milestone opportunity in their careers.

NEW THIS CYCLE: Grants can be applied retroactively or towards upcoming activities between July 1, 2023 to June 31, 2024.

South Arts recognizes that an invitation to participate in a major milestone opportunity is not always enough. Even with stipends or payments, overall expenses can make such an opportunity inaccessible. To ensure that artists from our region can take full advantage of major opportunities, South Arts offers Individual Artist Career Opportunity Grants.

These grants support a milestone opportunity in an individual artist’s career that is likely to lead to substantial and significant career advancement. Grants of up to $2,000 are available to support eligible proposed and completed (retroactive) opportunities taking place between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.

This new program provides grants of $30,000 to organizations in Appalachian Regional Commission counties in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee to support non-programming expenses that are often not fundable by most grants or are financially out of reach for organizations.

The In These Mountains: Central Appalachian Folk Arts & Culture FY24 Infrastructure Grants advance the goals of the In These Mountains (ITM) initiative by supporting organizations that promote sharing, teaching, learning, preserving, documenting, and supporting the continuity of the folk arts and traditional culture of Central Appalachia. The ITM initiative specifically seeks opportunities to support the work of traditional artists and organizations engaged in handcrafts/material culture, foodways, and music.

Applicants must be not-for-profit organizations located in Appalachian Regional Commission counties in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Funds may support such activities and expenses as staff and volunteer professional development, emergency readiness planning, minor equipment purchases or software upgrades, staff travel and registration for conferences or research, marketing, strategic planning, etc.

Grants up to $9,500 for organizations in our nine-state region (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, and TN) to present a Southern artist for a performing arts, literary arts, visual arts, or film engagement.

Applications for Presentation Grants are now open! Presentation Grants are an opportunity for organizations in South Arts’ nine-state region to receive artist fee support to present Southern guest film directors, visual and performing artists, or writers from inside or outside of the presenter’s state.

Projects must include both a public presentation (film screening, performance, reading, or exhibition) and an educational/community engagement component. These grants are limited and very competitive. Based on the artist fee, the maximum request is $9,500 for modern dance and contemporary ballet or $7,500 for other artistic disciplines. The grant requires a dollar-for-dollar cash match (for example, an applicant that requests $7,500 must provide a $7,500 cash match for a project with a $15,000 artist fee). The project must take place between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.