Tennessee Arts Commission Opens Teacher Incentive Grant Program

From Chris Sweatt, Director of Arts Education –

Applications for the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Education Teacher Incentive grant program will open August 15, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. CST.

This grant program provides funding up to $1,000 to support individual full-time educators (including arts specialists, general classroom teachers, principals, roster teaching artists, and arts education administrators) who work directly in or with Tennessee K-12 schools to take advantage of unique professional development opportunities that will significantly benefit their work and career in arts education.

The Teacher Incentive grant, available on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are expended, will cover qualifying expenses such as registration fees, transportation, accommodation, and participation stipends, alleviating financial barriers for recipients to participate in high-quality professional development in arts education.

Previous recipients of the grant have participated in statewide professional development conferences with organizations such as the Tennessee Arts Academy, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, and Tennessee Music Education Association, as well as national conferences with the American Orff Schulwerk Association, Organization of American Kodaly Educators, National Art Education Association Conference, National Dance Education Organization Conference, and Teaching for Artistic Behavior.

*Restrictions exist, and interested applicants should contact Chris Sweatt, Director of Arts Education, at chris.sweatt@tn.gov or 615-253-8914 before applying to determine eligibility. The full guidelines are available at:

https://tnartscommission.org/grants/arts-education-teacher-incentive/.