From our friends at the California Arts Council:
The media and public have been very focused on the economic stimulus package funding for arts jobs in recent weeks, but the California Arts Council reminds arts administrators to consider other National Endowment for the Arts grants, especially Access to Artistic Excellence … and especially since the March deadline for the program has been extended to next Thursday, March 19.
Organizations have almost another week to apply for these annual grants, mostly due to technical problems with the Grants.gov website, the required electronic filing service for all federal grants. It’s time for California organizations to take advantage of the extra week!
Access to Artistic Excellence funds a multitude of arts disciplines: artists’ communities, dance, design, folk & traditional arts, literature, local arts agencies, media arts (film, radio, television), museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts. Many of the categories have a second round of funding with applications due in August as well, if next week is too soon. (But some don’t — check out the websites to ensure you don’t miss the 2009 round altogether.)
In general, the NEA’s Access to Artistic Excellence was established to encourage and support artistic creativity, preserve our diverse cultural heritage, and make the arts more widely available in communities throughout the country. The California Arts Council strongly encourages California arts organizations to apply.
Suzy S.