The Building Cultural Diversity program supports new and emerging organizations whose mission, programs, staff, and board represent culturally diverse communities. Awards support arts programming and projects that celebrate communities’ unique arts and culture or preserve a culturally significant artistic tradition or practice. These awards help ensure a vibrant range of arts and cultural experiences are shared with residents, visitors, and communities, both today and in the future.

GRANT AWARDS: Applicants may request between $1,000 and $3,000. All awards require a 50 percent match, up to half of which may come from allowable in-kind donations. Applicants planning to use in-kind donations to supplement a match should consult OAC staff prior to submitting an application.

ELIGIBILITY: All applicants must possess nonprofit status or nonprofit intent, but need not be registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Additional eligibility requirements for Building Cultural Diversity include:

1. Organizations must be representative of the American Indian/Alaskan Native, Appalachian, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or other culturally specific populations.

2. Applying organizations must be authentically representative of the populations they serve, as evidenced by the following:

a. at least 50 percent of staff made up of individuals from a culturally specific population
b. at least 50 percent of board made up of individuals from a culturally specific population
c. arts and culture programming focused on a culturally specific population

3. Applicants may be: 1) arts and cultural organizations in any arts discipline (literature, performing arts, visual arts, traditional arts, multidisciplinary arts, etc.); or 2) other organizations providing arts programming (government entities, social service agencies, etc.) that demonstrate a commitment to arts programming in a larger community setting.

Organizations receiving support through the Sustainability or Arts Access programs are ineligible to apply.

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS: Building Cultural Diversity grants are one-year or six month awards for activities representative of a culturally diverse community. Funds may be used to support general operating and programming costs, with other allowable expenses including artist fees, training or workshop costs, marketing, and planning and evaluation costs. The budget section of the Building Cultural Diversity application provides a full list of allowable expense areas. Organizations may receive only one Building Cultural Diversity grant per year. Please refer to the Introduction and Overview for a list of activities the OAC cannot fund.

HOW TO APPLY: Building Cultural Diversity program applications must be submitted via the ARTIE system. Please refer to ARTIE: Organizational Grant Applications for a description of the process. New applicants are encouraged to contact the OAC prior to applying.