The Arts Access program supports ongoing arts and cultural activities in all genres that broaden opportunities for the general public to participate in the arts. This flexible two-year funding supports Ohio arts providers as they make artistic experiences available to their communities, positioning Ohio as a vibrant place to live, learn, work, and visit.

GRANT AWARDS: Applicants may request between $1,000 and $5,000. All awards require a 1:1 cash match.

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 Arts Access include:

1. Applicants must have received at least two OAC grants in the last four OAC fiscal years. This support must have come from an OAC funding program that evaluated and scored the application through a public panel process.

2. Applicants’ last fiscal year income must be less than $50,000. Non-arts organizations – including college and university departments – consider an arts programming budget only, not an overall organizational budget.

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

4. Organizations must not receive operating support from the Ohio legislature through a line item or earmark in the state budget during the same fiscal year in which the organization receives OAC operating support.

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS: Arts Access grants are two-year awards for organizational operating support. Funds may be used for a wide variety of expenses in the general operation of an organization. Many grantees use Arts Access funds to support artistic or administrative expenses. Other allowable expenses include marketing, program planning, education, and evaluation. The budget section of the Arts Access application provides a full list of allowable expense areas. Please refer to the Introduction and Overview for a list of activities the OAC cannot fund.

HOW TO APPLY: Arts Access program applications must be submitted via the ARTIE system. Please refer to ARTIE: Organizational Grant Applications for a description of the process.