SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Arts Council (CAC) today has reopened applications for its California Creative Corps pilot grant program, aimed at increasing the ways in which artists are engaged in public work. Applications for organizations interested in administering regranting funds for their regional or statewide service area are being accepted now through June 2, 2022, on the CAC website.
The grant program guidelines have been revised for clarification of applicant eligibility, grantee requirements, and review criteria.
About the Creative Corps Program
The 2021 State Budget included a $60 million one-time General Fund allocation for the California Arts Council to implement the California Creative Corps pilot program, a media, outreach, and engagement campaign designed to increase: (1) public health awareness messages to stop the spread of COVID-19; (2) public awareness related to water and energy conservation, climate mitigation, and emergency preparedness, relief, and recovery; (3) civic engagement, including election participation; and (4) social justice and community engagement.
Grant guideline development began with the convening of California Creative Corps Community Development Panels, first by region and then with one statewide panel including representatives from each region. The panels included artists, culture bearers, creative individuals, and arts administrators that represented the priority populations to be engaged, and who work in the intersectional focus areas of the Creative Corps program. The panels articulated their communities’ values, needs, and opportunities, and identified ways in which the Creative Corps program might address them.
“We are excited and eager for this monumental opportunity from Governor Newsom to better position and integrate arts and culture at the ground level of public works projects, and to do so in the most equitable way,” said Deputy Director Ayanna L. Kiburi. “This substantial one-time funding provides a strong foundation for California to be a leader in dismantling, once and for all, the idea that arts and industry are mutually exclusive.”
About the Grant Application Process
The current application process is intended for organizations that would like to administer regranting funds for California Creative Corps. Individual artists and nonprofit organizations interested in applying for direct funding from an administering organization should refer to the “Subgrantee Eligibility and Requirements” section of the guidelines for more information.
The CAC is now seeking applications from Administering Organizations with the capacity to administer regranting funds to arts and social service organizations and to individual artists and cultural workers throughout the state to develop media, outreach, and engagement campaigns that speak to the program’s goals. The intention is to provide as broad a geographic reach as possible and serve all 58 counties, while prioritizing communities that demonstrate the highest levels of need as indicated by the California Healthy Places Index.
Neighborhood by neighborhood, the HPI maps data on social conditions that drive health—like education, job opportunities, and clean air and water. This data is used by community leaders, policymakers, academics and other stakeholders to compare the health and well-being of communities, identify health inequities and quantify the factors that shape health. Funded Administering Organizations and sub-grantee organizations, artists and cultural practitioners must demonstrate strong, ongoing relationships with communities that fall within the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places Index and will support meaningful engagements with those communities through this grant.
Applicant organizations may request no less than $1,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 for the grant period. The request amount should reflect the regranting capacity of the organization. Funded organizations and award amounts will be guided by panel ranking, taking service area, constituency, and program focus area into account.
Office Hours & Application Resources
Josy Miller, Arts Program Specialist for the California Creative Corps grant program, will hold virtual office hours to discuss organization-specific grant application questions. Office hours will take place weekly on Wednesdays from 12-1 p.m. and Thursdays from 9-10 a.m. through June 1. Participants will be admitted via a Zoom waiting room. Organizations can register to attend this link.
Find additional resources for grant applications, such as frequently asked questions and other need-to-know information at our Grant Resources webpage.
Media Inquiries:
Kimberly Brown
Public Affairs Specialist
kimberly.brown@arts.ca.gov
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Members of the California Arts Council include: Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez, Chair; Consuelo Montoya, Vice Chair; Gerald Clarke, Vicki Estrada, Jodie Evans, Ellen Gavin, Alex Israel, Phil Mercado, and Roxanne Messina Captor. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.
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