Background & Purpose

The State-Local Partner Mentorship (SLP-M) program is intended to support the establishment of a county-designated local arts agency in each of the three counties in which no such agency has currently been identified (Glenn, Kings, San Joaquin). Grant funds will go to three existing State-Local Partners (SLP) to foster the development of new SLPs in these counties.

A local arts agency is defined as the official county-designated organization that supports arts and cultural activity in service to individuals and communities throughout an entire county. Local arts agencies provide financial support, services, and/or other programming to a variety of arts organizations, individual artists, and the community as a whole. A local arts agency can be an agency of local government, a nonprofit organization, or a hybrid of the two.

Applicant Organization Eligibility

Applicants must be current grantees in the CAC State-Local Partners Program. 

Organizations eligible to apply include: 

• Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), California organizations 
• Units of municipal, county or Tribal governments 
• Fiscally sponsored organizations 

Eligible Request Amount

Applicant organizations can request up to $50,000 for the one-year grant activity period.

Matching Funds  

Matching funds are not required for this grant. 

Funding Restrictions  

• For applicant organizations with total revenue below $250,000, there are no funding restrictions. 
• For applicant organizations with total revenue above $250,000, the sum of requests during the same year of funding cannot exceed 50% of the total revenue from the most recently completed fiscal year.

2025 Office Hours

Virtual office sessions are available to provide technical assistance for the State-Local Partner Mentorship and State-Local Partners grant programs. Join Arts Program Specialist Jonathan Estrada he answers general questions regarding this program.

Office hours are structured to be a ” drop – in” format. Audience members are welcome to join and exit as needed; advanced registration is required to participate. The schedule for office hours is listed below:

Monday, April 7 – 3 p.m.: Register here

Monday, May 5 – 3 p.m.: Register here

Tuesday, May 27 – 3 p.m.: Register here

Staff Assistance

CAC staff is available to offer guidance and clarification in preparing your proposal. We recommend that you contact staff well in advance of the deadline to ensure you can be accommodated. Please note: Staff assistance is not available after 5:00 p.m. on the day of a grant deadline. People who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf Blind, or have difficulty speaking may dial 711 to reach the California Relay Service (CRS). Large print is available upon request.

Staff Contact:

Jonathan Estrada
(he/him/his)
Arts Program Specialist
slpmentorgrant@arts.ca.gov