Background & Purpose

The State-Local Partners (SLP) program provides general operating support and technical assistance for county-designated local arts agencies. The purpose of the program is to foster cultural development on the local level through a partnership between the State and the counties of California. The nature of this partnership includes funding, information exchange, cooperative activities, and leadership. The partnership enables individuals, organizations, and communities to create, present, and preserve the arts of all cultures to enrich the quality of life for all Californians. 

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. A local arts agency can be a unit of local government or a nonprofit organization.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant organizations must be designated by their County Board of Supervisors as a State-Local Partner in the county.

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 Amounts

Applicant organizations can request up to $75,000 for the one-year grant activity period.

Matching Funds

This program requires a 1:1 match of award funds for organizations with total revenues (TRs) of $1,000,000 or more in their most recently completed fiscal year.

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

Application Links:

Online Application Portal: calartscouncil.smartsimple.com

GuidelinesDownload

Grants Manual

Frequently Asked Questions

Grant Resources page

Grant Review Panel Process

2024-25 Grantee Information:

Guidelines

Guidelines (Spanish)

List of current grantees

Program Timeline

Staff Assistance

Before contacting staff, check FAQs to see if application questions can be answered. If staff assistance is still required for guidance or clarification, email is the best way to contact Program Specialists. 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.