Louisiana Project Grant Application Period Opens

BATON ROUGE, La (press release) – The Louisiana Division of the Arts (LDOA) announces the opening of the application period for the Louisiana Project Grants program. Administered jointly by the Louisiana Division of Arts and the nine regional arts councils, a total of nearly $700,000 is available for distribution on a per-capita basis across each region. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, Aug. 31. The grant period is October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022. Each grant awarded requires a cash match of 50% to demonstrate community involvement and commitment to the project. This grant program replaces the Decentralized Arts Funding program, which has not seen updates to procedures and processes since 1995.

“By listening to the arts communities throughout Louisiana, we are able to better hone in community needs and the impact and incredibly cool arts project can have. We want to help better foster the creativity of the talented artists in our state, as well as promote more diversity, equity, and inclusion when it comes to those that participate and benefit from arts projects planned in their community,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “In order to be sure the available funding was being utilized to support the arts and competitive, creative projects, the Louisiana Division of the Arts listened to the arts community to make much needed updates to the program.”

Those updates take effect this year. Some of the changes to the program include:

• A new program name – the Louisiana Project Grant program – with an objective of solely funding project assistance for community-based arts projects.
• Updated program goals, priorities, and evaluation criteria to reflect the renewed focus and intent.
• While funding remains allocated and administered regionally, the LDOA eliminated parish boundaries to encourage collaboration between parishes, organizations, and institutions.

This program provides a system for funding arts projects in all regions of the state by giving artists, nonprofit arts organizations, nonprofit organizations, public and private schools, and local government agencies in each region the opportunity to develop arts projects that meet their local needs. The purpose of the program is to cultivate innovative arts projects that have a lasting impact within each region of our state. Projects must directly benefit the community and include community participation.

All non-profit organizations applying for the grant must be in good standing with the Louisiana Secretary of State and the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Local, parish, or state government agencies, such as libraries or municipalities, are eligible in addition to public/private schools and school boards and College/University departments sponsoring activities intended for community participation. Individuals may apply for a grant by using an eligible non-profit as a fiscal agent.

To apply, organizations must create an account in our online grant platform Submittable. Once an account is created, the application and guidelines can be accessed through the LDOA Grant Opportunities application manager. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, Aug. 31.

Complete grant guidelines, more information on the grant program, and contact information for the Regional Arts Council administering the program in each reach can be found on the Louisiana Project Grant webpage.