Four key youth development and arts education grant programs currently offered by the California Arts Council (CAC) of the Cycle B grant season have been extended to Thursday, June 23, 2022.
The four grants open for applications are the Artists in Schools, the Arts Education Exposure, the Arts Integration Training, and the Creative Youth Development Grant—the latter grant which targets all projects that “occur outside of traditional school hours, taking place in arts venues, community centers, school sites, and other youth-oriented settings.”
In July of last year, Governor Gavin Newsom revealed a state budget that included more than $100 million in one-time funding allocation for the CAC, which was added to the agency’s existing general fund allocation of about $26 million. The additional funds are targeted to “strengthen arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all” to help “nurture and heal our communities through the arts” and to “keep the doors of our arts and cultural institutions open, protect jobs in the creative field; and preserve our cultural heritage, our stories, and our culture bearers,” according to a statement.
Examples of targeted projects include arts projects in early learning, daycare, or foster-care environments, projects that support traditional arts and cultural practices, youth leadership and mentorship opportunities in arts settings, and arts programming that supports workforce development and entrepreneurship.
The education audience targeted are children ages 0-5, K-12, and support for transitional individuals ages 18 to 24 where projects can demonstrate engagement with transitional youth in “relevant, dynamic, and innovative ways” for the latter.
The Grants
The Artists in Schools grant supports projects integrating community arts partners as part of the regular school day.
The Arts Education Exposure grant supports student attendance to arts performances and exhibits where artists “will offer deep cultural resonance with the student communities to be served.”
Although student artwork is not a focus of this grant category “the impact of student attendance at artistic events should be complemented by pre- and post-attendance activities, such as artist talkbacks, teaching artist workshops, and/or facility tours.”
The Arts Integration Training grant supports arts integration training for educators facilitated by teaching artists with awards to support nonprofit arts organizations and teaching artists that plan and deliver professional development in arts integration strategies to classroom teachers, and site, district, and county-level administrators.
The arts projects are to be designed to pave a pathway for increased student learning in, through, and about the arts which can involve a specific classroom, all classrooms per school, or through a district with a countywide arts plan. This project can be stand-alone or in conjunction with an Artists in Schools project, but must be “planned and implemented with collaboration between a nonprofit arts organization, teaching artists, and the educational entity, with full commitment from all participants.”
The Creative Youth Development grant supports arts projects for youth outside of traditional school hours. Projects are to include youth from infancy to 24 years of age, occurring “outside of traditional school hours, taking place in arts venues, community centers, school sites, and other youth-oriented settings.”
“The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. The Arts Council is California’s only public arts grants provider with funding that is accessible to all 58 California counties. The CAC developed its 2022 grant season in service of its vision of a California where all people flourish from arts access and participation, prioritizing its racial equity goals, broad geographic reach, and inclusive of extensive public input.”
Applications for these programs are due by Thursday, June 23, 2022. Visit each link above for more information on how to apply or visit California Arts Council.
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