APPLY FOR FUNDING
2018 Artist Opportunity Grant recipient Morris Howard with the Land of Funk mural.
FUNDING FOR ARTISTS
ARTIST OPPORTUNITY GRANTS
**Read the announcement of the 2024 Artist Opportunity Grantees here**
About the Program
The Artist Opportunity Grant Program empowers Montgomery County, Ohio, artists to advance their careers through professional development opportunities and the creation of new works. This program is made possible by funding from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District (MCACD) and is administered by Culture Works. Since 2016, the program has awarded more than $220,000 to 77 artists to complete career-advancing projects.
PROGRAM GOALS
The program’s goals are to assist artists in Montgomery County in furthering and innovating their work, to elevate the quality and raise the profile of individual artistic work in the region, and to help artists achieve their artistic and career goals, thereby making them competitive in the creative marketplace. Grants are intended to fund specific, unique, and imminent opportunities that have the potential to significantly impact an artist’s work and professional development, regardless of where they are in their artistic career.
Read the full 2023-2024 Artist Opportunity Grant Guidelines here.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The next application cycle will open in August 2024. Check back this summer for more information.
Questions? Contact Rachel Evans Nead, Culture Works Interim Director of Grantmaking & Impact, at rachel@cultureworks.org.
PROJECT SUPPORT FOR ORGANIZATIONS
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
SPECIAL PROJECTS GRANTS
COMING SOON! Special Projects Grant Public Panel Meetings (via Zoom): During these meetings, grant panelists will discuss applications, submit final scores, and determine their funding recommendations. These meetings are open to the public and all interested parties may log on to observe. All funding recommendations must be reviewed by the MCACD board for final approval. Following the MCACD board’s approval, applicants will receive formal award notifications by email (by mid July).
PANEL MEETING INFORMATION:
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Panel Meeting A - June 18, 2024 at 10:00am:
Panel Meeting B - June 20, 2024 at 10:00am:
About the Program:
The Special Projects Grant program provides funding for organizations to create arts and cultural projects that engage the Montgomery County community. This program is made possible by funding from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District (MCACD), with support from the Board of County Commissioners, and is administered by Culture Works. The MCACD is providing $250,000 for the 2024-2025 grant cycle.
Small to mid-sized arts and cultural organizations, other nonprofits, schools, colleges and universities, municipalities and government agencies located in Montgomery County can apply for up to $10,000 to support arts and cultural projects--such as festivals, exhibitions, performances, artists’ series, and in-school arts programming. Organizations with arts and culture-focused missions may also use the grants to complete capacity building projects such as strategic plans, board development, marketing and branding initiatives, website development, staff professional development training, and feasibility studies.
Collectives and other unincorporated organizations may also apply in partnership with a nonprofit, tax-exempt fiscal agent. Arts and cultural organizations--and their auxiliary groups--that already receive general operating support from the MCACD are not eligible to apply.
Read the full 2024-2025 Special Projects Grant program guidelines here.
The deadline to apply for 2024-2025 Special Projects Grant funding was Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 4pm EST. The application is now closed.
Questions? Contact Rachel Evans Nead, Culture Works Director of Grantmaking & Impact, at rachel@cultureworks.org.
FUNDING FOR STUDENTS
LEONARD P. ROBERTS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
The Culture Works Leonard P. Roberts Memorial Scholarship was established in 1993 in honor of Mr. Roberts, who was the Chairman of the Dayton Performing Arts Fund (now Culture Works) at the time of his death. Since the first scholarships were awarded in 1994, more than $400,000 from the Leonard P. Roberts Scholarship Fund has been provided to 200 students to assist them in their educational pursuits.
Culture Works is pleased to offer scholarships to students who demonstrate participation in and patronage of the arts. Candidates must be graduating high school seniors living in the Dayton Region (Butler, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, or Warren County) or college students at any level who live in and attend college in the Dayton Region. Priority may be given to students majoring in arts disciplines, business, and engineering; however, all majors may apply. Scholarships will be awarded in the amount of $1,000 - $4,000.
SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
- Be a graduating high school senior living in the Dayton Region (Butler, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, or Warren County); OR be a college student living in and attending school in the Dayton Region
- Plan to be a full-time student for the entire upcoming academic year
- Demonstrate participation in the arts
- Have a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA
How to Apply:
The deadline to apply for a 2024–2025 Leonard P. Roberts Memorial Scholarship through The Dayton Foundation's ScholarshipCONNECT system has passed. Applicants will be notified of their award status beginning in June 2024.
The deadline to apply for a 2024-2025 Leonard P. Roberts Memorial Scholarship has passed as of March 8, 2024. Applicants will be notified of their funding status in June 2024.
Questions? Contact Rachel Evans Nead, Culture Works Director of Grantmaking & Impact, at rachel@cultureworks.org.
OPERATING SUPPORT FOR ORGANIZATIONS
COMMUNITY ARTS GRANTS
About the Program:
Community Arts Grants provide general operating support to organizations that enrich and inspire the Dayton Region through world-class performances, exhibitions, and acclaimed educational programs for all ages. Applicants are placed into one of the following categories based on their annual budget:
- General Operating Support (GOS) - Organizations with annual budgets of $500,000 to $10 million
- Community Arts Development (CAD) - Organizations with annual budgets of $100,000 to $499,999
The funding for these grants comes from our annual Campaign for the Arts—a community-wide fundraising effort that draws support from thousands of individuals, local companies, and foundations.
For the 2023-2024 arts season, Culture Works provided Community Arts Grants to 10 organizations: Bach Society of Dayton, The Contemporary Dayton, the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Dayton Public Radio (WDPR), The Human Race Theatre Company, K12 Gallery & TEJAS, Muse Machine, and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
This year's deadline to apply was Friday, April 5, 2024 at 4pm EST.
The application period is now closed.
Questions? Contact Rachel Evans Nead, Culture Works Director of Grantmaking & Impact, at rachel@cultureworks.org.
DAYTON REGION ARTS RENEWAL GRANTS
Congratulations to the 24 organizations and 21 artists awarded Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grants for 2022-2023! This was a one-time funding opportunity. Read about the grantees here.
About the Program:
In summer 2022, Culture Works launched a one-time grant initiative, the Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grant program, to support jobs in the arts sector, keep the doors open to arts organizations in our community, and assist the field in its response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding opportunity was made possible by a one-time $500,000 grant to Culture Works—the Dayton Region’s arts funding, advocacy, and service organization—from the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan (ARP) Subgranting program.
In fall 2022, Culture Works awarded $436,000 in Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grants to area nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and individual artists. Over the next year, funded organizations will use Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grants of up to $15,000 to offset staff salaries, facilities costs, and other expenses related to day-to-day operations. Individual artists will use grants of up to $5,000 complete creative projects that foster both professional growth and community engagement. Read more about the Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grantees here.
Learn More:
Click here for the Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grant Guidelines for Organizations
Click here for the Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grant Guidelines for Individual Artists
Read the June 2022 Notice of Funding Opportunity here
Read the November 2021 press release announcing the NEA grant here
Panel Meetings: September 13-16, 2022
During these virtual public meetings, grant panelists discussed applications and determined their funding recommendations.
All panelists reviewed and scored applications using an established rubric in advance of the public panel meetings, but the public deliberations provided an opportunity for panelists to hear each other's perspectives, and for applicants to hear specific, valuable feedback on their proposals.
View recordings of the panel meetings below:
- Panel A: Individual Artists – Tuesday, September 13, 2022
View a recording here.
- Panel B: Individual Artists – Wednesday, September 14, 2022
View recording here.
- Panel C: Organizations – Thursday, September 15, 2022
View a recording here. - Panel D: Organizations – Friday, September 16, 2022
View a recording here.
The deadline to apply for this one-time grant opportunity has passed. Read about the organizations and individuals selected to receive Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grants here.
Questions? Contact Rachel Evans Nead, Culture Works Director of Grantmaking & Impact, at rachel@cultureworks.org.
OUR TOWN DAYTON
Culture Works has been awarded an Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to mobilize local artists to create a community-developed art installation at the Edgemont Solar Garden in West Dayton.
Culture Works Our Town Dayton: The Art of Business program addresses key missing business education and mentoring elements in the creative sector for emerging artists, provides community enhancement through the creation of public art, and articulates a community identity through creative placemaking. Creative placemaking is more than a location embellishment. It holds the promise of creating an essence – identifying, elevating, or assembling a collection of visual, cultural, social, and environmental qualities that imbue a location with meaning and significance, and thus will support and enhance community efforts. In this case, as a National Endowment for the Arts supported program, it will bring national attention to Culture Works, the Edgemont Community, Dayton, and Montgomery County, OH.
In the same way that local artists build local resources, local projects have local impact. This project will support and publicize the efforts of The Edgemont Community Coalition to address food insecurity issues and to provide resident food education. Constituents from throughout Montgomery County will be invited to the Edgemont Solar Garden’s Spring Planting and Fall Harvest events, which will showcase the artwork, build community, and demonstrate the power of creative partnerships.
Our Town Dayton has opportunities for volunteers.
Contact: OurTownDayton@cultureworks.org
Our Grateful Thanks to Our Town Dayton Project Sponsors:
The National Endowment for the Arts, The Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District, CenterPoint Energy, Ernst Concrete, and Messer Construction
![Image](https://cultureworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/NEA-Our-Town-Funders-20231114-e1721654905587.png)
YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS