Photo via LAcountyarts.org
By Casey Lewis
The LA County Community Impact Arts Grant Program, also known as CIAG, provides financial support for community cultural arts programming throughout LA County. The grant’s mission is “to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout Los Angeles County” as a resource for overall well-being and a tool for civic problem solving. The grant targets communities that are generally underserved or entirely ignored by the broader arts and culture sector.
Applicants must be nonprofit social service and/or justice organizations, or an LA County municipal department, whose primary services are not arts and culture programming. Examples of eligible nonprofit sectors include health and wellness, human and social services, social and restorative justice, community and economic development, and environmental justice. Programming must take place in the grant period, July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Projects cannot be religious or evangelical in intent, must align with the CA state standards for Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) and must demonstrate quality teaching and learning capabilities. Programming can be small in scope as long as the community impact is both positive and tangible. New projects and existing programs that want to grow are both welcome to apply.
The online application remains open through October 7, 2020. The CIAG commission recommends submitting the application at least five (5) days early in case of any technical difficulties that may arise during the submission process. The website offers technical support resources for grantees and grant applicants alike. Applicants can submit for funding between $5,000 and $20,000 USD. Please note that this is a reimbursement grant with a 1:1 cash match.
Applications will be reviewed by a panel of artists, arts and nonprofit professionals, social service providers, and community members. They will be judged on the following criteria: artistic merit, organizational readiness and management capacity, quality of the project plan, quality of the project evaluation, and a knowledge of the target constituents and their needs. The application review timeline as as follows:
Staff Review: Oct – Dec 2020
Panel Review: Dec 2020 – Mar 2021
Commission Review: May 2021
Board of Supervisor Approval: July 2021
Notifications sent to approved grantees: July 2021
Grant Period: July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022
For more information and to apply online:
Email: ciag@arts.lacounty.gov
Website: www.lacountyarts.org/grants.html
Application Portal: https://apply-lacdac.smapply.io/
