March 4, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
The National Endowment for the Arts has posted grant guidelines for the $50-million it will distribute as part of the recently passed stimulus bill.
Sixty percent of the money — $30-million — will be awarded competitively to nonprofit groups. Applicants must be previous NEA award recipients from the past four years.
Organizations can request a grant amount of $25,000 or $50,000 either to pay the salaries, full or partial, for one or more positions that are critical to their artistic mission but that have been or are in danger of being cut because of the difficult economic climate, or to pay fees for previously engaged artists to maintain or expand the period during which they would be engaged.
Regional and statewide arts councils can apply for grants of $100,000 or $250,000, which they will then distribute to local arts organizations.
Applications must be submitted online by April 2. The grants will be awarded in July.
The remainder of the money — $20-million — will be distributed to designated state and regional arts agencies for projects that focus on the preservation of jobs in the arts. Applications for those funds are due March 13.
