Arts News
Arts Midwest Culture Bearers Award - Apply Now
Arts Midwest Culture Bearers Award — Apply Now
Now Open: Midwest Culture Bearers Award
Arts Midwest is now accepting applications for the Midwest Culture Bearers Award, a $5,000 award that celebrates and supports the work of Midwest culture bearers and folk arts practitioners.
Culture bearers keep their cultural traditions alive through craft, storytelling, dance, performance, visual arts, foodways, language preservation, and more. They are deeply connected to their communities and share their knowledge with new generations.
About the Midwest Culture Bearers Award
What is it? The Midwest Culture Bearers Award is a $5,000 award. It honors and amplifies the work of nine Midwestern culture bearers each year.
Who can apply? If you have been practicing arts and culture rooted in your heritage and ancestry for over 10 years and share your practice with your community, you can apply.
Where? You must live in the Arts Midwest region. This includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Native Nations that share this geography.
When to apply? Applications close at 11:59 pm CST on July 29, 2024. The first awards will be made in September 2024.
You can get help from someone else to complete your application. Or, you can nominate someone with their permission.
Learn more about the Midwest Culture Bearers Award, review eligibility requirements, and read the guidelines on their website here.
NEA and Arts Midwest offer grants to theater companies for young audiences
NEA and Arts Midwest Offer Theater Arts Opportunity for Young Audiences
Shakespeare in American Communities Opportunity
About Shakespeare in American Communities
Shakespeare in American Communities is a theater program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. Through grants to theater companies, this program supports productions and educational activities for young audiences throughout the United States. Applicants can choose from two paths: Schools or Juvenile Justice. Grants range from $15,000 to $25,000 each.
What: Shakespeare in American Communities is a project-based, matching grant that helps theater companies and organizations bring Shakespeare and works inspired by Shakespeare to students.
When: The mandatory Intent to Apply is due January 25, with final applications due February 8, 2024, and funded projects must occur between August 2024 – July 2025.
Where: Nonprofit theater companies and organizations located across the United States and the Native nations that share this geography can apply.
Who: The schools program is available to theater companies producing a play that is a work written or inspired by Shakespeare, an adaption of Shakespeare’s text, or a production that incorporates scenes, monologues, and/or sonnets by Shakespeare, with related educational activities in partnership with schools. The Juvenile Justice program is available to nonprofit organizations providing Shakespeare educational activities in partnership with the Juvenile Justice System.
Ready to Apply?
Learn more about Shakespeare in American Communities, review eligibility requirements, and read the guidelines on Arts Midwest website.
Arts Midwest and NEA Big Read “Where We Live” Accepting Applications
Arts Midwest and the National Endowment for the Arts Accepting Applications for the NEA Big Read
About the NEA Big Read
An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read supports community reading programs designed around a single NEA Big Read book. The goal of this program is to inspire meaningful conversations, celebrate local creativity, elevate a wide variety of voices and perspectives, and build stronger connections in each community. Grants range from $5,000 to $20,000 each.
What: The NEA Big Read is a reading program that brings communities together around the central theme, "Where We Live," using one of 50 available NEA Big Read Books as inspiration.
When: The mandatory Intent to Apply is due January 10, with final applications due January 24, 2024 , and funded projects must occur between September 2024 and June 2025.
Where: Nonprofit organizations and public libraries located across the United States and the Native nations that share this geography can apply.
Who: Arts organizations, universities, libraries, service organizations, museums, school districts, and tribal governments are all encouraged to apply.
Ready to Apply?
Learn more about the NEA Big Read review eligibility requirements, and read the guidelines on Arts Midwest website.
NEA Big Read
NEA Big Read
An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEABig Read broadens our understanding of our world, our neighbors, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience. Showcasing a diverse range of contemporary themes, voices, and perspectives, the NEA Big Read aims to inspire meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and new discoveries and connections in each community. Grants range from $5,000 to $20,000 each, and the Intent to Apply is due on January 18, 2023.
WHAT: The NEA Big Read is a reading program that brings communities together around a selected book title.
WHEN: Applications are due January 25, 2023 (with the Intent to Apply due January 18), and funded projects must occur between September 2023 – June 2024.
WHERE: Nonprofit organizations and public libraries located across the United States and the Native nations that share this geography can apply.
WHO: Arts organizations, universities, libraries, service organizations, museums, school districts, and tribal governments are all encouraged to apply.
Applicants are now required to submit an Intent to Apply at least one week prior to the application deadline.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2023-2024 granting cycle. Visit How to Apply for more information.
Contact:
612.238.8024 neabigread@artsmidwest.org