GRANTS FOR ARTS PROJECTS

Grant Program Summary

The NEA is committed to supporting excellent arts projects for the benefit of all Americans. Activities funded through Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) enable Americans throughout the nation to experience the arts, foster and celebrate America’s artistic heritage and cultural legacy, and benefit from arts education at all stages of life. We also support arts and health programs, including creative arts therapies, that advance the well-being of people and communities. We strongly encourage applications for arts projects that focus on one or more agency funding priorities. We welcome applications from first-time and returning applicants; from organizations serving rural, urban, suburban, and tribal communities of all sizes; and from organizations with small, medium, or large operating budgets.

We fund arts projects in the following disciplines: Arts Education, Challenge America, Dance, Design & Our Town, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Local Arts Agencies, Museums, Music, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works, Theater & Musical Theater, and Visual & Media Arts.

A full grant program description can be found below under Grant Program Guidelines below. For detailed instructions on how to apply, see Application Instructions below.

Access for individuals with disabilities:
Contact accessibility@arts.gov to request an accommodation or an alternate format of the guidelines at least 2 weeks prior to the application deadline.

Eligibility

Review the GAP Program Guidelines document below for full details. Organizations eligible to apply include:

• Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations;
• Units of state or local government; or
• Federally recognized tribal communities or tribes.

Applicant organizations must have completed at least 5 years of arts programming prior to the application deadline. Applicant organizations must have had an operating budget of at least $20,000 in the previous fiscal year.

Generally, an applicant may submit one application per calendar year.

Funding is not available in this category for individuals, applications submitted by a fiscal sponsor, commercial/for-profit enterprises, or State Arts Agencies and Regional Arts Organizations.  

Funding level

• Challenge America applicants may only request $10,000. Applications submitted to Challenge America for an amount higher than $10,000 will be marked ineligible.
• Other GAP applicants may request from $10,000 to $100,000.
• Eligible applicants for Local Arts Agencies subgranting projects may request from $30,000 to $150,000. See the Local Arts Agencies Application Instructions below for more information on subgranting eligibility.

1:1 Cost share required. Sources may include both cash and in-kind.

Review the GAP Program Guidelines document below for full details.

Important Dates

Applications are accepted during two funding cycles each year.

*If your project is recommended for funding, you must submit additional information to the NEA for approval before an award can be finalized. Review the GAP Program Guidelines for more information. Specific due dates will be included in the tentative funding recommendation notice.

Grant Program Guidelines & Instructions

GAP Grant Program Guidelines (all disciplines)
This document includes a detailed description of the grant program, eligibility information, award information, an application calendar, a list of unallowable activities/costs, application review details, FAQs, and federal award administration information. Review this information before you decide to apply.

Application Instructions: 
Each document includes a discipline description, the types of accepted projects, and full instructions on how to complete and submit both parts of the application, including all application questions.  Select the discipline that most closely corresponds with your proposed project activities from the list below.

• Arts Education
• Challenge America
• Dance
• Design & Our Town
• Folk & Traditional Arts
• Literary Arts
• Local Arts Agencies
• Museums
• Music
• Opera
• Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works
• Theater & Musical Theater
• Visual & Media Arts

How to Apply

Detailed instructions on how to complete and submit the both parts of the application package can be found in the Application Instructions documents above. Applying for a federal grant can be time consuming, we estimate that after registering, the process to draft and submit an application takes approximately 24 hours.
 

REGISTRATION

Registration Guidance
Before you can submit an application, you must register with Login.gov, the System for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov, and Grants.gov or renew/verify these registrations. Registration can take several weeks.
 

SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION 

Application Part 1, Grants.gov
Submit the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organization Form. Clicking the link below will take you directly to the pre-populated application package in Grants.gov.
 

PART 1 GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION PACKAGE 

February Cycle: Funding opportunity number 2026NEA01GAP1

July Cycle: The Grants.gov application package for the July cycle will be available in mid-May 2026. Do not use the February application package to apply to the July cycle.

After clicking the link above:

• The Grants.gov “View Grant Opportunity” screen will open, click the red “Apply” button. To create the Workspace application, you must be logged into Grants.gov with a participant role of either Workspace Manager or Authorized Organization Representative (AOR).
  • If the Apply button is grey or you receive a “bad request” error, please see instructions on how to troubleshoot.
• Create a Workspace application:
  • Fill in the Application Filing Name field with your organization name, then
  • Click the Create Workspace button.
• Go to the Manage Workspace page, where you can begin working on the application.

Application Part 2, NEA Applicant Portal 
Complete the Grant Application Form (GAF). Login instructions and step-by-step directions for filling out the GAF are available via the Application Instructions documents above. The Applicant Portal (AP) is a separate website from grants.gov, click the link above to access the portal.

Applicants may receive a courtesy email at the beginning of the Part 2 submission window as a reminder that the AP is open – you do not need to wait for this email to access the AP, it will open promptly at 9:00 am Eastern Time on the date indicated on the calendar. Emails can occasionally get caught in spam filters, for this reason non-receipt of the courtesy email does not provide grounds for an extension, nor should it be interpreted to mean that Part 1 of your application was not received.

Resources

See the Applicant Resources on the sidebar for video tutorials, an application checklist and template, and other helpful resources.

Manage Your Award

Before applying, we recommend that you review reporting requirements and other information related to managing a federal award, including the General Terms and Conditions, on our Manage Your Award page.