FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What’s new for FY27?

Discipline Changes:

Some disciplines have been combined for the purpose of application intake to streamline our processes.
- Theater & Musical Theater are combined.
- Visual Arts and Film & Media Arts are now Visual & Media Arts.
- Design & Our Town are combined, and applications will be accepted at both GAP deadlines for added flexibility.
Artist Communities is no longer offered as a separate discipline. We welcome artist residency projects and projects from artist communities organizations throughout GAP.
Literary Arts will accept all project types at both GAP deadlines. In previous years, each deadline had a specific set of accepted project types.
Challenge America is now offered as a distinct discipline within GAP, and organizations may apply to either GAP deadline.

Changes to the application:

New application questions have been identified in the application instructions with a caret (^).
Some existing application questions have been simplified or updated with new guidance. Returning applicants should be sure to read the new application instructions.
Work samples will be submitted through PDFs uploaded to the Applicant Portal. In previous years, video, audio, and image files could be uploaded directly into the Applicant Portal. Starting this year, applicants will submit video and audio files as links in a PDF. Images will be submitted in PDF format as well. The application instructions have been revised to provide guidance for this change.

A fillable application template is now available as part of the application checklist. Applicants may use this template to draft responses to the Part 2 application questions prior to the Applicant Portal submission window.
Guidelines tutorials have been created to cover important information about the GAP program guidelines.

General FAQs

Do we need to address one of the agency funding priorities in our application?
You are not required to address a specific funding priority in your application, but applications for projects that align with one or more of the priorities are strongly encouraged. Applications will be reviewed according to the Review Criteria published in the GAP Program Guidelines PDF.

My organization had funding or an offer of funding rescinded last year. Does that affect our eligibility to apply?
No. If your organization meets the eligibility criteria outlined in the GAP Program Guidelines, you are welcome to apply.

May I withdraw my application and resubmit for a later opportunity?
An applicant may withdraw an application at any time prior to award or rejection. The applicant authorizing official must submit a written withdrawal request to the program office managing their application.

Organizations may submit only one application to the FY 2027 Grants for Arts Projects program (i.e., one application per calendar year) with limited exceptions made only for Parent (and Related) Organizations. If an organization intends to withdraw an earlier application and reapply within the same calendar year, it must withdraw that application prior to submitting at the later deadline.

My organization has applied to Artist Communities in the past. Are we still able to apply?
Yes, we welcome projects from artist communities organizations and proposals that include artist residencies where the primary activity is the creation or development of new work. Choose the discipline that best aligns with your project activities, for example, if the residency is for artists working in the field of music, you should apply under the Music discipline. Residencies may include various forms of support for artists, including but not limited to stipends, temporary living accommodations, access to rehearsal space, studio space, and technical facilities.

My organization wants to submit an arts education project. Do we select the Arts Education discipline?
The Arts Education discipline is specifically focused on projects that serve pre-K-12 students, and the educators and artists who support them. Projects submitted to Arts Education must incorporate robust measures to assess student and/or teacher learning in arts education. Assessment of student learning should align with state or national arts standards.

Other GAP disciplines, including Challenge America, welcome educational projects that are focused on arts exposure or enrichment, activities for multi-generational or adult groups, or youth-based arts learning programs that are not aligned with state or national arts standards.

May I include costs related to food or beverage in my project budget?
It depends. If the food/beverage costs fall under one of the following categories, it is generally allowable:

Artist subsistence, often included in their fees or as part of their contract.
Subsistence for participants, including children, taking part in project-related activities.
Food provided at training sessions, meetings, or conferences, if cost of the food and/or beverages provided is considered to be reasonable, the food/beverages are incidental to a work-related event, and they are not related directly to social activity or entertainment.

The following are always unallowable:

Food for entertainment purposes, including but not limited to receptions, opening or closing nights/events, galas, cast parties, volunteer appreciation events, as well as food for resale / concessions.
Alcoholic beverages.

Challenge America FAQs

Can my organization apply to the Challenge America discipline?
Challenge America is limited to applications that meet all three of the following criteria*:

The applicant organization had an operating budget of less than $250,000 in the most recently completed fiscal year, and
The proposed project is specifically focused on activities for underserved groups/communities (defined as those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited relative to geography, ethnicity, economic status, or disability), and
The requested award amount is $10,000.

*Exceptions:

Local arts agencies (units of city, county, or federally recognized tribal government; non-arts departments of local government; and designated special districts), should apply through the Local Arts Agencies discipline, regardless of organization size or project focus.
Arts learning projects that engage participants over an extended period of time to deepen their learning in the arts, and incorporate robust measures to assess student and/or teacher learning should be submitted to the Arts Education discipline, regardless of organization size or project focus.

My organization has applied to Challenge America in the past. Do we need to apply to the Challenge America discipline in GAP?
If your organization meets the requirements for Challenge America outlined above, you are welcome to apply to the Challenge America discipline in GAP, but you are not required to do so. You may choose to apply to one of the other GAP disciplines if you feel like it’s a better fit for your project.

OUR TOWN FAQs

Our Town supports creative placemaking activities in communities. What is “creative placemaking?”
Creative placemaking integrates arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities. Creative placemaking is most successful when done in partnership across sectors, deeply engaging the community, through work with artists, designers, and other stakeholders in efforts aiming to advance local economic, physical, and other long-term, community-desired outcomes.

How is the Our Town discipline different than Local Arts Agencies or other disciplines within the Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) funding opportunity?
Our Town is distinct from other GAP disciplines in several ways. 1) Competitive Our Town projects are place-specific, cross-sectoral efforts that use arts, culture, and design activities as strategies to engage whole communities. 2) Our Town projects strongly encourage partnership between a nonprofit organization and a local governmental or quasi-governmental entity that together, through meaningful roles, provide leadership for the project. 3) Through activities such as supporting local artistic and cultural resources, improving a neighborhood’s design, and/or strengthening local economies to promote investment and job creation, Our Town projects strengthen communities at the local level by bringing arts, culture, and design into efforts that advance local economic, physical, and/or other community desired outcomes. If you have questions about which discipline best suits your project, please contact our staff.

Can federal funds such as Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) or Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding count toward the cost share?
No. Even though these funds may come through your state, the original source is federal. No cost share funds can be from federal sources and these should not appear in your Our Town project budget as either income or expenses.

Can community infrastructure costs be considered part of the cost share for something like a streetscape project?
Costs that pertain strictly to preparing a site specifically for the art or design work, such as slabs or pedestals, landscaping that's necessary for the art work, or landscaping that is the art work (e.g., a mosaic tiled walkway with landscaping that is required for the work) are allowable. Installation of generic municipal street lighting or wayfinding signage is not allowed. Costs to prepare the street, including purchase of property, building appropriate access, infrastructure, etc., are also not allowable and cannot be used for cost share. You can only include cost share for allowable costs and activities.

What is a quasi-governmental entity?
For the Our Town discipline, a quasi-governmental entity includes any entity that has been officially designated by a municipal or tribal government to carry out a function of that government on its behalf.

Executive Order FAQs

Can organizations that serve communities of individuals of a particular race, sex, or national origin still apply for grants?
Yes, as long as applicants do not discriminate against any participant on the basis of race, sex, or national origin in any services provided by their programs or activities in a manner that would violate federal law.

Can organizations apply for disability-related projects?
Yes. We encourage applications for projects that involve people with disabilities (as artists, performers, teaching artists, students, participants, staff, and/or audiences) in the planning, creation, and/or implementation of project activities.