FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2018
Applications Now Available for Chatham Arts Council’s Grassroots Arts Grants
Program Awards up to $2,500 to Help Support Local Artists
Pittsboro, NC—The Chatham Arts Council is excitedly accepting applications for the annual Grassroots Arts Grants, a program aimed to help organizations do amazing work through the arts. Since 2000, Chatham Arts Council has awarded more than $105,000 to nonprofits, who in turn, use the money to fund artists and carry the arts into every corner of the county.
“Chatham County is full of artistic souls,” expressed Cheryl Chamblee, Executive Director of the Chatham Arts Council. “We want to share their creativity. Our goal is to support community organizations that provide high quality art experiences for the greater community.”
The Chatham Arts Council (CAC) serves as the Designated County Partner to the North Carolina Arts Council in awarding the funds to local organizations. Cash grants range from $500 to $2,500, and are typically used for program expenses (i.e., artists’ fees, space rental) or operating expenses for arts organizations. Areas of particular interest for the CAC are local artist fees/fair payment to artists and outreach to diverse or underserved communities.
Organizations applying must:
- Have been in operation for at least one year as a 501(c)(3);
- Have an arts mission, or a program that uses the arts to help accomplish the organization’s mission;
- Be based in Chatham County, or carry out the project in Chatham County.
The deadline for applications and supporting materials is July 31, 2018.
“We encourage all qualified organizations to apply,” said CAC Board President, Taylor Hobbs. “If we can help arts nonprofits pay their artists, or provide the funds needed to get arts opportunities to more kids across the county, we can be proud.”
Grassroots Arts Grants are made possible by individual contributions to the Chatham Arts Council’s general operating fund and by the Grassroots Arts Program of the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Past recipients have included organizations such as Sisters’ Voices, Siler City Mural Society, Chatham Partnership for Children, Chatham Artists Guild, the Hispanic Liaison of North Carolina, Bynum Front Porch, Shakori Hills, NC Arts Incubator, Small Museum of Folk Art, FVRC, and more.
For more information on the Grassroots Arts Grants, or to apply, visit https://www.chathamartscouncil.org/grassroots-arts-grants/.
ABOUT THE CHATHAM ARTS COUNCIL
The Chatham Arts Council nurtures creative thinkers in Chatham County. We do this in two ways: (1) We invest in artists. And (2) We educate kids through the arts. In its thirty-fifth year as a nonprofit arts agency, Chatham Arts Council’s flagship programs include Meet This Artist, Go See This, Grassroots Arts Grants, and the Chatham Artists-in-Schools Initiative—serving more than 2,500 children this year. Chatham Arts Council is proud to partner with the NC Arts Council, the Durham Arts Council, Chatham County Schools, and numerous Chatham arts organizations, human resource nonprofits, and local businesses. For more information on the CAC, visit www.chathamartscouncil.org.
CONTACT: April Starling, Marketing/Public Relations Leader of the Chatham Arts Council, april@chathamartscouncil.org or 917.544.0608.
NOTE: Feel free to publish partially or in its entirety, with or without a byline. The article was written by April Starling, Marketing/Public Relations Leader, Chatham Arts Council.
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