Express Grants

South Arts believes that rural communities deserve great art, and can require specialized support to make that vision viable. Distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis, Express Grants support rural organizations and communities with expedited grants of up to $2,000.

To be eligible for funding, applicants must program arts experiences featuring a Southern artist. Express Grants can be used to support fees for presenting Southern guest film directors, visual and performing artists, or writers from inside or outside of the presenter’s state. Touring support is awarded for film (documentary, fiction, experimental and animation), performing arts (theater, music, opera, musical theater and dance), literary arts (fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry), traditional arts, and visual arts (crafts, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media). Projects must include both a public presentation (film screening, performance, reading or exhibition) and an educational component.

South Arts is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. We have prioritized this commitment to ensure that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) led organizations, LGBTQIA+ led organizations, and organizations led by people with disabilities are represented as both applicants and grantees. In addition, we encourage applications for projects that engage BIPOC artists, LGBTQIA+ artists, and artists with disabilities. Our guidelines also acknowledge the current realities of the presenting and touring field. For the 2022-2023 grant cycle, we will again accept applications for virtual presentations and for the engagement of local artists, and we will temporarily adjust the cash match requirement from a dollar-for-dollar cash match to a 50% cash match.

New applicants are encouraged to contact Nikki Estes at 404-874-7244 ext. 816 to discuss eligibility prior to submitting an application.

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
• Applications must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the project start date.
• Applicants will be notified by email within four weeks of submission.
• Projects must take place between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

Eligibility Requirements

The following is a top-level list of the main eligibility requirements necessary to be considered for an Express Grant. Please refer to the full list of eligibility requirements in the program's Guidelines.

• Be a tax-exempt nonprofit, an official unit of local, county, or state government, or a federally recognized tribal community based within South Arts' nine-state service area (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, or TN)
• Be in a rural community (for the purposes of this program, we define rural as a community with population of 50,000 or below)
• Engage a professional artist or ensemble who resides within South Arts' nine-state service area
• Provide a 50% cash match
• Have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

A full list of eligibility criteria and other project requirements is provided in the guidelines below.

While preparing your Express Grant application, please refer to the following guidelines.

Eligibility

• Only nonprofit and governmental presenting organizations in South Arts’ nine-state region are eligible to apply. South Arts’ nine-state region includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. For the purposes of these guidelines, presenters are defined as organizations that present or host guest artists for engagements in their communities.
• Only organizations in rural communities are eligible for this grant program. For the purposes of these guidelines, a standard definition of rural is a population of 50,000 or below.
• Applicants must have not-for-profit, tax-exempt status, be an official unit of local, county, or state government, or be a federally recognized tribal community. For nonprofit applicants, tax-exempt status will be verified by a third party entity. Governmental applicants must provide proof of government status. South Arts does not accept applications from fiscal agents for this grant program.
• Applications will not be accepted from organizations that do not have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Learn more about obtaining a UEI here.
• Eligible projects must take place in South Arts’ nine-state region. Unless there are special circumstances, projects should take place in the applicant's state (please contact South Arts to discuss special conditions).
• Eligible projects must include the engagement of a performing or visual artist, film director, writer, or an artist ensemble/company that resides in South Arts’ region. The engagement can include a guest artist that resides within or outside of the applicant’s state. Supported disciplines include film (documentary, fiction, experimental, and animation), performing arts (theater, music, opera, musical theater, and dance), literary arts (fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry), traditional arts, and visual arts (crafts, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media).
  • Need help finding a Southern artist? View artists who have been supported by South Arts in the past or look through our State Arts Agency partners’ rosters.
• Screening partners currently receiving funding through South Arts' Southern Circuit program are not eligible to receive additional funding for the Southern Circuit film screenings.
• Applicants currently receiving funding through South Arts’ Presentation Grants or Traditional Arts Touring program are not eligible for this grant program.
• Applicants are limited to one Express Grant application per South Arts fiscal year.
• Applicants who have failed to submit final reports for any previous South Arts grant by the application deadline for this program will not be considered for funding in this grant cycle.
• Applicants who fail to properly acknowledge South Arts’ AND the National Endowment for the Arts’ support in programs and press materials may not be considered for future funding.

Guidelines

• Express Grant applications must be submitted online at least 60 days prior to the project start date.
• The project must take place between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.
• The project must include both a public presentation (film screening, performance, reading or exhibition) and an educational/community engagement component. NOTE: Presentations at conferences and school-focused presentations (primarily engaging students, whether taking place at the school or another venue) will not be considered public presentations that are open and accessible to the general public; however, school-focused presentations will satisfy the educational component requirement.
• The public presentation must meet the following requirements:
  • For a public reading, a minimum of 30 minutes of presentation by the writer is required. 
  • For a public performance, a minimum of 60 minutes of performance by the artist/company is required.
  • For a public film screening, a minimum of 40 minutes of running time (this can include a full-length film or a collection of shorts) with the film director is required.
  • For a public exhibition, a presentation with the artist is required.
• For faith-based institutions, presenting projects must be without religious proselytizing.
• Only one artist/company per grant application. The artist/company is required to fully participate in the public presentation. The artist or members of the company must also conduct the educational/community engagement component.
• Public presentations must be open and marketed to the public and dedicated to serving a wide audience. Projects are not required to serve the entire geographic community but should have targeted local participants.
• Project activities may be live, in-person experiences, virtual events, or a combination of in-person and virtual events. All grant-funded activities must follow all local, state, and federal COVID-safety protocols, as applicable.
• All grant recipients are required to provide accessibility for constituents with disabilities at grant-funded events. For the purpose of these guidelines, accessibility relates to your overall facility and project being accessible to all. In addition to physical access (ramps, accessible parking/box office/restrooms/seating, etc.), communications and programmatic accessibility is not only required but can help your organization build audiences and strengthen engagement. Grant applications should show evidence of thoughtful planning and implementation efforts. The National Endowment for the Arts has resources to assist arts organizations in making accommodations. Please visit the Endowment’s website for more information.
• Applicants must commit to the Endowment’s Assurance of Compliance.

Policies

• The educational/community engagement component is an integral part of the engagement and should be carefully planned. A meaningful educational component should involve concentrated preparation by the artist/company and presenter, and include a learning event that has a lasting impact upon the audience (e.g., workshops, lectures and master classes). The artist(s)/company must conduct the educational activity. Please be aware that failure to include an educational/community engagement component will result in ineligibility.
• South Arts does not fund benefits or fundraisers.
• Grants are NOT transferable to other events. All changes in an event must be submitted in writing to South Arts before the event. Awards may be revised or revoked in light of such changes.
• Express Grant awards require a 50% cash match. Applicants are eligible to receive up to two-thirds of the artist fee as listed in the artist contract or letter of agreement, up to $2,000 (subject to funding availability). Example: For a project with an artist fee of $3,000, the applicant can request $2,000 and must provide a cash match of $1,000. For each grant dollar, the grantee must provide $.50 towards the artist fee. Indirect and additional project costs are not supported by this grant.
• The minimum grant request is $500. The minimum artist fee for this grant is $750.

Appeals Process

You can request a review of the method for South Arts’ decisions concerning grant applications through the Appeals Process. If you did not receive funding or if your grant award was rescinded or reduced, you may submit an appeal based on the criteria listed below. Incomplete applications are not eligible for the appeals process. Dissatisfaction with the denial or amount of an award is not a sufficient reason for an appeal. An applicant not funded may appeal South Arts’ decision if the applicant can demonstrate that the application was rejected for any of the following reasons:

• Application was reviewed using criteria other than those published;
• Funding decision was influenced by panelist/staff/committee member who failed to disclose conflict of interest; and/or
• Application materials (submitted by the deadline) were reviewed by panelists/staff/committee members.

If an applicant’s funds were rescinded or reduced, the applicant may appeal South Arts’ decision if the applicant can demonstrate that (a) the project activities outlined in the application were performed, and (b) the contract terms and conditions were followed and fulfilled. To appeal a funding decision, first contact the Program Director, Nikki Estes, to review considerations affecting South Arts’ decision. If you believe that you have grounds for an appeal, you must submit your appeal, in writing, to South Arts’ President & CEO no later than 15 calendar days following the receipt of the written notice from South Arts. The submission should contain evidence to support one or more of the allowable grounds for appeal. The decision on an appeal will be made by the President & CEO, who will render a decision within 30 days of the appeal. Mail your appeal to:

South Arts
ATTN: President & CEO
1800 Peachtree Street, NW
Suite 808
Atlanta, GA 30309

Review Criteria

Applications are reviewed and funding adjudications are made using the following criteria to evaluate each application:

• Artistic Excellence (30%) – Quality of artist/company/writer
• Project’s Artistic Merit (30%) – Quality of project
• Audience Development/Community Involvement (20%) – Quality and degree of audience development efforts and community participation
• Accessibility (10%) – Quality and degree of facility and program accessibility
• Organizational Capacity/Evaluation (10%) – Presenter’s ability to carry out and evaluate the project

Helpful Resources

• Sample application from a past grantee demonstrates a clear, succinct, and well-organized application that was evaluated very highly in the review process.
• The Evaluation Rubric/Matrix used to score applications.

In addition to organizational and project information, you will need to provide a narrative addressing the following:

Description

(Maximum 500 characters including spaces)

Provide a one-sentence description of the project which South Arts will use in publicity if a grant is awarded, e.g. “XYZ Quintet will provide two workshops for high school music students and a public evening performance at the ABC Theatre.”

Schedule

(Maximum 1,250 characters including spaces, approximately ¼ page)

List the chronological schedule of activities during the project including what, when, where, who, with/for whom; include ticket prices where applicable. NOTE: If your schedule is not complete at this time, provide as much detail as is known about how many activities will take place, and which community members or groups will be involved.

Artistic Excellence (30%)

(Maximum 2,500 characters including spaces, approximately ½ page)

Evaluation on this criterion is based on the submitted artist's work samples (i.e., audio, video, film footage, images, and written work), support material (i.e., ensemble/company history, artist biography, or writer’s resume/biography), and a description of artistic excellence for the artist. Work samples should represent the quality/type of work the artist/company will have presented during your engagement and should be no more than three years old. For audio/video samples, include instructions identifying the particular selection to be played. Promotional videos, montages and poor video quality will prevent the reviewers from being able to make an assessment on this criterion and may result in a low score. If sample is part of a larger publication/book, please mark the passage/section to review.

Describe the artistic excellence of the artist included in the project (only provide additional information that is not stated in the company history or artist biography/resume); be specific to include information about the artist’s impact or influence on the artform (local, regional, and/or nationally), the artist’s contributions to the artform, and/or if the artist or artistic expression is demonstrative of a historically underrepresented community.

Project’s Artistic Merit (30%)

(Maximum 5,000 characters including spaces, approximately 1 page)

Describe the project; include a detailed description of the presentation and explain why this artist/company was chosen. Explain why this project is important to your community. The educational and community engagement component* is the requirement that participants be engaged in learning activities that have lasting impact. Describe the educational and community engagement activities.

*An educational and community engagement component is a learning event that has a lasting impact upon the audience (e.g., workshops, lectures and master classes). The educational/community engagement component is an integral part of the engagement and should be carefully planned. A meaningful educational component should involve concentrated preparation by the artist(s) and presenter. The artist(s)/company must conduct the educational activity.

Audience Development and Community Involvement (20%)

(Maximum 2,500 characters including spaces, approximately ½ page)

Audience development includes assessing audience and community needs, cultivating audiences, creating a plan for engagement, and developing effective partnerships. Describe your community and the population size. Describe the audiences and community segments that you are targeting and engaging with this project. Explain why they were selected for involvement in this project, how they are involved in planning, and what community partners are involved. Describe any plans to broaden or diversify your audiences, any additional efforts to reach those that lack access to arts programs, services, or resources, or how your organization is addressing diversity, equity and inclusion. Describe your marketing plan for target audiences.

Accessibility (10%)

(Maximum 2,500 characters including spaces, approximately ½ page)

Grantees are required to ensure accessibility to funded programs to people with disabilities. Beyond these minimum ADA requirements, describe actions you will take for programmatic and communications accessibility (e.g., planning/advisory committees include people with disabilities, large print programs/labels, captioning, American Sign Language interpretation, audio description, specific marketing strategies, etc.). Provide specific strategies on how you will reach those that lack access to the arts due to disability for this project specifically (not your organization’s work in general).

Organizational Capacity and Evaluation (10%)

(Maximum 2,500 characters including spaces, approximately ½ page)

Describe your organization’s ability to carry out the proposed project. Provide a summary of your organization’s presenting/programming history. Describe the method(s) you will use to evaluate the success of the project.

Due to COVID-19, eligible projects have expanded to include:

• Projects that involve virtual activities by the guest artist/company.
• Projects that engage local artists.

We have temporarily adjusted the cash match requirement to a 50% cash match (rather than a dollar-for-dollar cash match). Example: For a project with an artist fee of $3,000, the applicant can request $2,000 and must provide a cash match of $1,000. For each grant dollar, the grantee must provide $.50 towards the artist fee.

We have expanded the types of artists and presenting organizations eligible to apply for Express Grants. This program now offers fee support to present Southern guest film directors, visual and performing artists, or writers. Artist fee support is awarded for film (documentary, fiction, experimental and animation), performing arts (theater, music, opera, musical theater and dance), literary arts (fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry), traditional arts, and visual arts (crafts, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media). Projects must include both a public presentation (film screening, performance, reading or exhibition) and an educational component.

• Application
• Proof of government status (if applicable)
• Letter of intent or contract between the artist and the presenting organization stating the services (including the educational component), date(s) and fee (signed by both parties)
• Artist support material: Company history, artist biography, or writer’s resume/biography with a list of published works
• Work sample: A representative work sample for the artist/company
  • Performing – Submit up to 10 minutes of audio or video
  • Literary – Submit up to 10 pages of written work or up to 10 minutes of audio or video
  • Visual – Submit up to 10 high resolution images
  • Film  – Submit up to 10 minutes of film footage
• Supplemental document (optional)
  • Other support material (e.g., reviews, letters of support, or brochure) directly related to the application may be submitted. Do not include audio, video, or other electronic samples. Supplemental document should not exceed five (5) pages, unless the document is a publication.

All grant applications must be submitted online using the eGrant system. We recommend that you visit the site early to create your account, and become familiar with the system. Complete your application in eGrant and upload the required materials as detailed above. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by email within 4 weeks of the application submission. For assistance, contact Nikki Estes at 404-874-7244 ext. 816.

South Arts strictly adheres to deadlines and will NOT accept applications that are late or incomplete. Deadlines are not extended due to inclement weather. Applicants must agree to the applicable Contract Terms of Agreement, Assurance of Compliance, and Federal Suspension and Debarment Requirements prior to submission.