Touring support up to $7,500 to present Southern theater, music, opera, musical theater, and dance projects.
View Full GuidelinesThe deadline for this grant program has passed. The guidelines below are for reference only.
The Performing Arts Touring program is an opportunity for presenting arts organizations in South Arts’ nine-state region to receive fee support to present Southern performing artists from outside of the presenter’s state. Touring support is awarded to theater, music, opera, musical theater, and dance projects that contain both a public performance and an educational component. These grants are limited and very competitive. The maximum grant request is $7,500 for dance projects or $5,000 for all other performance projects.
New applicants are encouraged to contact Nikki Estes at 404-874-7244 ext. 16 to discuss eligibility prior to submitting an application.
The following is a top-level list of the main eligibility requirements necessary to be considered for a Performing Arts Touring Grant. Please refer to the full list of eligibility requirements in the program's Guidelines.
A full list of eligibility criteria and other project requirements is provided in the guidelines below.
While preparing your Performing Arts Touring Grant application, please refer to the following guidelines.
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 If you did not receive funding or if your grant award was rescinded or reduced, you may submit an appeal based on the criteria listed below.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 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:
If an applicant’s funds were rescinded or reduced, the applicant may appeal South Arts’ decision if the applicant can demonstrate that (a) the project activities outlined in the application were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’ Executive Director 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 Executive Director, who will render a decision within 30 days of the appeal.
Mail your appeal to: South Arts, ATTN: Executive Director, 1800 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 808, Atlanta, GA 30309.
Applications are reviewed and funding adjudications are made using the following criteria to evaluate each application:
Helpful Resources:
In addition to organizational and project information, you will need to provide a narrative addressing the following:
(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 Ballet Company will conduct a three-day residency, with two master classes, two workshops for older adults, a Q&A with the artistic director and local choreographers, and a public evening performance at the ABC Theatre.”
(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.
Work samples should represent the quality/type of work the artist/company will perform during your engagement and should be no more than three years old. 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. NOTE: No narrative response is necessary. Evaluation on this criterion is based on the submitted work samples (i.e., audio, video, and history/biography).
(Maximum 5,000 characters including spaces, approximately 1 page)
Describe the project; include a detailed description of the performance and explain why this artist/company was chosen. Explain why this project is important to your community. The educational and outreach component* is the requirement that participants be engaged in learning activities that have lasting impact. Describe the educational and outreach component and any additional community activities; describe the anticipated impact for participants.
*An educational and outreach component is a learning event that has a lasting impact upon the audience (e.g., workshops, lectures and master classes). The educational/outreach 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.
(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 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 and any additional efforts to reach those that lack access to arts programs, services, or resources. Describe your marketing plan for target audiences.
(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, 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).
(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 history. Describe the project goals and the anticipated outcomes. Describe the evaluation methods you have in place to learn how you are, or are not, achieving your goals.
South Arts is committed to making business continuity planning a priority in the arts, and encourages all arts organizations to develop and maintain readiness plans to ensure their sustainability. If you have a readiness plan, please attach a narrative (up to two pages) describing your plan and how/when you update it.
A readiness plan is a combination of documents, processes and training that formulate what your organization will do should the unexpected occur. It focuses on protecting your organization’s critical functions through an “all-hazards” approach, so you can resume business quickly after any type or size of disruption. Readiness plans should be comprehensive, updated at least annually, and be comprised of more than just a facility evacuation plan, or regular data backups. Plans should cover all aspects of your operations and assets by identifying how your organization will re-start post interruption. Critical functions can be programs, events, communications, people resources, finances, insurance, technology, exhibits, productions, and any other primary activities.
Readiness planning is a required component for organizations applying for our grants, and your organization will be evaluated on the quality of your readiness planning. Quality includes content, comprehensiveness and currency. Content should include documentation, policies, procedures, and trainings/drills of what you will do if your business is impacted or stopped by a crisis of any type. Comprehensiveness means that the plan addresses all of your critical business functions and all key personnel. Currency means the plan (documentation, procedures and trainings) is updated at least annually.
If you have a readiness plan, you will be asked to describe your plan and how/when you update it. You may contact South Arts staff for more information on readiness planning and/or to review draft descriptions submitted at least four weeks prior to the application deadline.
We do not require you to use any particular resource for developing your plan. For more information on readiness planning, read What is a Readiness Plan? and visit ArtsReady. Many state arts agencies are subsidizing arts organizations in their state to use the ArtsReady online tool, and many national service organizations offer discounts. The ArtsReady online tool guides users through developing a customized readiness plan and provides templates and examples of readiness plan elements.
There may be additional funds for engaging Indigenous artists residing in the South. This year, we are happy to partner with Western Arts Alliance (WAA) on their pilot Advancing Indigenous Performance Program that promotes the touring and engagement of Indigenous artists from the United States or its Territories.
To qualify, the artist/ensemble must identify as an Indigenous performing artist according to Western Arts Alliance’s definition of Indigenous: A member or descendant of a Native American, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian nation or community, including Native/First Peoples of Canada, and U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This includes individuals without official tribal status who are members of Native communities, and tribal members or descendants not living in their homelands or home community.
A South Arts application that meets our program guidelines, is awarded a grant through our competitive process, and engages an Indigenous artist/ensemble residing in the South may be eligible for a matching grant from Western Arts Alliance dependent upon available funds. Selected applicants may need to complete additional reporting requirements for WAA and participating artists may be asked to complete a survey. All eligible applications will be forwarded to WAA for final determination of qualification for match.
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 below. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by email within 12 weeks of the deadline. For assistance, contact Nikki Estes at 404-874-7244 ext. 16.
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 Contract Terms of Agreement, Assurance of Compliance, and Federal Suspension and Debarment Requirements prior to submission.
After reviewing program guidelines, log in to eGrant to apply for a Performing Arts Touring Grant, edit an application in process, and submit any required reports.
Log in to eGrantReview recipient terms and conditions, download the appropriate logos, access final reporting requirements, and more.
Manage Your GrantFor questions about Performing Arts Touring Grants, contact program director Nikki Estes.
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