Please read the entire grant guidelines for the grant program prior to reviewing these FAQs. Many questions are answered in the guidelines, with additional clarification or examples provided here. If you cannot find the answer to your questions, please contact Nikki Estes.
This FAQ was last updated July 15, 2025.
Arts in Rural Places Grants are available to organizational applicants only. If you are an individual artist, please visit our Grants and Opportunities section to learn more about individual artist opportunities.
Organization Eligibility
- How do you define small, rural, and isolated communities?
For the purposes of this grant program, small communities are defined as cities having a population of 50,000 or below. Rural and isolated communities are defined as geographically isolated or isolated due to socioeconomic factors, outmigration, education gaps, and/or lack of infrastructure.
- Do you have to be an arts organization to apply?
No, you do not have to be an arts organization to be eligible for an Arts in Rural Places Grant.
- Are producing organizations or performing arts groups eligible?
Yes, however project activities to engage a guest artist to perform with their company are not eligible for support (for example, a guest artist contracted to perform with an orchestra, dance company, or theater). Other community engagement activities provided by the guest artist may be eligible for support. Producing organizations and performing arts groups are strongly encouraged to contact South Arts to discuss eligibility.
- Do you accept fiscal agents as applicants?
No, applicants must have their own not-for-profit, tax-exempt status or be an official unit of local, county or state government, or a federally recognized tribal community. Applications are accepted from any tribal community with not-for-profit, tax-exempt status.
- If I received an Express Grant last year, can I still apply for this grant?
No, we are creating space and opportunity for new applicants. In an effort to reach new applicants, FY24 and FY25 Presentation, Traditional Arts Touring, or Express Grant recipients are not eligible for this grant cycle.
- What other reasons might an application not be funded?
Certain situations are revealed during the review process which may make an application ineligible for funding. Applications may not be funded where the following situations apply among the applicant, artist/company, host/partner, and/or venue:
- Relationship among the spouses/domestic partners, children, or family members; and/or
- Affiliations such as board member, volunteer, business partner, agent, or employee; and/or
- Any relationship that might compromise the integrity of the project and its use of funds.
Budget, Cash Match, & Payments
- What expenses do Arts in Rural Places Grants support?
Arts in Rural Places Grants can only be used to support the artist fee portion of your project budget. This grant does not support indirect costs or additional project costs.
- Can you explain the cash match requirement?
Applicants must match our grant award by 100%. Example: If you receive a $3,000 grant, you must provide a cash match of $3,000. This means that you will pay the artist a minimum of $6,000.
- Does the match have to be cash or can it be in-kind?
The grant requires a cash match. Common sources of matching funds are contributions by individual donors or grants from private foundations, local/municipal arts organizations, and/or state arts agencies.
- Is it correct that funds are not distributed until project completion?
Typically, grant funds are processed after the completion of the project and receipt of the Final Report Form. However, you can request an advance payment of up to 75% of your total grant amount.
Project Activities
- If we don't have a fully executed contract by the application deadline, can we submit something else instead?
Yes, you can submit a letter of agreement or letter of intent. The letter must be signed by the applicant and the artist. Please include the artist’s activities, activity date(s), and the artist fee.
- Can the project activities be virtual?
Yes but there must be interaction between the guest artist and your local community. The virtual activity must include local participation. Virtual events are acceptable as a strategy to improve access for project participants.
- Does every activity have to be open and accessible to the general public?
No but only one of the two required activities can be for a target/invite-only public audience. We encourage applicants to design activities that will best aid them in engaging with their local community.
- Could this grant include the development of new work by a Southern artist as long as there are public activities?
Yes, the project can include the creation of the work as long as the project also includes at least two public-facing activities.
- Do the project activities have to be free of charge?
No, organizations may charge admission to all or select activities as appropriate.
Artist Requirements
- Is the grant for one artist or can it be for multiple artists?
This grant program does not support multiple artists. You can only apply for one artist, one collective, one ensemble, or one company.
- Does the professional guest artist, company, or ensemble have to reside in South Arts’ region?
Yes, the guest artist must currently reside in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee. For collectives, ensembles, and companies, at least 50% of the members must reside in the South Arts region. Please note that we may need to request additional information to verify the artists’ residency.
- Can the guest artist come from the same state that the organization serves?
Yes, this grant supports artists who reside in the same state as the applicants.
- Can the same artist be submitted in more than one application?
Yes, there is no limit to the number of applications that can feature/engage an artist.
- What are the project requirements for the artist?
The artist must provide a minimum of two separate public-facing activities with a minimum of two hours of community engagement. The project can include a variety of public activities such as artist performances, screenings, readings, exhibitions, workshops, demonstrations, lectures, facilitated discussions, and/or master classes.
- What qualifies as a reading?
Readings are activities conducted by a poet, a fiction writer, or a creative non-fiction writer in which they read from their own work. This activity could be part of a larger presentation. Readings by playwrights are ineligible.
- For film projects, who is considered the artist?
The filmmaker or film director is the artist that must be engaged in your project activities.
- What are Traditional Arts?
The South is home to an abundance of traditional art forms, whether they are indigenous to the region or reflect the traditions of recent immigrant communities. Traditional arts are shared aesthetics, practices, and values of families, geographic communities, occupational groups, ethnic heritage groups, etc. Traditional arts are learned orally, or by observation and imitation, often through a mentor artist instructing an apprentice. These traditions are usually maintained without formal instruction or academic training. Some traditional arts have a deep-rooted history with little change, while others are constantly evolving and adapting to their changing environment. Examples of traditional art forms (performing and visual arts) practiced in the South include Afro-Cuban batá drum, Catawba pottery, Zydeco music, Indian Bharatha Natyam dance, Anglo American quilting, Peruvian retablos, African American Sacred Steel, Chinese Zheng, Cherokee storytelling, and Minorcan netmaking, among others.
- Who qualifies as a professional guest artist or company for my project?
The guest artist cannot have an affiliation or conflict of interest with the host/partner organization (e.g., being a staff member of the host organization). Guest artists or companies are often those who:
- work primarily in the artistic disciplines of your application
- are recognized as a professional by their peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition)
- have specialized training in the artistic field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
- are committed to devoting more time to artistic activity, if financially possible
- have a history of public presentation or publication, or a body of work
- reside in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee
- are at least 18 years of age or are part of a youth ensemble/company that specializes in touring (ex. 501(c)3 children’s choirs)
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.
Readiness Planning
- Is a readiness plan also called a strategic plan?
No, we see these as different tools. A readiness plan is a combination of documents, processes, and training that formulates what your organization will do should the unexpected occur. It follows an “all-hazards” approach, because anything can and may happen to your organization. Creating a readiness plan means making decisions about how you will respond, and collecting all of the information and documents that you will need, before a crisis hits, so you can respond and get your organization back up and running smoothly. A readiness plan is critical to preserve precious time and energy when seconds matter. ArtsReady takes an "all hazards" approach to planning: focusing on your essential business needs so you will be prepared for any crisis. The tool walks you through a series of modules—Risk Assessment, Action Items, Critical Stuff, Reports, and Guides and Resources—that explore the critical business functions most arts and cultural organizations rely on every day. By working through the tool with your staff and leadership, dPlan|ArtsReady is your one-stop shop to creating a plan and repository of vital information that you can turn to at any time before, during, or after a crisis.
Although a description of your readiness plan is no longer required with your application submission, you will be asked whether your organization has a readiness plan. 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. South Arts and our partners at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) have launched dPlan|ArtsReady to guide arts and cultural organizations through the process of developing a readiness plan.
A limited number of free one-year subscriptions are available to arts organizations. Please complete our online form to request your free year and to receive more information. Whether you use dPlan|ArtsReady to develop and maintain your plan, put one together on your own, or use another service, it is important to have a plan. If ArtsReady is not the right fit for you, the additional resources on our website can help you develop the right plan for your organization, so you are ready for anything.