Arts Journalism Grants

South Arts Arts Journalism Grants are a pilot program aimed at addressing the decreasing budgets for arts journalism at legacy media outlets as well as the limited funding available for cultural coverage at many emerging media. The program recognizes that when arts journalists face fewer financial barriers, they are better able to promote critical discourse, highlight excellence in local and national artistic endeavors and drive audiences toward public participation in the arts.

Purpose

To reduce financial barriers that limit the production, distribution, and sustainability of arts journalism and to encourage investment in cultural coverage across the South. The program recognizes the essential role journalism plays in documenting artistic activity, fostering public dialogue, and supporting a healthy cultural ecosystem.

Background

More than 1/3 of audience members who attend a performing arts event in the United States do so because they heard about the performance through traditional print or broadcast media, according to the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. An additional 58 percent of respondents reported that they learned about a theater, dance or classical music happening from “online sources,” including those posted and shared by media outlets. These statistics demonstrate that even in the golden age of social media, journalism still drives audiences toward arts programming. At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the total number of journalists will continue to decrease over the next 10 years, in a field that has already shed thousands of full-time jobs. Entertainment and travel reporters are more likely to be freelancers than journalists who cover any other beat; in 2022 the Pew Research Center found that 57% are self-employed, compared to 13% of law and crime reporters.

These statistics paint an implicit need to philanthropically fund arts journalism in order to support a healthy cultural ecosystem.

Why Arts Journalism Matters

South Arts believes that strong arts journalism is critical to cultural infrastructure. Journalists help audiences discover artistic work, provide context and critique, document cultural history, support civic dialogue, and strengthen understanding of the role the arts play in communities. Arts journalism informs public engagement with the cultural sector while creating a lasting record of artistic activity, creative expression, and community life.

By investing in arts journalism, South Arts seeks to strengthen the cultural ecosystem throughout the region. Supporting journalists and journalism organizations helps ensure that artists, arts organizations, cultural traditions, and creative communities receive thoughtful coverage that informs the public, encourages dialogue, and contributes to a more vibrant and connected arts landscape.

Program Goal

The South Arts Arts Journalism Grant Program supports the creation, dissemination, and sustainability of high-quality arts journalism across the South. Through support for journalists, media organizations, and travel-based reporting, the program seeks to strengthen cultural discourse, increase public understanding of and engagement with the arts, and advance the field of arts journalism.

Award Amounts

Grant amounts range from $1,000 for Travel Grants, $5,000 for Individual Grants, and $10,000 for Journalism Organizations. Grants may be awarded directly to arts journalists or to media organizations that hire them.

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Applications Open: October 2, 2026
• Application Deadline: November 20, 2026
• Grantees Notification: January 2027
• Final Report Due: June 30, 2027

What is Arts Journalism?

For the purposes of this program, arts journalism is independent reporting, criticism, analysis, commentary, interviewing, investigative journalism, feature writing, audio journalism, multimedia storytelling, and other forms of public-interest journalism that help audiences understand the arts and cultural sector.

Arts journalism may focus on one or more artistic disciplines, including but not limited to visual arts, theater, dance, classical music, jazz, folk and traditional arts, literary arts, multidisciplinary arts, film, and media arts.

Eligible journalistic work may appear in print, broadcast, digital, audio, video, newsletter, podcast, or other editorial formats.

South Arts recognizes that arts journalism can take many forms, from reviews and criticism to enterprise reporting, explanatory journalism, profiles, investigations, essays, and documentary-style storytelling.

The program does not consider advertising, marketing, public relations, promotional content, sponsored content, fundraising communications, institutional communications, academic scholarship, or content created primarily to promote an artist, organization, event, or commercial interest to be arts journalism.

Funding Restrictions

What We Fund

South Arts Arts Journalism Grants support journalism that serves the public by increasing understanding of the arts and cultural sector. The program welcomes projects that inform, contextualize, critique, investigate, document, and elevate conversations about the nonprofit arts ecosystem.

Examples of supported activities include:

• Arts reporting, criticism, analysis, and commentary.
• Feature stories, profiles, interviews, and enterprise reporting.
• Investigative and accountability journalism related to artists, arts organizations, cultural policy, arts funding, or issues affecting the arts sector.
• Coverage of artists, artistic works, exhibitions, performances, festivals, and cultural events.
• Audio journalism, podcasts, newsletters, photojournalism, documentary journalism, multimedia journalism, and other emerging journalistic formats.
• Reporting that highlights underreported communities, regions, artistic disciplines, and cultural traditions.
• Projects that increase public understanding of the role of artists and arts organizations within communities.
• Journalism that documents, preserves, and interprets cultural history and creative practice.
• Travel undertaken to report on artists, artistic activity, or arts organizations connected to the South.

Funding may be used to support reporting expenses, freelance assignments, travel, technology needs, professional development, research, and dependent-care costs that directly facilitate journalistic work.

What We Do Not Fund

The Arts Journalism Grant Program is intended to support independent journalism, not marketing, promotion, advocacy, or artistic production.

Grant funds may not be used for:

• Advertising, publicity, marketing, or public relations activities.
• Content created primarily to promote a specific artist, organization, venue, event, product, or commercial enterprise.
• Sponsored content, branded content, influencer marketing, or paid promotional activities.
• Organizational communications, fundraising campaigns, donor communications, or institutional newsletters that are not journalistic in nature.
• The creation, presentation, exhibition, or production of artistic work.
• Academic research, scholarly publications, dissertations, or coursework.
• Tuition, degree programs, or academic credentialing.
• The launch of a new media outlet.
• Political advocacy, lobbying, or campaign-related activities.
• Coverage that lacks a clear editorial or public-service purpose.
• Activities that primarily benefit a private organization or commercial enterprise rather than serving a broader public audience.

Receipt of funding does not imply endorsement of a grantee's viewpoints, conclusions, or editorial decisions. South Arts supports editorial independence and recognizes that strong arts journalism may include praise, critique, analysis, or accountability reporting. Funded projects are not required to present artists, organizations, institutions, or artworks in a positive light.

Guidelines

Please review the following eligibility requirements before preparing your application. Applicants may submit only one application and must apply in one category only: Individual Journalist, Journalism Organization, or Travel Grant.

Choosing the Right Grant Category

Applicants may submit only one application and must apply in the category that best fits their primary purpose for seeking funding.

Journalism Grants

Support the work and professional development of individual arts journalists. These grants provide flexible support to strengthen an applicant's overall journalism practice and may be used for activities such as reporting, research, travel, professional development, technology, dependent care, and other expenses that directly support journalistic work. Applicants are evaluated based on their individual body of work, professional practice, and potential for growth and impact.

Journalism Organization Grants

Support journalism organizations that produce and distribute arts and cultural coverage for public audiences. These grants are intended to strengthen organizational capacity, expand coverage, commission freelance or staff reporting, develop new editorial initiatives, improve audience engagement, or invest in systems and resources that support journalism. Applicants are evaluated based on organizational mission, editorial quality, community impact, and the proposed use of funds.

Travel Grants

Support specific reporting opportunities that require travel and result in publicly accessible journalism. Travel Grants may be awarded to individual journalists or journalism organizations and are intended to cover costs associated with reporting trips, including transportation, lodging, meals, and other eligible travel expenses.

Examples

• A freelance arts critic seeking funds for reporting expenses, professional development, or equipment should apply as an Individual Journalist.
• A nonprofit news organization seeking support to expand arts coverage, commission freelance writers, or strengthen its arts desk should apply as a Journalism Organization.
• A journalist proposing a specific reporting trip to cover arts events such as festivals, artist residencies, performances, exhibitions, or other arts-related activities should apply for a Travel Grant.
• A journalism organization seeking support for a specific reporting trip undertaken by a staff or freelance journalist should apply for a Travel Grant rather than an Organizational Grant.

Applicant Eligibility

Applicants must maintain a primary residence or organizational headquarters in a South Arts member state: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee. Travel Grant applicants based outside the South may apply when proposing reporting that focuses on Southern artists, artistic work, or arts organizations.

Eligible Journalist Applicants

Eligible applicants include professional journalists whose work serves the public through reporting, criticism, analysis, commentary, interviews, investigations, feature writing, audio journalism, photojournalism, documentary journalism, multimedia storytelling, or other forms of arts journalism.

Applicants must:

• Demonstrate a sustained professional journalistic practice over the previous three years through staff employment, freelance assignments, independent publication, or equivalent professional activity.
• Cover either a range of artistic disciplines or a specific discipline such as visual arts, theater, dance, literary arts, folk and traditional arts, jazz, classical music, multidisciplinary arts, or related cultural topics.
• Produce work intended for a general public audience rather than primarily for academic or scholarly audiences.
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Be based in a South Arts member state.
• Eligible work may appear in print, broadcast, digital, newsletter, podcast, video, photographic, audio, or other editorial formats.
• Short-form video content is eligible when it demonstrates reporting, criticism, analysis, documentary storytelling, or other journalistic functions. Content created primarily for marketing, promotion, sponsorship, branding, or influencer activity is not eligible.

The program is intended to support journalists at all career stages, from emerging practitioners to established leaders in the field. Applicants affiliated with colleges or universities are eligible provided their journalism includes public-facing coverage beyond academic publications.

South Arts recognizes that excellence may be demonstrated in many ways and is not determined solely by awards, audience size, institutional affiliation, or outlet prestige. Applicants will have the opportunity to describe their practice and provide work samples.

Eligible Journalism Organization Applicants

Eligible journalism organizations include:

• Nonprofit news organizations legally established for at least three years that provide coverage of arts and culture.
• For-profit news organizations with an established nonprofit fiscal sponsor capable of receiving grant funds.
• Organizations whose primary mission is journalism and public service rather than arts promotion, advocacy, tourism, or marketing.
• Organizations whose audience includes the general public rather than primarily academic or scholarly audiences.
• Organizations that produce arts journalism through reporting, criticism, analysis, enterprise reporting, features, interviews, investigations, podcasts, newsletters, multimedia journalism, photojournalism, documentary journalism, or related editorial formats.
• Organizations may focus on a single artistic discipline or multiple disciplines.

Examples of ineligible entities include tourism bureaus, chambers of commerce, arts alliances, presenter networks, and other organizations whose primary purpose is promotion rather than journalism.

Organizations may employ journalists who reside outside South Arts states; however, grant funds must support work performed by U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Eligible Travel Grant Applicants

Travel Grants support reporting that requires in-person observation, research, or interviews and results in publicly accessible journalism.

Eligible applicants include:

• A journalist based in a South Arts state who is traveling within the South to pursue an arts journalism assignment.
• A journalist based in a South Arts state who is traveling elsewhere to report on a Southern artist, arts organization, or cultural event.
• A journalist based elsewhere in the United States who is traveling to the South to report on Southern artists, artistic work, arts organizations, or cultural issues.
• Journalism organizations proposing travel-based reporting assignments for staff or freelance journalists.

Example: A public radio station may apply for a Travel Grant to support coverage of a local orchestra performing at Carnegie Hall, even if the specific reporter has not yet been assigned.

Required Application Materials

Journalist Grants

Applicant Information

Applicants must provide:

• Professional résumé, CV, LinkedIn profile, or equivalent professional biography
• Personal website or portfolio (if applicable)
• Social media handles (optional)
• Short biography (250 words maximum)
• Long biography (500 words maximum)

1. Journalistic Practice and Public Service

750 words maximum

Describe your work as an arts journalist. What subjects, communities, artistic disciplines, or issues do you cover? What motivates your work, and how does your journalism contribute to public understanding of the arts? Discuss your approach to reporting, criticism, analysis, documentation, or storytelling and explain how your work serves audiences and contributes to cultural discourse.

2. Use of Funds and Professional Growth

500 words maximum

If awarded a grant, how would you use the funding to strengthen your journalism practice? Describe the activities, expenses, opportunities, or projects the grant would support and explain why they are important at this stage of your career. Help reviewers understand how funding would increase the quality, sustainability, reach, or impact of your work.

Acceptable expenses may include assignment fees, dependent care, professional development, memberships, supplies, technology needs, and reporting-related travel.

3. Innovation, Audience, and Distribution

500 words maximum

Describe how your journalism reaches the public and contributes to informed cultural discourse. Who are the audiences you hope to serve, and through what outlets, platforms, or partnerships do you reach them?

Explain how you engage audiences beyond publication, whether through community partnerships, public events, newsletters, podcasts, social media, collaborative projects, or other methods. Please also describe any innovative approaches you are using or exploring to increase access to arts journalism, reach underserved communities, strengthen public engagement, or advance the field. How would grant funding help you build on these efforts?

4. Contribution to the Field

250 words maximum

Beyond your own reporting, how do you contribute to the future of arts journalism? Examples may include mentoring, collaboration, teaching, audience development, experimentation with new formats, leadership within professional organizations, or efforts to increase access and participation in the field. Describe any activities, partnerships, or initiatives that help strengthen the practice of arts journalism for others.

Work Samples

Submit work samples totaling no more than:

• 25 pages of written content, or
• 30 minutes of listening/viewing time

Applicants should include a brief statement (250 words maximum) explaining why the submitted samples best represent their journalism practice and work they would continue pursuing if awarded funding.

Journalism Organization Grants

Applicant Information

Applicants must provide:

• Organization website
• Social media handles
• Bios of key personnel (250 words maximum per individual)
• Audience and impact information, including available demographic, engagement, and reach data

1. Organizational Mission and Current Practice

1,000 words maximum

Describe your organization's mission, audience, and current approach to arts and cultural coverage. What role does your journalism play in your community? How does your reporting, criticism, analysis, or storytelling contribute to public understanding of the arts and cultural sector?

2. Proposed Use of Funds

750 words maximum plus budget

Describe what your organization would accomplish with grant funding. Explain the activities, staffing, partnerships, and expenses that would be supported. Include anticipated editorial outcomes and explain how funding would improve the quality, quantity, sustainability, or reach of your arts journalism.

Acceptable expenses may include freelance assignments, staffing support, professional development, technology needs, audience engagement initiatives, and travel required for reporting.

3. Innovation, Growth, and Community Impact

750 words maximum

Describe how this funding would help your organization expand, experiment, or innovate. Discuss audience engagement, distribution strategies, new formats, partnerships, training opportunities, or other efforts that would strengthen your journalism and better serve your community.

4. Contribution to the Field and Sustainability

500 words maximum

Beyond the proposed funded activities, how does your organization contribute to the future of arts journalism? Examples may include training and professional development, mentorship, internships, fellowships, collaborative reporting, content sharing, audience development, experimentation with new formats, commissioning freelance work, or other efforts that strengthen the arts journalism ecosystem.

Please also describe any lasting benefits this grant could create for your organization, your community, or the broader field of arts journalism.

Work Samples

Submit work samples totaling no more than:

• 25 pages of written content, or
• 30 minutes of listening/viewing time

Applicants should select samples that best demonstrate both the quality and scope of the organization's arts journalism.

Travel Grants

Applicant Information

Applicants must provide:

• Professional website or portfolio
• Social media handles (optional)
• Short biography (250 words maximum)
• Long biography (500 words maximum)

Type of Travel

Select one:

• Southern journalist traveling within the South
• Southern journalist traveling outside the South to cover a Southern artist, arts organization, or cultural event
• Journalist traveling to the South to report on Southern artists, arts organizations, artistic work, or cultural issues

1. Reporting Proposal

750 words maximum

Describe the reporting opportunity you wish to pursue. Why is this story, artist, event, organization, or issue significant? Why is travel necessary to complete the reporting? What unique value will be created through on-site reporting, observation, research, and interviews?

2. Publication and Impact Plan

500 words maximum

Describe the journalism that will result from this travel. What content will be produced, where would it potentially appear, and who is the intended audience?

Explain how the reporting will contribute to public understanding of the arts and cultural life of the South.

If applicable, describe how this reporting may contribute to broader cultural conversations, innovative approaches to storytelling, increased visibility for arts journalism, or deeper understanding of Southern artists, arts organizations, and cultural issues.

3. Travel Budget and Logistics

500 words maximum plus budget

Provide an estimated travel budget and timeline. Describe the reporting activities you will undertake during travel, including interviews, site visits, performances, exhibitions, events, or other planned reporting activities.

Eligible travel expenses may include:

• Airfare
• Train travel
• Mileage
• Ground transportation
• Lodging
• Meals directly related to reporting travel

Work Samples

Submit work samples totaling no more than:

• 25 pages of written content, or
• 30 minutes of listening/viewing time

Applicants should include samples that demonstrate their ability to successfully complete the proposed reporting project.

Work Sample Guidelines (All Categories)

Work samples may include articles, reviews, essays, investigations, audio journalism, podcasts, videos, photojournalism, newsletters, multimedia projects, or other editorial work.

Please do not submit content from academic journals.

If submitting podcasts, documentaries, or other long-form media, designate timestamps that fall within the 30-minute review limit.

Select samples that demonstrate both the quality and range of your work, with preference given to recent work completed within the last three years.

Review Guidance

Arts journalism is practiced across a wide range of platforms, formats, organizational structures, and career paths. Reviewers are encouraged to evaluate applications based on the stated review criteria and the goals of the program rather than on factors such as publication size, organizational budget, audience reach, geographic location, or institutional prestige.

Applicants may demonstrate excellence through reporting, criticism, analysis, investigation, storytelling, documentation, audience engagement, innovation, or public service. Successful applicants may come from traditional news organizations, nonprofit media, independent publications, freelance practice, podcasts, newsletters, public media, documentary projects, multimedia journalism, or emerging journalistic formats.

Reviewers should consider each application within the context of the applicant's resources, opportunities, and career stage. Emerging journalists should not be evaluated against the same expectations as established journalists or larger organizations. Similarly, smaller and rural media organizations should not be disadvantaged when compared to organizations with greater staffing or financial resources.

The purpose of this program is not to reward popularity, audience size, or promotional impact. Rather, reviewers should prioritize journalistic quality, editorial integrity, public service, meaningful engagement with the arts and cultural sector, and the potential for grant support to strengthen arts journalism in the South.

Review Criteria

Journalist Grants

Journalistic Excellence (40%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Quality of reporting, criticism, analysis, and storytelling
• Editorial integrity, accuracy, fairness, and ethics
• Public service value and contribution to cultural discourse
• Strength of submitted work samples
• Demonstrated commitment to arts journalism

Use of Funds and Professional Growth (30%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Clarity of proposed use of funds
• Feasibility of proposed activities
• Potential to strengthen the applicant's journalism practice
• Alignment with program goals

Audience, Innovation, and Impact (20%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Understanding of intended audiences
• Distribution and publishing strategy
• Audience engagement and community connection
• Innovation, experimentation, and adaptability

Contribution to the Field (10%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Mentorship, teaching, collaboration, or leadership
• Audience-development efforts
• Innovation that may benefit the field beyond the individual applicant
• Commitment to strengthening arts journalism

Journalism Organization Grants

Organizational Excellence and Capacity (25%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Quality of journalism and editorial standards
• Organizational mission and audience focus
• Strength of work samples
• Capacity to complete proposed activities

Project Plan and Use of Funds (30%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Clarity and feasibility of proposed activities
• Budget appropriateness
• Editorial value of proposed work
• Potential to increase quantity and/or quality of coverage

Public Impact and Community Value (30%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Contribution to public understanding of the arts
• Community engagement and audience service
• Potential to increase cultural discourse
• Potential to improve access to arts journalism

Field Advancement and Sustainability (15%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Support for freelancers, emerging journalists, or collaborators
• Training, mentorship, internships, fellowships, or professional development
• Innovation in storytelling, distribution, or audience engagement
• Potential for lasting benefits beyond the grant period

Travel Grants

Journalistic Excellence (30%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Quality of submitted work samples
• Editorial integrity and journalistic ethics
• Demonstrated ability to successfully complete the proposed reporting

Reporting Proposal and Feasibility (40%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Significance of the proposed story
• Clear justification for travel
• Strength of reporting plan
• Budget appropriateness
• Feasibility of successful completion

Public Impact and Distribution (30%)

Reviewers should consider:

• Contribution to public understanding of the arts
• Strength of publication and distribution plan
• Potential impact on audiences and cultural discourse
• Potential to increase visibility of Southern artists, arts organizations, and cultural issues

Priorities

In addition to the review criteria outlined above, South Arts seeks to support a vibrant and sustainable arts journalism ecosystem across the region.

The Arts Journalism Grant Program encourages applications from journalists and organizations that reflect the geographic, demographic, and professional diversity of the field. South Arts welcomes applications representing a broad range of communities, lived experiences, journalistic approaches, artistic disciplines, audience sizes, and media formats.

South Arts is particularly interested in supporting projects that:

• Increase public understanding of the arts and cultural sector.
• Advance meaningful cultural discourse and community engagement.
• Expand access to arts journalism for underserved, rural, and historically underrepresented communities.
• Cover a broad range of artistic disciplines and cultural traditions.
• Embrace new approaches to storytelling, audience engagement, and distribution.
• Strengthen the long-term sustainability and visibility of arts journalism.
• Foster collaboration, mentorship, innovation, and other efforts that advance the field.

Through the Travel Grant category, South Arts also seeks to increase regional and national awareness of artists, artistic work, cultural traditions, and arts organizations connected to South Arts member states.

These priorities are intended to inform funding decisions alongside the review criteria and do not constitute separate eligibility requirements.

Demographic Information

Demographic information is collected for program evaluation, planning, and reporting purposes only. This information is not shared with panelists and is not used as a scored review criterion.

Individual applicants will be asked to provide the following information:

• Birth year
• Gender identity
• Race and ethnicity
• U.S. citizenship and/or residency status

Applicants may decline to answer demographic questions unless disclosure is required to establish eligibility.

Grant Award & Payment

South Arts enters into grant agreements with selected applicants, including individual journalists and eligible journalism organizations. Prior to receiving grant funds, grantees may be required to provide documentation verifying U.S. citizenship, permanent residency status, organizational status, fiscal sponsorship, taxpayer identification information, or other materials required by law or organizational policy. Grant agreements will outline all terms and conditions of the award, including payment schedules, reporting requirements, acknowledgment requirements, and grant period expectations.

Reporting Requirements

At the conclusion of the grant period, grantees must submit a final report that includes:

• A description of how grant funds were used
• A summary of project activities and outcomes
• Documentation of public acknowledgment of South Arts support
• Copies, links, recordings, or other documentation of supported work, as applicable

Grantees will receive 75% of the grant award following execution of the grant agreement and the start of the grant period. The remaining 25% will be disbursed following approval of the final report and submission of all required materials.

Grant funds may constitute taxable income. Grantees are responsible for complying with all applicable tax laws and reporting requirements.

Accessibility

South Arts is committed to ensuring that technology is not a barrier to participation in this program. Applications must be submitted through the designated online grants portal by the published deadline. Applicants are encouraged to begin the application process early and allow sufficient time to complete required materials.

For technical assistance with Salesforce or application issues, please contact grants@southarts.org. Individuals requiring assistance with the application process, accessibility accommodations, or alternative submission arrangements should contact Lisa Smalls, Director, Arts Access and Learning, at lsmalls@southarts.org or schedule a meeting. 

Applicants requesting assistance or accommodations are encouraged to reach out as early as possible before the deadline. South Arts will make reasonable efforts to support equitable access to the application process.