South Arts Launches New Arts Journalism Grant Program to Support Cultural Coverage Across the South

South Arts is pleased to announce the inaugural Arts Journalism Grant program, aimed at reducing financial barriers that limit the sustainability of arts journalism by providing support for journalists, media organizations, and travel-based reporting. The program arrives as South Arts celebrates its 50th Anniversary, cementing a deep history of advancing the cultural richness of the Southeast region.   

Since 1976, South Arts has championed the talents of Southern artists across disciplines, working to advance the vitality of the region through arts and culture. The Arts Journalism Grant is a natural extension of this work, recognizing the essential role journalism plays in documenting artistic activity, fostering public dialogue, and supporting a healthy cultural ecosystem. The program recognizes that when arts journalists face fewer financial barriers, they are better positioned to promote critical discourse, highlight artistic work, and connect audiences with the arts.  

“Artists shape how we understand ourselves, our communities, and the moment we’re living in, but that work doesn't reach people without journalists willing to cover it. At a time when resources for cultural coverage are shrinking, South Arts has an opportunity to invest in the people doing that essential work. This isn't just about generating more coverage. It’s about strengthening the cultural infrastructure of the South, expanding public understanding of the arts, and making sure this region's stories are told with the depth they deserve. That's the kind of investment that builds a stronger, more connected arts community for the long term,” said South Arts President & CEO Doug Shipman.  

Over the past 50 years, South Arts has watched the nature of the arts ecosystem shift alongside a media landscape facing funding cuts and financial barriers. In tandem with its core mission of enhancing the cultural richness of the Southeast, South Arts turns its attention to the media landscape, recognizing the implicit need to philanthropically fund arts journalism in order to support a healthy cultural ecosystem.  

To develop this pilot program, South Arts partnered with arts journalist Rebecca Ritzel, a former theatre columnist for The Washington Post and contributor to many top North American news outlets. Ritzel spent the past year as a research fellow at the University of Missouri's Reynolds Journalism Institute, looking for ways to boost arts journalism funding.

“More often than not, news organizations want to platform arts and culture journalism, but they don't have the resources to say yes,” Ritzel said, noting recent data that shows freelance wages have not risen since 2020. “When news orgs pay below market rate, that limits who can accept their assignments. There’s often an equity issue at play, an issue these grants can help offset.”    

The Arts Journalism Grant amounts will range from $1,000 for Travel Grants, $5,000 for Individual Grants, and $10,000 for Journalism Organizations. Grants may be awarded directly to individual arts journalists or eligible journalism organizations. By supporting a range of independent journalists and media organizations, the program helps ensure that artists, arts organizations, cultural traditions, and creative communities receive thoughtful coverage that informs the public and encourages a collective dialogue.     

The Arts Journalism Grant defines arts journalism as 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. The journalists’ work may focus on one or more artistic disciplines, and may appear in print, broadcast, digital, audio, video, newsletter, podcast, or other editorial formats.   

For more information on the Arts Journalism Grant and eligibility requirements, please visit southarts.org.  

###     

About South Arts 
South Arts advances Southern vitality through the arts. The nonprofit regional arts organization was founded in 1976 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts’ work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to support the success of artists and arts providers in the South, address the needs of Southern communities through impactful arts-based programs, and celebrate the excellence, innovation, value, and power of the arts of the South. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.   

Press Inquiries 

Hilena Haileselassie  
Marketing & Communications Manager, South Arts 
HHaileselassie@southarts.org   

Cultural Counsel 
southarts@culturalcounsel.com