Current Calls and Funding

Arts in Parks 2024 Grant

Drumming in the Park; Photo by Jenny Crooks

The Office of Arts & Culture is partnering with Seattle Parks and Recreation (PARKS) to increase arts and community events in parks throughout the city. The Arts in Parks Program is an opportunity for the city to invest in the vibrant cultural work being done in and by diverse communities throughout Seattle.

This grant supports new and established festivals or events that promote arts and cultural participation, celebrate diversity, build community connections, and activate parks through arts and culture while connecting with communities most impacted by systemic oppression including low-income, people with disabilities, immigrant and refugee communities, and communities of color.

Grant Guidelines

• Guidelines (English)
• Guidelines (አማርኛ)
• Guidelines (繁體中文)
• Guidelines (Español)
• Guidelines (한국어)
• Guidelines (Soomaali)
• Guidelines (Tagalog)
• Guidelines (Tiếng Việt)

We have interpreters who can speak to you in your language, including American Sign Language. Just call us and tell us what language you speak. Expect a short pause while we find an interpreter to join the call.

Eligibility

The Applicant must:

• Be an individual artist, neighborhood arts council, or local community-based group
  • Organizations and individual artists representing communities most impacted by systemic oppression including low-income, people with disabilities, immigrant and refugee communities, and communities of color are encouraged to apply.
• Have a Federal Tax ID number and be based in the city of Seattle.
  • Groups applying are not required to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit nor are they required to use a fiscal agent.

The Project must:

• Have a significant arts and culture component,
• Be free and open to the public,
• Have insurance,
• Provide a platform for under-resourced artists and communities,
• Adhere to PARKS’ mission statement (to provide welcoming and safe opportunities to play, learn, contemplate, build community, and promote responsible stewardship of the land),
• Take place in an eligible City of Seattle park between April 1 and November 30, 2024.
• Events taking place in Downtown or City Center Parks or at Playfields and green spaces immediately adjacent to community centers are not eligible for this funding.

You may submit only one application per year to this program.

Funding

Applicants may apply for up to $7,800 in funding. Please review the guidelines for detailed information.

Due Date

Tuesday, November 7, 2023, 5:00 p.m. (Pacific). Please allow ample time to complete and submit your application; applications will not be accepted after the 5:00 p.m. Pacific deadline. 

Information and Drop-In Sessions

We offer virtual and in-person options for all workshops. Information sessions review the grant program and how to submit your best application. Drop-in sessions provide support with your application and the system.

Information Session 1 - VIRTUAL

Wednesday, October 4, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Watch recorded session here

Information Session 2 - IN-PERSON

Friday, October 13, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Jefferson Community Center
3801 Beacon Avenue South Seattle, WA 98108

Drop-In Session 1 - VIRTUAL

Monday, October 23, 2023
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
RSVP here

Drop-In Session 2 - IN-PERSON

Saturday, November 4, 2023
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Garfield Community Center
2323 East Cherry Street Seattle, WA 98122
RSVP here

Application

Apply online through the City of Seattle's grant portal. If this is your first time using Fluxx, you will have to create a user profile before you start your application.

Info

For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Ashraf Hasham, Project Manager, at (206) 514-1057 or Ahraf.Hasham@seattle.gov.

A Call for Poems from the Seattle Civic Poet

Blue, Critter, Tree by Fay Jones

Submissions will be administered and selected by Shin Yu Pai.

Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai invites you to send her a short poem on place, as it relates to sustainability. What might it look like to imagine a Seattle where all communities thrive, where we care for our environment and non-human species? How might we connect Seattle’s past and present to a more enduring future? What places and people do we cherish and want to protect?

Poems should focus on places and images specific to Seattle, our natural environment and the living things particular to this region (i.e. Western red cedar trees, orcas, salmon), Seattle-specific communities of people, and more. Here are some poems to give you inspiration:

• Tanya Holtland on Golden Gardens
• Samar Abulhassan on a Black beauty shop in the Central District
• Rasheena Fountain on Piper’s Creek

Of the poems selected for this public poetry campaign, poems (or excerpts from poems) may be printed as postcards, posters and/or other visual material.

Eligibility

• Poet must reside or work in Seattle, WA
• Poems must be submitted in English language
• Poems must be unpublished
• Poems must be your original work and 100 words or fewer
• No AI- or LLM-generated content
• Authors retain copyright for poems but grant the Civic Poet and The City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture the right to display and distribute the selected poems or excerpts of the poems
• Only one poem per Seattle resident/worker will be considered or selected

Due Date

All eligible poems received by October 31, 2023, 11:59 p.m. PDT will be reviewed.

How to Submit Your Poem

• Compose a poem related to the theme “sustainability and place” in 100 words or fewer.
• Cut and paste your submission into the body of an email with a short bio confirming that you live or work in Seattle to seattle.civic.poet.2023@gmail.com.
• For privacy reasons, NO street addresses should be provided in the email.

Information sent to this email address is considered a public record and may be subject to public disclosure. For more information, see the Public Records Act, RCW Chapter 42.56.

All poets will be notified about the results of the selection process by early 2024.

Info

For questions about this call, please contact Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai: seattle.civic.poet.2023@gmail.com.

The Creative Advantage Community Arts Partner Roster (Rolling Deadline)

The Creative Advantage is a city-wide initiative to establish equitable access to arts learning for every student in Seattle Public Schools. The Creative Advantage is made possible through a public-private partnership with Seattle Public Schools, the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Seattle Foundation, and over 100 community arts partners.  
 
The Community Arts Partner Roster consists of individual teaching artists and community arts and culture organizations approved to work in Seattle Public Schools through The Creative Advantage. Community Arts Partners collaborate with schools to provide:  

• Student Art Residencies
• Teacher Professional Development 

Please Note: An applicant can apply to lead student arts residencies and/or teacher professional development. 

Visit the Creative Advantage website for more information. 

Eligibility

Open to teaching artists, community arts organizations, and cultural institutions serving students, teachers, and schools in Seattle with three (3) or more years of teaching experience. Applicants must be over the age of 18.

The Roster application is open, and will stay open year-round for new artists, teaching artists, community arts organizations, and cultural institutions to apply. Applications will be vetted and approved by Creative Advantage Advisors, through a panel process three times annually (March, June, October). Roster Advisors are Seattle Public School teacher leaders and current Roster partners. 

Review Deadlines:

• Applications submitted between 10/11/23 and by 5 PM (PST) 3/1/24 will be reviewed during the March review cycle
• Applications submitted between 3/1/24 and by 5 PM (PST) 6/7/24 will be reviewed during the June review cycle
• Applications submitted between 6/7/24 and by 5 PM (PST) 10/11/24 will be reviewed during the October review cycle

An applicant can apply to provide both student art residencies and/or professional development opportunities for teachers and will have the option to indicate that on the application.

Application

Apply on Submittable.

If you have trouble with Submittable, check their FAQ which offers step-by-step guides. For further assistance with the Submittable online application, please contact Submittable tech support at support@submittable.com.

Info

For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Project Manager, Tina LaPadula.

We can speak to you in your language, including American Sign Language. Just call us and tell us what language you speak. Expect a short pause while we find an interpreter to join the call.

smART Ventures Grant (Rolling Due Date)

Black Arts Love by Jenny Crooks

smART Ventures is flexible, inclusive, simple, and encourages innovation by individuals, organizations, and communities that may not qualify for other funding programs. smART Ventures provides support ranging from $500 to $1,000, proving that small investments can have big impacts.  

Read the full guidelines.

Eligibility

• Individuals or groups of people – including youth and older adults – seeking support for a unique project, opportunity, or event involving arts and culture and not currently funded by our office
• Organizations – arts and culture and others – organizations do NOT have to have 501(c)(3) non-profit status
  • emerging (less than 3 years old), OR
  • not currently funded by our office, OR
  • grassroots or business organizations
• Practicing artists not currently funded by our office and who have never received a CityArtist grant before

Due Date

The application is open and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Application

Apply here.

Info

For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Project Manager, Kristi Woo.

We can speak to you in your language, including American Sign Language. Just call us and tell us what language you speak. Expect a short pause while we find an interpreter to join the call.

Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (LHPAI) Facility Grant

The LHPAI Facility Grant aims to create community impact by broadening arts and culture participation at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, a historic landmark cultural facility in the heart of the Central Area neighborhood of Seattle. The LHPAI Facility Grant seeks to celebrate, nurture, present and preserve African American and Diaspora performing arts and cultural legacies.

The LHPAI Facility Grant provides in-kind support for public projects, opportunities, or events presented by individuals, groups, organizations, or communities. The grant takes the form of up to 40 hours of staffed building use for a public arts or cultural event at LHPAI. The LHPAI Facility Grant consists solely of facility use and staff time.

There is no monetary investment associated with this grant.

Read the full guidelines.

Eligibility

• Individuals, organizations, communities, or groups of people - including youth and older adults - seeking support for a unique public project, opportunity, or event involving African American and Diaspora arts and culture may apply.
• Only events open to the public may receive the LHPAI Facility Grant. Private events are ineligible. Public events may still charge an entrance fee for their events.
• Organizations — arts and culture and others — are NOT required to have 501(c)(3) non-profit status

Due Date

The application is open and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Application

Apply here.

Info

For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Sandra Boas-DuPree.

We can speak to you in your language, including American Sign Language. Just call us and tell us what language you speak. Expect a short pause while we find an interpreter to join the call.