NC grassroots-arts grants available for Buncombe artists; workshops available to assist applicants

Posted on by Jeff Fobes

Each year, Buncombe County artists may apply for grants from the N.C. Grassroots Arts Program. This year, the city of Asheville is offering workshops to help artists learn the application ropes.

In 1977, the North Carolina General Assembly established the Grassroots Arts Program to ensure that every citizen had access to quality arts experiences, according to the N.C. Arts Council. The program distributes funds for the arts, primarily through local arts councils, to all 100 counties using a per capita based formula. The creation of the Grassroots Arts Program increased the state’s already growing number of local arts councils and helped establish North Carolina as a leader in the national community arts movement.

The three primary funding uses of Grassroots funds are to (artists, pay particular attention to No. 3):

1. Provide Operating Support to Designated County Partners: Designated County Partners may use up to 50-percent of their grassroots grant funds for general operating support. These funds may be used to support administrative costs associated with the organization’s operations including salaries, benefits, space rental, equipment rental, contract personnel fees, utilities, insurance, telephone, postage, office supplies, and marketing fees.

2. Through subgrants, provide program or operating support to arts organizations that do not have access to operating support from the N. C. Arts Council: DCPs located in counties with 50,000 or more residents are required to sub-grant 50-percent of their Grassroots allocation to other organizations in their county to conduct arts programs. DCPs located in counties with less than 50,000 residents must use 50-percent of their funds for arts programs that they conduct OR for subgrants to other organizations for arts programs utilizing qualified artists. In either case, DCPs are expected to provide support to qualified arts organizations in their counties that consistently present quality arts programs and that do not receive operating support from the N.C. Arts Council. For complete information on subgranting, visit section IV on page 15.

3. Support quality arts programs that reach and impact a broad cross-section of the county’s citizens and youth: Through arts programs that DCPs conduct, or through programs funded through sub-grants to other arts organization, quality arts programs and experiences are delivered to diverse communities in the DCP’s county. In most cases, qualified artists are required for projects that receive Grassroots funding.

The city of Asheville Cultural Arts Division has organized three grant workshops for the North Carolina Arts Council’s Grassroots Arts Program subgrant. All workshops are free and open to organizations and individuals interested in applying for the grant. The workshop dates, times and locations are as follows:

Wednesday, Sept. 21
12:30 – 2 p.m.
Black Mountain Center for the Arts
225 West State St., Black Mountain, NC 28711

Thursday, Sept. 22
12:30 – 2 p.m.
Weaverville Public Library
41 N. Main St., Weaverville, NC 28787

Friday, Sept. 23
12:30 – 2 p.m.
Recreation Park Offices
72 Gashes Creek Road, Asheville, NC 28805

Applications for North Carolina Arts Council Grassroots Arts Program subgrants are due to the City of Asheville Cultural Arts Division by 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30. Applications may be mailed or hand-delivered but must be received by the deadline.  Faxed and emailed applications will not be accepted.

Application forms and guidelines are available on the City of Asheville website at www.ashevillenc.gov/parks or may be picked up at the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts office at City Hall, 4th floor (70 Court Plaza, Asheville, NC 28801), Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The Cultural Arts Division will also mail applications and guidelines upon request.

Since 1977, the North Carolina Arts Council’s Grassroots Arts Program has provided North Carolina citizens access to quality arts experiences. Using a per capita based formula, the program provides funding for the arts in all 100 counties of the state through partnerships with local arts councils. The City of Asheville serves as the North Carolina Arts Council’s partner in awarding subgrants to local organizations for arts programs in Buncombe County.

For questions or more information, contact Diane Ruggiero at 828-259-5815 or email druggiero@ashevillenc.gov.
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Buncombe County 2010 grant recipients were:
Arts for Life Arts and Audiences $10,000.00
Asheville Area Arts Council Grassroots Arts Program $56,158.00
Asheville Area Arts Council Regional Artist Project $7,000.00
Asheville Area Arts Council New Realities Program $2,950.00
Asheville Art Museum General Support $47,500.00
Asheville Bravo Concerts Arts and Audiences $10,000.00
Asheville Community Theatre Grassroots Subgrantee $4,950.00
Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre Grassroots Subgrantee $2,000.00
Asheville Latin Americans for Advancement Society Grassroots Subgrantee $4,950.00
Asheville Symphony General Support $47,500.00
Asheville Wordfest Arts and Audiences $12,500.00
Black Mountain Center for the Arts Grassroots Subgrantee $4,750.00
Black Mountain Center for the Arts New Realities Program $2,950.00
Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center Arts and Audiences $10,000.00
Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center Grassroots Subgrantee $4,950.00
Erin Brethauer Regional Artist Project Artist $550.00
Christy Clavio Regional Artist Project Artist $600.00
Josh Copus Regional Artist Project Artist $600.00
Diana Wortham Theatre General Support $28,500.00
HandMade in America Creative Workforce $10,000.00
HandMade in America Statewide Service Organizations $25,000.00
Holly K. Iglesias Artist Fellowship $10,000.00
Lake Eden Arts Festival Grassroots Subgrantee $3,000.00
Chuck Lichtenberger Regional Artist Project Artist $600.00
Sharon McNeill Artist Fellowship $10,000.00
Katherine K. Min Artist Fellowship $10,000.00
Stephanie Morgan Regional Artist Project Artist $600.00
Molly T. Must Regional Artist Project Artist $925.00
North Carolina Stage Company Creative Workforce $10,000.00
North Carolina Stage Company New Realities Program $1,475.00
North Carolina Stage Company General Support $19,000.00
Pan Harmonia New Realities Program $2,950.00
Pan Harmonia Arts and Audiences $6,500.00
Red June Regional Artist Project Artist $600.00
Glenis Redmond Regional Artist Project Artist $600.00
Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance New Realities Program $2,950.00
Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance Arts and Audiences $8,000.00
Western North Carolina Jazz Society Grassroots Subgrantee $3,500.00
Western North Carolina Jazz Society Arts and Audiences $6,500.00
Alissa Whelan Regional Artist Project Artist $400.00
YMI Cultural Center Creative Workforce $10,000.00
YMI Cultural Center Outreach Program Sustaining Support $20,000.00

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About Jeff Fobes
As a long-time proponent of media for social change, my early activities included coordinating the creation of a small community FM radio station to serve a poor section of St. Louis, Mo. In the 1980s I served as the editor of the "futurist" newsletter of the U.S. Association for the Club of Rome, a professional/academic group with a global focus and a mandate to act locally. During that time, I was impressed by a journalism experiment in Mississippi, in which a newspaper reporter spent a year in a small town covering how global activities impacted local events (e.g., literacy programs in Asia drove up the price of pulpwood; soybean demand in China impacted local soybean prices). Taking a cue from the Mississippi journalism experiment, I offered to help the local Green Party in western North Carolina start its own newspaper, which published under the name Green Line. Eventually the local party turned Green Line over to me, giving Asheville-area readers an independent, locally focused news source that was driven by global concerns. Over the years the monthly grew, until it morphed into the weekly Mountain Xpress in 1994. I've been its publisher since the beginning. Mountain Xpress' mission is to promote grassroots democracy (of any political persuasion) by serving the area's most active, thoughtful readers. Consider Xpress as an experiment to see if such a media operation can promote a healthy, democratic and wise community. In addition to print, today's rapidly evolving Web technosphere offers a grand opportunity to see how an interactive global information network impacts a local community when the network includes a locally focused media outlet whose aim is promote thoughtful citizen activism. Follow me @fobes
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3 thoughts on “NC grassroots-arts grants available for Buncombe artists; workshops available to assist applicants”

  1. artart

    What a waste of taxpayer money. If “artists” can’t compete in the marketplace why are public funds used to subsidize them? Why just “artists” and not car mechanics or roofers or septic tank cleaners?

  2. artfart

    “A culture’s peak happens when the arts are alive”

    That’s why we fund the arts.

  3. artart

    The original artart says that the arts are funded (WE do not fund the arts) the same way that any endeavor lobbies the government to get in line to take taxpayer dollars. The arts ar funded just because of strong lobbies, not all that different than the lobbies of insurance companies or oil companies that also get taxpayer money in one way or another. Funding the arts is not a valid constitutional function of government.

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