State Arts Council opens arts grant applications for selected programs with April 1 deadline

RHODE ISLAND, February 3 - Providence, RI—The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) announced today that applications are now open for selected arts and culture grant programs to organizations, arts educators, artists, folk and traditional artists, and arts and health projects. The agency also is announcing a new grant program called the Arts and Health Incubator Grant.

The new program will fund organizations or artists for planning, professional development, capacity building, pilot projects or coalition-building that use the arts to address one of the following health goals in Gov. McKee's RI 2030 Plan, a comprehensive policy document that charts the course for a brighter future for all Rhode Islanders. The goals embedded in the Plan's health priorities are: Physical health and well-being, behavioral health, older adults and caregiving, healthcare system strengthening and equity for underserved communities.

Awardees of the Arts and Health Incubator Grant will also participate in a peer learning cohort during the project period. This group of artists, creatives, organization leaders, and health professionals will convene to share knowledge, challenges, best practices, and evaluation strategies, further building the arts and health field in Rhode Island.

"We are excited to be announcing this new grant program, which supports the work artists and organizations in Rhode Island are doing to improve individual and community health and well-being through the arts," said Todd Trebour, Executive Director of RISCA. "A robust body of research links arts participation to positive health outcomes, demonstrating that the arts can improve the social, emotional, physical, and psychological well-being of individuals while also enhancing social cohesion and belonging, reducing the significant health risks posed by social isolation and loneliness."

The deadline to submit an application for these grants is April 1 at 11:59 p.m.

RISCA staff members will host information sessions, office hours and application walk-throughs to assist with the grant application process.

Three Information sessions with RISCA staff are scheduled as follow (link below): Grant Information Session Online, Tue, Feb 10, at noon; Grant Information Session at Warwick Public Library, 600 Sandy Lane, Warwick, Wed, Feb 25, at 6 p.m.; and Grant Information Session at the South Providence Library, 441 Prairie Ave., Providence, Tue, Mar 3, at 6 p.m.

Arts and cultural grants are being offered for the following programs:

• Project Grants for Organizations offer support to arts and culture projects that are relevant and meaningful to our communities.

• Project Grants in Education support schools, nonprofit organizations, arts educators and teaching artists. Recipients engage students in rich and meaningful artistic experiences in dedicated learning environments.

• Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships are designed to foster artistic skills between a mentor and an apprentice. The program creates an opportunity specifically for individuals who share a common cultural heritage.

• Folk and Traditional Arts Fellowships support individual artists who demonstrate the highest level of skill and accomplishments in their craft.

• Arts and Health Grants fund both non-clinical arts engagements that promote and facilitate individual health and public arts activities that provide a public health benefit.

• Arts and Health Incubator Grant funds organizations or artists' projects that use the arts to address goals embedded in the RI 2030 Plan to create a healthier Rhode Island.

• A Community Engaged Project Grant funds artists or groups of artists to create arts and culture projects that directly and actively engage residents.

• Make Art Grant provides grants to artists or groups of artists to create or continue specific artwork in any discipline.