This grant program is open by invitation. If your organization has been invited to apply, please review the information below to submit your application. If you have a program or project that is a strong fit with the Arts Education Grants Criteria, please feel free to submit a brief summary describing your work and send to grants@sonomacf.org. The Community Impact Team will contact you if there is a chance to explore further.
A high-quality arts education is vital for developing imaginative thinkers able to address tomorrow’s most pressing problems and contribute to the vibrancy and culture of their communities. Student involvement in the arts is linked to higher academic performance, increased standardized test scores, greater involvement in community service, and lower dropout rates.
Unfortunately, arts programs are frequently cut from the curriculum for budgetary reasons. Consequently, schools turn to parent-teacher associations and fundraisers to continue to operate arts programs. This reliance on outside funding has exacerbated widespread disparities in access to high-quality arts education in our community.
Overview
Community Foundation Sonoma County is committed to equitable access to arts education. Our arts education grant program is dedicated to supporting non-profits that provide a high-quality arts education for students furthest from these opportunities. Arts education curricula should be delivered by qualified Sonoma County visual, performing, or literary artists providing instruction and creative experiences directly to young people.
Specific criteria include providing students with the opportunity to:
- Create a work of art within the visual, literary and/or performing arts
- Share their work through informal presentations or performances
- Reflect and respond to their own or others’ art
- Experience multiple opportunities for learning. Arts education experiences limited to a single visit, performance, or assembly are not a fit with this grants program.
Timeline
- Thursday, May 26, 2022: Grant application opens online
- Thursday, June 16, 2022: Grant application closes at 4 p.m.
- Friday, June 24, 2022: Applicants informed of grant awards
How to Apply
This grant program is open by invitation. If your organization has been invited to apply, please review the information below to submit your application. If you have a program or project that is a strong fit with the Arts Education Grants Criteria, please feel free to submit a brief summary describing your work and send to grants@sonomacf.org. The Community Impact Team will contact you if there is a chance to explore further.
For organizations invited to apply, please follow these instructions:
Community Foundation Sonoma County uses an online process for submitting grant applications. You can access the application through our portal at this link. If this is your first application using the online program, you will be asked to set up an account, provide your IRS Tax ID (or Fiscal Sponsor Tax ID) and take a short eligibility quiz.
If you have an established account, you will be asked for your password to either access existing application drafts or to open a new application.
Once you’ve opened an online account, you will be asked a series of question that include your contact information, funding request amount, project start and end date and a series of narrative questions. We highly recommend that you complete your application in a Word document and then copy and paste the content into the online template; to download a Word version of the narrative questions for the application, click here.
Applicants will also be asked to upload the following documents (templates will be provided for those documents with an asterisk):
- Board of Directors List (or Board of Directors from Fiscal Sponsor)
- Organization and Project Budget Form*
- Fiscal Sponsorship Form (only for organizations using a Fiscal Sponsor)*
To review FAQs for Online Submission, please click here.
Why is this grant program invitation only? How can my organization apply?
The Community Impact Team is sensitive to the resources required by nonprofits to apply for grants. We strive to avoid unnecessary expenditure of time and effort by ensuring that programs are a strong fit with funding prior to completing the application. We employ a trust-based approach to our grantmaking, assuming responsibility for researching and vetting projects in advance. If you believe you have a program that strongly aligns with the grant criteria, please feel free to send a brief summary of your program to grants@sonomacf.org.
Our 2021 Arts Education Grants
| Organization | Grant Purpose |
|---|---|
| Art Escape | for general operating support |
| Art Escape | for advising and support for the Sonoma Valley Fund Cohort |
| Artstart (START SoCo) | for general operating support |
| California Indian Museum & Cultural Center | to support arts education programs for youth |
| California Poets in the Schools | to support arts education programs for youth in Sonoma County |
| Children's Museum of Sonoma County | for general operating support |
| Cinnabar Arts Corporation | to support arts education programs for youth |
| Healdsburg Jazz Festival, Inc | to support arts education programs for youth |
| Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society | to support arts education programs for From Diggers Bend to River Rock: History and People of Dry Creek Rancheria in collaboration with the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians |
| Knights of Indulgence Theatre United States | to support arts education programs for youth |
| Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation | to support arts education programs for youth |
| Museum of Sonoma County | to support arts education programs for youth |
| Santa Rosa Players dba Sixth Street Playhouse | to support arts education programs for youth |
| Santa Rosa Symphony | to support arts education programs for youth |
| Sonoma State University | to support Green Music Center arts education programs for youth; to support Green Music Center’s arts education programs for youth |
| Sonoma Valley Museum of Art | to support arts education programs for youth |
| ViVO Youth Orchestras | for general operating support |
| Young Actors Studio and Left Edge Theatre | for general operating support |
For questions about the Arts Education grant program, please contact:
For questions about the online application process, please contact:
