Grassroots Arts Program
The Georgia Appalachian Studies Center has been appointed by the Georgia Council for the Arts as the re-granting agency to administer the Grassroots Arts Program (GAP) for fiscal year 2010 in Fannin, Gilmer, Habersham, Lumpkin, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, and White counties.
This statewide arts program is designed to support emerging arts organizations and grassroots-level arts programming, including collaborative projects by artists, arts organizations, and non-arts organizations, in order to serve a broad range of residents, including traditionally underserved communities. Funding is open to any non-profit organization, including units of local government. The maximum grant amount is $1,500.
The idea behind GAP is to allow local communities to make decisions about the types of arts programming they want and to provide funding for smaller, emerging groups as they get off the ground, to “fill in the gap” as start-up organizations establish themselves.
Established groups may also apply for GAP funding to make quality improvements – to get to “the next level” of artistry – or to expand their programs and develop new audiences, especially in underserved communities.
The Grassroots Advisory Committee, composed of 20 volunteers representing all ten counties in the region, will review applications and recommend funding allocations. The Committee is comprised of community representatives with a variety of backgrounds in areas such as tourism, visual and performing arts, economic development, non-profit management, and business.
Applications and guidelines will be available by June 15. The application deadline is August 15, 2009. For additional information about GAP, the application process, or to put your name on the GAP mailing list, please email the Project Administrator at rkent@ngcsu.edu.
