NEA Grants for Arts Projects 2025
| To: | Chairs and Administrators, Departments in the Humanities; Associate Deans for Research; College/School Research Administrators |
| From: | Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research |
| Date: | January 02, 2025 |
| Subject: | National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants for Arts Projects 2025 |
Deadline
| Deadline for Internal Review: | January 22, 2025 |
Project Description
OVCR is only accepting applications for internal review for the February 13, 2025 deadline. Applications will not be accepted for the July 10, 2025 deadline.
Through project-based funding, Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) supports an expansive range of arts activities to strengthen the nation’s arts and culture ecosystem. These activities may include opportunities for public engagement with the arts and arts education, for the integration of the arts with strategies promoting the health and well-being of people and communities, and for the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector.
The NEA funds arts projects through 15 different subcategories, based on artistic discipline or field, which are broadly referred to as “disciplines.” Applicants apply to a specific discipline area. In the Application Instructions documents found on the GAP webpage, each discipline has outlined their broader arts ecosystem, the types of projects they encourage, and guidance on characteristics of competitive proposals.
The GAP program funds arts projects in the following disciplines: Artist Communities, Arts Education, Dance, Design, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Local Arts Agencies, Media Arts, Museums, Music, Musical Theater, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works, Theater, and Visual Arts.
Amount: Grants range from $10,000 to $100,000. All grants require a nonfederal cost share or match of at least 1 to 1.
Duration of Award: Up to two years
Number of Awards: More than 1,000
Applications consist of two parts:
- Application Part 1: Grants.gov
Submit to Grants.gov the “Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organization Form.” This is a brief form that will collect basic information about your organization. You must successfully submit Part 1 in order to continue to Part 2. - Application Part 2: NEA Applicant Portal
Complete the “Grant Application Form (GAF)” and upload items through the NEA’s Applicant Portal. This web form is where you will enter the majority of your application material (e.g., project description, timelines, budget information, work samples, etc.).
Grants.gov Submission Deadline: February 13, 2025
NEA Applicant Portal Submission Deadline: February 26, 2025
Eligibility
UW–Madison may submit only one application to the FY 2026 Grants for Arts Projects program (i.e., one application per calendar year). A specific campus unit may qualify under NEA guidelines as an independent component of UW–Madison, in which case UW–Madison as the parent organization can submit a separate application on behalf of that campus unit. See the instructions below.
Website
The following link contains additional information on the program and specific application instructions:
https://www.arts.gov/grants/grants-for-arts-projects
Internal Competition Application Instructions
Applications for Internal Review
To submit your application, attach a single PDF to an email to: grants@research.wisc.edu
Please include the following information:
- Cover Sheet: Include the project title, name, and department of PI (Principal Investigator); the artistic discipline that most closely corresponds with your proposed project; and a list of project personnel and any partner organizations.
- CV of lead PI
- Project Synopsis: 200-character limit, including spaces. For example: “To support the ‘ABC Project,’ which will XYZ.”
- Project Description: 5,000-character limit, including spaces. Describe in plain language the project activities that will take place during the period of performance, and provide information on the curatorial/selection process, artists, creative process, works of art, productions, venues, public or community engagement activities etc. Panelists will use the Review Criteria (GAP Grant Program Details, page 25) to evaluate your application, so make sure your narrative addresses the review criteria. Do not describe unrelated organizational programming. Please note that certain types of activities/costs are not allowable via this program.
- Engagement with Intended Community, Participants and Audience: 2,000 character limit, including spaces. Describe the intended communities, participants, or audiences involved in the project activities, and how they will benefit. Clearly explain how you will engage these groups. Include the demographics of your intended communities, participants, and/or audiences.
If your project will be delivered through a campus unit that you think may qualify as an independent component, provide the following additional information (OVCR will use this information to verify independent component status with NEA):
- Description of how the campus unit satisfies the NEA’s independent component status requirements: 1000-character limit, including spaces.
- 3-Year Arts Programming History: Highlight up to three examples of the campus unit’s programming (e.g., artists/works/projects) per year for each of three recent years prior to the application deadline. Programming must have started in or before February 2022. Limit each example to 750 characters, including spaces. Providing information in bulleted or list form is acceptable. For each representative example, where applicable, include:
- Date
- Title, Work, Event, and/or Program
- Venue and City/State, if applicable
- Key Artists and/or Personnel
- # of Classes, Performances, Exhibitions, Residencies, Readings, etc.
- # of Participants or Audience. If any programming would be listed in more than one year, you may provide consolidated participant/audience numbers with the listing for the first year
- Touring Info, if applicable
- For Publishers, provide data that demonstrates online and/or print readership
Sponsor Deadlines
Applications are due to NEA by February 13, 2025.
Questions?
Contact grants@research.wisc.edu.