Applications for the 2024 City of Wichita Cultural Funding Program

Welcome! Below you will see all of our current opportunities.

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The Mission of the Cultural Funding Program

The City of Wichita strives to encourage and provide financial support to the arts and cultural organizations that demonstrate and document excellence in quality artistic and cultural programs, professional artistic and administrative staffing, financial stability, and their contribution to the community at large. The objective is to provide fiduciary support to exemplary organizations, which contribute to the quality of life and add to the economic growth and vitality of our community.

Please note, grant categories and requirements are determined by the City's Cultural Arts Plan, and that plan is currently under review.

Active Competitive Grant Programs

Please note, these are just descriptions. If a grant program is active and accepting applications, the link to said application will appear at the bottom of this page.

Artist Access Grants

Artist Access grants are now open! We recommend anyone interested try to get their application in by November 1st to be guaranteed consideration for funding.

The Artist Access Grants Program is designed to assist practicing, professional or emerging artists serving the citizens of Wichita, Kansas. The program provides support for artists to take advantage of specific and exceptional professional development or skill-building opportunities to advance their work and careers as working artists.

Funding Criteria:

• Grant awards range from $100 to $1,000
• Applicants must serve the citizens of Wichita and be involved in visual or performing arts
• Applicants funded two consecutive years must wait a year before being eligible to apply again
• Funded applicants will enter into a contract with the City of Wichita. Applicants approved for funding will expend Artist Access funds in 2024
• Funded applicants will be required to submit a final report along with receipts for expenditures

Funds may be used for such endeavors as:

• Artist workshops, conferences and seminars (including hotel, registration fees, travel)
• Artist Residencies (including travel expenses)
• Individual artist website development
• Resume preparation
• Professional presentation development

This program does not fund:

• Individual projects/exhibits/specific performances
• Costs of creating or producing art or an artwork
• Purchases of equipment
• Touring engagements
• Academic or certification conferring endeavors
• Artist materials, supplies or equipment

The Artist Access Grant program has recently undergone a review by the Cultural Funding Committee. We heard consistent feedback from local artists that the due date for the application was simply too far out to know when someone might need the grant for their professional development, sometimes requiring the artist to know what opportunities they would be seeking 18 months in advance.

Thus, the most important change to the grants is the alteration of the application/review cycle. Instead of happening at the same time as the Operational/Developing Arts grants, the Cultural Funding Committee will now consider Artist Access applications on a rolling basis.

Applications for our Artist Access grant program will open at 12:00am on September 18th. Applications will continue to be accepted through May 1, so long as funding is available, and they will be reviewed by the Cultural Funding committee in waves. The first wave will end at 11:59pm on November 1, with subsequent waves ending at 11:59pm on January 1, March 1, and May 1. Waves 2 - 4 are only as necessary and will not occur if funding has been exhausted.

Because applications are considered in waves, we can only guarantee applications received on or before November 1st will be considered for funding. Applications falling in waves 2 through 4 will be considered if funding is available, but it is possible funding will be exhausted by the first wave of applicants. Thus, we highly recommend making sure your application is in before 11:59pm on November 1st.

For reference, the waves are as follows:

• Wave 1: 12:00am on September 18th through 11:59pm on November 1st
• Wave 2 (As Necessary): 12:00am on November 2nd through 11:59pm on January 1st
• Wave 3 (As Necessary): 12:00am on January 2nd through 11:59pm on March 1st
• Wave 4/Final Wave (As Necessary): 12:00am on March 2nd through 11:59pm on May 1st

If, after four waves of applications, there are still funds in the Artist Access reserve, they will be evenly split between our five top-scoring Operational Grants recipients.

The Cultural Funding committee will review applications for one month, then decide whether to award funding. Funding decision dates are as follows: Wave 1 - December 7; Wave 2 - February 1; Wave 3 - April 4; Wave 4 - June 6. Decision dates 2 - 4 are as necessary. Those applications rejected for funding can be altered and resubmitted for consideration in a later wave. Applicants should have time to review any potential feedback and resubmit before the end of the next wave. This does not apply to Wave 4 applicants, as that is the final opportunity for funding.

For example:

• An artist applies for Wave 1 funding but is rejected. They find this out on December 7 or soon after. They would then have upwards of three weeks to alter their application and resubmit it before Wave 2 ends.

Again, applicants approved for funding will expend Artist Access funds in 2024. Please contact Jesse Koza with any questions.

Inactive Competitive Grant Programs

Operational Funding Grants

Operational Funding Grants are closed for FY24. Fiscal Year 2025 grants are expected to open in March of 2024.

Developing Arts Grants

Developing Arts Grants are closed for FY24. Fiscal Year 2025 grants are expected to open in March of 2024.