Historic $22.7M in arts grants approved by Ohio Arts Council board
The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) board approved $22,704,702 in grants to support Ohio artists, nonprofits, arts and cultural organizations, students and educators, and public arts programming at its July 24 meeting.
This marks the largest single round of grant awards distributed to OAC funding applicants in the agency’s history.
The 935 grants approved at the meeting constitute the initial and major state fiscal year 2025 funding round for the OAC.
They mark a significant step in the OAC’s ongoing commitment to directly fund arts programming in all 88 Ohio counties —something it has been able to do for the last nine fiscal years.
These grants stem from the state’s 2024-2025 operating budget, which included a record-high state appropriation of nearly $51.1 million for the OAC over the two-year period.
“On behalf of the board, the Ohio Arts Council thanks Governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, and members of the Ohio General Assembly for their steadfast support of the arts,” Donna S. Collins, Executive Director, Ohio Arts Council, said. “We are proud to invest such a significant amount of funding in Ohio communities and contribute to our state’s cultural vitality and importance.”
OAC grant funding was awarded in the following areas (with local recipients noted):
Operating Support
• Sustainability (446 grants totaling $17,167,288) supports ongoing arts and cultural activities in all genres. Awards support the state's arts and cultural ecosystem, providing stable and consistent funding to organizations regardless of budget size. This flexible and reliable funding supports a wide range of the state's arts providers as they make high-quality artistic experiences available to residents and visitors, positioning Ohio as a national leader in creativity, artistry and cultural wealth.
— Scioto Society, Inc. in Chillicothe was awarded $48,752.
• Statewide Arts Service Organizations (SASO; 5 grants totaling $292,300) are qualifying organizations that provide statewide professional services to arts and cultural organizations. These organizations often serve as critical partners to the OAC’s work as they, along with their members or constituents, support our mission to strengthen Ohio communities through the arts. SASOs are eligible to receive OAC support in a way that honors their unique and valuable contributions to Ohio’s arts sector.
Project Support
• ArtSTART (181 grants totaling $625,979) provides flexible, accessible funding to help organizations complete short-term projects addressing a wide variety of goals and objectives. Most awards support the programming of new or emerging organizations, including first-time OAC applicants, as well as new or established organizations in areas not served by other arts providers.
— Chatfield Edge (formerly Chatfield College) in St. Martin, Brown County, was awarded $1,740.
— Pump House Center for the Arts in Chillicothe was awarded $2,479.
• ArtsNEXT (66 grants totaling $974,891) provides competitive funding for innovative and experimental projects. Awards support big ideas that push boundaries, engage participants in unexpected ways, pilot new solutions to challenging problems, improve program design with calculated risk-taking, or result in the creation of new work. These forward-looking projects help define Ohio as an exciting, cutting-edge place to make, consume and experience the arts.
— Mighty Children’s Museum in Chillicothe was awarded $18,151.
• Ohio Artists on Tour (31 grants totaling $162,071) enables Ohio organizations to tap into the creative potential of artists to enrich their programming and the vitality of their communities. This program provides awards in the form of fee support to institutions that present Ohio-based performing artists.
Arts Learning
• Arts Partnership (88 grants totaling $1,002,171) supports arts education projects that address the needs of individual learners and their communities. Grant recipients engage in collaborative planning with partners, emphasize in-depth study of the arts, and use arts learning outcomes and standards-based arts education practices. The program supports organizations seeking to both maximize community strengths and shed light on community challenges, especially those in historically under-resourced areas. By supporting these projects and programs, the OAC strengthens arts education locally, regionally and statewide.
• TeachArtsOhio (100 grants totaling $2,415,000) brings schools and community organizations together with teaching artists to share engaging, personal, high-quality arts learning experiences. Engagements can vary from short introductory exposures lasting as few as 10 days to in-depth immersive experiences spanning a full school year.
— Chillicothe STEM Preschool/Chillicothe City Schools was awarded $40,600.
Artist Programs
• Traditional Arts Apprenticeships (18 grants totaling $65,002) provide support for master artists to work with apprentices to build understanding and proficiency in folk and traditional art forms. These awards support the teaching and sharing of important cultural traditions and enrich the lives of Ohioans.
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow the OAC on Instagram or visit the OAC website at oac.ohio.gov.
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