Wyoming Arts Council
/OVERVIEW: The Wyoming Arts Council supports arts organizations, individual artists, and projects within the state.
IP TAKE: As with most state sponsored regional arts funders, this is a relatively transparent and accessible funder with clear deadlines and an informative website. Grant seekers applying to these grants will have to compete with artists and organizations from across all other disciplines, so expect stiff competition. Those with a local or regional connection to their work will likely be the most successful. This funder is approachable, but expect some bureaucracy.
PROFILE: Created in 1967, the Wyoming Arts Council is a state agency that promotes arts programming throughout the state. It seeks to provide “leadership” and invest “resources to sustain, promote and cultivate excellence in the arts.” The Arts Council receives funding through State of Wyoming General Funds, National Endowment for the Arts Federal Funds, endowments and private donations, sponsorships and registrations for events such as the annual Governor’s Arts Awards. The arts council provides support for artists and arts organizations through a series of grants and Performing Arts Fellowships.
Grants for Music, Writing, Visual Arts, Dance, Theater, and Arts Education
Arts grants include support for both individual artists and arts organizations. The Community Support Grants provide operational support for organizations or projects that help to bring the arts to their community. They are competitive and are awarded according to a formula, “based on the score of the grants during the panel process.” Grantees receive up to $15,000; individual artists are ineligible.
Arts Access Project Grants support arts organizations that run programs or projects that serve disabled people, BIPOC communities or rural communities with populations of less than 3,000. Grants also prioritize projects that involve “folk and traditional arts and artists.” Grants are awarded in amounts of up to $750.
Professional Development/Career Advancement Grants are “designed to help grow the capacity of organizations and individuals that work in, and support the arts.” Grantees can receive up to $750, and individual artists are eligible, but can only receive one grant every other year. Individual Artists who receive funding must reside in Wyoming at least 10 months of the year, be 18 years or older, and not a full-time student in high school, college, or university pursuing art-related degrees.
Folk and Traditional Arts Mentoring Grants support programs that provide hands-on instruction or apprenticeship opportunities in Wyoming’s traditional folk arts and crafts. For each annual grantmaking cycle, the council awards four grants in the amount of $3,000 each.
The Wyoming Arts Council funds two fellowships, one for performing arts and another for creative writing. Performing Arts Fellowships recognize excellence in the field. Artists may only apply in one of the three categories: music, theater, or dance. Grant seekers must include “appropriate media samples and artists statements” with their application. The Creative Writing Fellowship is “based on a writer’s body of work, and honoring Wyoming’s literary artists whose work reflects serious and exceptional writing.” The council awards three fellowships, for poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Fellowship winners are expected to share their work at a Wyoming literary conference.
Important Grant Details:
This funder makes grants in amounts specified by each program. It supports both individual artists and arts organizations, with grantmaking strictly limited to the state of Wyoming. For examples of past grants, see the foundation’s grants data page.
Applying organizations must be either a 501(c) non-profit organization or a government agency. All applications must be submitted through the Arts Council’s online grant system. All applicants must meet the Eligibility and Funding Requirements and follow the Arts Council’s Grant Guidelines.
PEOPLE:
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