AIE After-School/Summer Residency Grant

The AIE After-School/Summer Residency Grant, administered by the Arkansas Arts Council, supports professional artists in residencies outside traditional school settings. This initiative promotes artistic excellence and equitable access to the arts for all Arkansans, particularly through after-school and summer programs. It aims to enhance community cultural development while providing valuable educational experiences for pre K–12 students. Funding is available for contracted administrative or artistic expenses to ensure impactful arts education.

Arkansas Arts Council
The Arkansas Arts Council advances and empowers the arts by providing services and funding for programming that encourages and assists literary, performing and visual artists in achieving standards of professional excellence. The Arkansas Arts Council also provides technical and financial assistance to Arkansas arts organizations and other providers of cultural and educational programs. This statewide programming and assistance ultimately provides cultural, educational and economic opportunities for the benefit of all Arkansans.
In 1971, Act 359 (A.C.A. § 13-8-101 et seq.) gave independent agency status to the Arts Council, with an executive director and a 17-member council appointed by the governor. In 1975, the Arts Council became an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, now the Division of Arkansas Heritage.
The Arkansas Arts Council is an agency of Arkansas Heritage and shares the goals of all big Division of Arkansas Heritage agencies, that of preserving and enhancing the heritage of the state of Arkansas. Funding for the Arkansas Arts Council and its programs is provided by the State of Arkansas and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Our Goals
Encourage artistic excellence, diversity and innovationPromote equitable access to the arts for all ArkansansDevelop arts in education for life-long learningEnhance community cultural and economic developmentBuild and sustain the capacity of the Arkansas Arts Council to fulfill its mission
Arts In Education Grants
The Arts in Education program initiates new arts programs, or enhances existing ones, in schools and local arts agencies by providing direct interaction with professional artists in residencies for pre K–12 students. All artists involved in AIE residencies must be selected from the Arts in Education Artist Roster.
After-School / Summer Residency Program
These major-grants help fund placing professional artists in residencies outside the school environment, school day or school year. The settings include after-school and summer programs and can be located in community centers, low-income housing projects, juvenile facilities, social service centers, parks/recreation programs, boys and girls clubs and other community-based or governmental organizations and institutions.
The Arts In Education In-School Residency program (AIE ISR) places professional artists in residencies at specific school sites or nonprofit organizations to allow them to demonstrate their art forms in pre-K to 12th grade curriculum areas. The AIE ISR intent is based on the conviction that participation in the arts should be an integral part of the basic education process. The program is based on guidelines provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Funds from the AIE ISR grant may be used only for contracted administrative or artistic expenses related to the proposed program.

Eligibility

Funds from the AIE ISR grant may be used only for contracted administrative or artistic expenses related to the proposed program. Applicants for the AIE In-School Residency program must be either a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization; a federal, state, or local government or governmental unit; a church or convention/association of churches; a hospital, a hospital service organization or medical research affiliate; or a public school or institution of higher learning.

Ineligibility

Funding for organizations is not available for:Deficits or start-up costs for new organizationsContingency fundsContributions and donations to other organizations or individualsBuilding renovations or capital expenditures for facilitiesEntertainment expenses, including busses for field trips, tickets to performances, or refreshmentsTuition for academic study or any form of scholarship or student financial aidFaulty salaries, and additionally, staff salaries in Arts in Education grantsLobbying expensesInterest and other financial costs.