ASCA: Helen Walker Performing Arts Grants

ASCA: Helen Walker Performing Arts Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Alaska State Council on the Arts
Amount: US $500 - US $5,000
Last Updated: May 18, 2025

Summary

The Helen Walker Performing Arts Grants, administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts, support performing arts initiatives across Alaska. Named after notable arts advocate Helen A. Walker, this program encourages projects that reach underserved communities and promote artistic heritage. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, government units, and tribal entities. Funding can cover diverse performances and workshops, fostering accessibility and innovation in the arts. This initiative aims to enhance cultural engagement and community involvement in the performing arts.

Overview

About Alaska State Council on the Arts The Alaska State Council on the Arts funds applications in all areas of the arts: dance, visual arts, literature, music, theater, media arts, and traditional Native arts. The Council also encourages applications that promote and develop the cultural heritage of Alaskans and the creation of new works by Alaskan artists. Helen Walker Performing Arts Grants The Helen Walker Performing Arts Grant is a program of the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation and is administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Named in her honor, the grant provides support to the performing arts throughout Alaska. Helen A. Walker was a seminal Alaska arts advocate throughout her life. She served on the boards of numerous arts and culture organizations, including the Alaska Repertory Theater, the Fairbanks Library Foundation, the University of Alaska’s KUAC Advisory Board, and Fairbanks Commissions for Urban Beautification, Parks and Recreation, and the Library. Ms. Walker was a 1984 Governor’s Award for the Arts recipient and a founder of the Fairbanks Arts Association, the Sitka Summer Music Festival, and Arts Alaska. Arts Alaska provided professional management services and additional programs for the state’s performing arts tours from 1975 to 1988. Since its inception, the Arts Alaska Endowment Fund has awarded over $100,000 to qualifying sponsors/presenters for performing arts projects in small Alaskan communities. At the behest of the Arts Alaska Board of Directors in 2006, the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation became the administrator of the Arts Alaska Endowment Fund whose annual earned interest generates grants to support presenting and touring in Alaska. Eligible Projects and Important Considerations Presenting/touring presentations including: theater, dance, opera/musical theater, music, performances for young audiences, literary readings/storytelling, folk & traditional arts, and media arts. Funds can be used for any expenses directly related to the project. In fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025), applicants to this grant program may continue to consider alternate ways to present performing arts beyond the tour model: this may include performances, readings and other eligible performing arts disciplines noted above delivered via distance delivery, outdoor performances, or other adaptive strategies for performing arts presenting.Presentations specifically designed to attract new audiences, reach underserved populations (geographic, economic or individuals with disabilities) or underserved performing arts disciplines. Projects that include live presentations using distance delivery or other modalities will be considered for fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025). For FY2025, Walker applicants should consider communities with limited access to the arts because of the continuing changes in public health conditions, and that may be reached by an organization’s performing arts presentations, when considering access for underserved communities.Participation in workshops, conferences and other professional development opportunities for performing arts organizational volunteer and/or paid staff. This may include distance learning opportunities.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Eligible Applicants:Alaska nonprofit organizations with 501c3 status, in business for at least three years; Units of government; Tribal entities and schools if the project is not part of school curriculum or for credit.An organization is limited to one grant per state fiscal year (July 1-June 30).

Ineligibility

Ineligible Projects:Requests to support a performing arts company’s regular scheduled season; Capital expenditures.