Crook County Cultural Coalition Arts and Cultural Grants

The Crook County Cultural Coalition, fiscally sponsored by the Crook County Foundation, awards annual grants of up to $5,000 each to arts, heritage and humanities projects in Crook County, Oregon. The money comes from the Oregon Cultural Trust, which redistributes the majority of what it raises back to county cultural coalitions and tribes — so the more local residents give to the Cultural Trust, the more Crook County has to grant. Recent cycles have awarded roughly $8,200–$8,500 in total.

Applications are welcome from all sectors of the culture field, including the arts, heritage and the humanities, and must address at least one of the six priorities in the Crook County Cultural Plan: engage K–12 youth in the arts, heritage and culture; protect the investment in existing cultural resources; provide programmes for young adults to further their cultural development; support cultural programmes that stimulate economic growth; encourage broader appreciation of the cultural traditions of diverse ethnic groups; and foster local cultural identity and improve the marketing and promotion of cultural activities.

The most competitive applications offer matching resources, either contributed goods and services or cash. Requests routinely exceed available funds, and the coalition weighs the project's impact, whether other support is in place if the grant cannot cover it all, whether the proposal is new, and how well the applicant has met post-grant reporting obligations before. Past awards have ranged from $500 to $3,000 and have gone to a rodeo anniversary, a free summer music series, a youth musical theatre camp, a community theatre group, an author visit and a holiday display.

Applications are accepted from Crook County-based arts, heritage and humanities organisations. Apply through the Crook County Cultural Coalition page at crookcountyfoundation.org/cultural-coalition.

The coalition runs one cycle a year, with applications opening in the autumn; the most recently published cycle closed on November 15. The coalition meets early in the new year to review applications and decide awards, and recipients are typically presented cheques at a public ceremony at the Crook County Library. Include any matching goods, services or cash in your request, and be ready to file a post-grant report.