Professional Development and Artistic Planning Grants

The Professional Development and Artistic Planning Grants, offered by South Arts, support the professional growth of presenters, programmers, and curators in the Southern U.S. These grants facilitate travel to conferences, workshops, and other opportunities to enhance organizational capacity and program design. Emphasizing diversity and inclusion, South Arts encourages applications from organizations led by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled individuals. Funding covers travel, training, and related expenses, promoting equitable access to professional development.

The Program
Professional Development and Artistic Planning Grants are available to support the professional development needs of Southern presenters, programmers, or curators, for strengthening program design or increasing organizational capacity. South Arts strongly believes professional development for presenters/programmers/curators is integral to success, including traveling to see new works and attending convenings. This grant program is open to film, visual arts, performing arts, traditional arts, literary arts, and multidisciplinary organizations.
This funding can support staff’s travel expenses to conferences, festivals, exhibitions, workshops, and other professional development opportunities. Funding also supports guest artists’ or guest curators’ travel expenses for onsite planning meetings with presenting organizations. These grants support travel expenses (for example, lodging and air/ground transportation), admission/registration fees, and other related expenses. In addition, these grants support expenses for virtual professional development opportunities and staff training (for example, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility training or technology training for virtual engagements).
South Arts is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. We have prioritized this commitment to ensure that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) led organizations, LGBTQIA+ led organizations, and organizations led by people with disabilities are represented as both applicants and grantees. In addition, we encourage applications for projects that engage BIPOC artists, LGBTQIA+ artists, and artists with disabilities.

Eligibility

Only nonprofit and governmental performing, visual, media/film, multidisciplinary and literary arts presenting organizations in South Arts’ nine-state region are eligible to apply. South Arts’ nine-state region includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. For the purposes of these guidelines, presenters are defined as organizations that present or host artists for engagements in their communities. Presenting organizations must have not-for-profit, tax-exempt status or be an official unit of local, county or state government. For nonprofit presenters, tax-exempt status will be verified by a third party Governmental presenters must provide proof of government status.Applications are only accepted for new opportunities that organizations, under normal circumstances, are unable to attend.Proposed projects must support or relate to the applicant's work as a presenter.Applicants are limited to one Professional Development and Artistic Planning application per South Arts fiscal year.

Ineligibility

Applicants who have failed to submit final reports for any previous South Arts grant by the application deadline for this program will not be considered for funding in this grant cycle.Applicants who fail to properly acknowledge South Arts’ and the National Endowments for the Arts’ support in programs and press materials may not be considered for additional funding.South Arts does not accept applications from fiscal agents for this grant program.Fiscally sponsored organizations For-profit businesses or organizationsArtists or ensembles.