SVCreates: Arts Access Grants

The Arts Access Grants provided by Silicon Valley Creates aim to enhance access to impactful arts experiences for historically marginalized communities in Santa Clara County. This program supports projects that engage underserved audiences through performances, exhibitions, and educational programs. With a focus on inclusion, diversity, and equity, these grants foster long-term relationships within the community, offering multi-year funding to empower organizations with a proven track record of service. Approximately 10-15 competitive grants will be awarded annually.

The Arts Access Grant program is driven by the need to increase access to relevant and impactful arts experiences by historically marginalized communities throughout Santa Clara County. The program provides project support for programming specifically designed to reach historically underserved audiences. Arts Access Grants are made possible through a partnership with the County of Santa Clara and with support from the County Board of Supervisors, with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Examples of alignment and access include:
Access to arts exhibitions and performances by County clients such as foster youth, social services clients, etc.Art that thematically addresses County priorities such as intimate partner violence, anti-obesity, literacy, suicide prevention, etc.Art supplies and instruction for clients of County programs such as The Hub, domestic violence shelters, etc.Artistic programs serving historically marginalized populations and aligned with Santa Clara County values of inclusion, diversity, equity and heritage.
Funding
The grant will fund your delivery of a program each year to a specific population. The shift to multi-year funding is intended to support your capacity to deepen relationships with the communities you serve, and learn through project challenges and successes year over year. So while you might modify your project scope in year two, you are expected to serve the same community over both years of the grant program. Grant award amounts will be comparable in year one and year two.
Grants will be competitive and limited by the available funding. Approximately 10-15 grants will be awarded. Partial funding may be awarded. Due to the competitive nature of this grant program and the two-year program cycle, organizations must demonstrate a history of programming with the community to be served. This is not an opportunity to develop initiatives with audiences you have not previously engaged.

Eligibility

Eligibility Requirements:Eligible organizations will be based in Santa Clara County (eg. have a primary performance, exhibition, or office space in the county and serve primarily Santa Clara County residents).
Eligible organizations will have 501c3 status or a qualified nonprofit fiscal sponsor.
Eligible organizations will have a minimum of three years of arts programming history in Santa Clara County.
Eligible projects/programs will serve Santa Clara County residents and take place in Santa Clara County.
Eligible organizations must have a history of programming with the community to be served, having provided at least one year of programming with/for the identified community.Projects or programs will be arts experiences (eg. performances, exhibitions, classes) that are made accessible to one or more distinct audiences/communities.
Projects or programs should employ primarily Santa Clara County based artists.
Projects or programs should serve historically marginalized communities; applications must define communities to be served. Communities might include: Title I schools, low income neighborhoods, rural communities, social service agency clients, and others.Competitive projects will benefit from a partner or advisor with expertise about or representing the community to be served.
Project or program may be a renewal or expansion of an existing program or may be a new program with an audience previously served.

Ineligibility

Restrictions:For-profit organizations are not eligible.
Institutions of primary and secondary education are not eligible.
Local governments are not eligible.
Universities and colleges are limited to providing fiscal sponsorship for one arts program only. Grants may not support operating costs for the university or college, but must be applied to program and overhead costs of the applying entity.
Grants may not be applied toward support for political or religious purposes, fundraisers for other organizations or causes, capital improvements, lobbying, or projects already completed.