TourWest Grants

Overview

WESTAF’s TourWest Grant provides flexible funding for presenters/presenting organizations within the WESTAF region to support their regional touring program. WESTAF also encourages the inclusion of community/educational outreach as part of an organization’s presentation of touring artists.

TourWest is a competitive grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to provide subsidies to arts and community organizations in the 13-state WESTAF region and jurisdictions, including Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa for the presentation of touring performers and literary artists.

Through TourWest, WESTAF and the National Endowment for the Arts aim to encourage the presentation of performing arts programming to culturally diverse audiences and those that do not typically enjoy ready access to the performing arts. In order to understand local needs and interests, WESTAF advocates working directly with individuals and groups from the communities that your organization seeks to serve. Community engagement and participation are key components of a successful TourWest grant application.

WESTAF defines regional touring as programming that presents out-of-state touring artists and/or in-state touring artists traveling at least 50 miles to your venue. Presenters/presenting organizations are defined as organizations that present or host guest artists for engagements in their communities. Presenters can include but are not limited to community cultural organizations, community centers, churches, schools/colleges/universities, libraries, museums, film festivals/series, and performing arts centers. Typically, producing organizations or performing arts groups are not considered presenters, and are encouraged to contact WESTAF to discuss eligibility.

TourWest seeks to support the engagement of new audiences as well as collaboration between the presenters, artists, agents, and communities. In addition to working collaboratively with the artist(s) and/or community partners in planning the project, WESTAF encourages presenters to take advantage of opportunities such as block booking, presenter networks, and booking conferences to reduce costs and make artistic opportunities available to a broader audience. Partnerships and collaborative efforts between presenters are considered in the panel’s evaluation of an application and project.

Program Overview

Creative West’s TourWest grant program, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, provides funding to presenters and presenting organizations to bring touring performers and literary artists to communities throughout the Western region.

Regional touring is defined as:

Programming that brings out-of-state touring artists to your venue, or In-state artists traveling at least 50 miles from their home base TourWest focuses on expanding access to the performing arts, especially in underserved communities.

To support this goal:

* Creative West encourages working closely with local individuals and groups to understand and meet community needs.
* Applicants are urged to include community engagement or educational outreach activities in their projects.
* Collaboration with artists, agents, and community partners is highly encouraged, along with strategies like block booking and using presenter networks to reduce costs and maximize impact.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* Applying organizations must:

* Have one of the following designations:

* a tax exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
* a unit of state or local government
* a nonprofit institution of higher education or
* a federally recognized Indian tribal government.

The Creative West region: Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Hawai’i, Guam, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Have and provide a valid Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Have and provide a valid UEI: Effective April 4, 2022, the federal government phased out the use of DUNS numbers and moved to a 12-character unique entity identifier (UEI) created in SAM.gov. As a current or potential sub-awardee receiving federal funds through the WESTAF’s Partnership Agreement with the NEA, you must obtain a UEI prior to award.

Have successfully presented one performance by a paid professional performing artist or company within the last three years.

Be in good standing with WESTAF, with no overdue reports and/or documentation.

* TourWest 2025–2026 support is available to projects that meet the following requirements:
* Funded activities must occur between October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026.
* Applicants may submit one application per fiscal year.
* Applicants are required to apply for grants that support the presentation of touring performers, musicians, and literary artists as part of administering the organization’s regional touring programming. Regional touring is defined as at least 50 miles from the performance venue. Applicants are encouraged to feature performers from the western United States; however, the performers do not have to be from WESTAF’s region and can be internationally based. 
* Funds can be used to support performances in festivals, however, only the festival organization itself can apply, not individual presenters participating in the festival.
* Programming can be virtual and/or in-person.

Ineligibility

* The activities and costs listed below are not allowable and should not be included as part of your project or budget:
* General operating support
* Indirect costs
* Social activities such as receptions, parties, galas
* Construction, purchase, or renovation of facilities
* Subgranting or regranting
* Alcoholic beverages
* Awards to individuals or organizations to honor or recognize achievement
* Commercial (for-profit) enterprises or activities, including concessions, food, T-shirts, artwork, or other items for resale. This includes online or virtual sales/shops.
* Lobbying, including activities intended to influence the outcome of elections or influence government officials regarding pending legislation, either directly or through specific lobbying appeals to the public
* Voter registration drives and related activities
* Cash reserves and endowments.
* Costs for the creation of new organizations
* Costs to bring a project into compliance with federal grant requirements
* Expenditures related to compensation to foreign nationals and/or travel to or from foreign countries
* Project costs supported by any other WESTAF or federal funding
* Gifts and prizes, including cash prizes as well as other items (e.g., electronic devices, gift certificates) with monetary value
* Contributions and donations to other entities
* Fines and penalties, bad debt costs, deficit reduction
* Rental costs for home office workspace owned by individuals or entities affiliated with the applicant organization
* The purchase of vehicles
* Visa costs paid to the U.S. government
* Costs incurred before the beginning or after the completion of the official period of performance
* Any portion of a project that duplicates costs in grants pending with, or received directly from, the National Endowment for the Arts
* Any portion of the same project in multiple WESTAF grant applications
* The following programing is not eligible for TourWest funding:
* Dance/theater companies or independent artists seeking funding for their own self-produced material
* Performances, including children’s theater, in which local children or community members are the primary performers
* University conferences
* Projects that feature mostly student performers
* For faith-based institutions, projects must be without religious proselytizing
* Guest artists (such as guest composers and guest choreographers)