Arts Organization Support

Applicants must:

1. Be an organization whose primary purpose is arts producing, promoting, presenting service or teaching organization as demonstrated by:
   a. Significant evidence that it is viewed as an arts organization by its community;
   b. Arts as core purpose, mission, and focus. The organization’s Articles of Incorporation and/or Bylaws must reflect this core purpose;
   c. The majority of public programs are arts programs and occur with regular, scheduled frequency throughout the year;
   d. Facility space (indoor and/or outdoor) is utilized predominantly as arts production or arts activity space (as applicable);
   e. A proportionate amount of operating budget is allocated to direct arts programs and services;
   f. Provide significant, verifiable arts education-focused programming.
2. Be an active private, nonprofit tax-exempt agency with either 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) OR be an Indiana public entity (part of city or county);
3. Organizations whose primary purpose is educational or instructional e.g., schools, universities, colleges, etc. are ineligible. (New) This includes entities/branches operating under the same 501c3. These entities are eligible to apply to Arts Project Support;
4. Any organization whose sole or primary purpose is to fundraise (e.g., “friends of” groups, foundations, etc.) is ineligible
5. Entities that receive state-level operating support or non-project support directly from the Indiana General Assembly are ineligible. This includes any line items/support or contributions from the state within the organization’s operating, facility, or other budgets or the organization being part of a larger state.
6. Must be physically located in Indiana, have an address in the region to which the organization is applying, with the majority of its arts programming, services, or activities taking place in Indiana, and must primarily serve and engage Indiana audiences and participants;
7. Before applying to the Arts Organization Support grant program for the first time, an organization:
   a. must have at least three consecutive years (by March 9, 2022) of 501c3 operating history as an Indiana-based arts organization; and,
   b. be formally approved to apply (see Eligibility Questionnaire on page 1)
8. Must have a governing body that is representative of the organization’s service area;
9. Must annually implement program planning and evaluation processes with input from the community to be served;
10. Must have an annual cash operating income of $50,000 or more as supported by the most recently completed, board-approved, year profit and loss statement.
11. All grant recipients must provide a match for every dollar provided by the Indiana Arts Commission with one dollar of the organization’s own funds. The match can include in-kind, but at least 50% of the match must be cash. The cash match can constitute funds from the applicant organization’s budget;
12. (New) If awarded funding, organizations will be required to obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) prior to payment. Since 2010, this has been a Dun & Bradstreet number, or DUNS. In April 2022 the Federal government will switch to the use of a UEI created in SAM.gov to be the official UEI. Click here for more information on how to obtain a UEI.
13. Must not have any overdue and/or unresolved Final Grant Reports with the Indiana Arts Commission or the Regional Arts Partner;
14. Must comply with all federal, state, and local laws and ordinances, including but not limited to those that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability; and,
15. An organization may apply for only one Regional Initiative Grant (APS, AOS) in the same fiscal year. This includes an organization’s “friends of” or “foundation” arm.

NEW FY23 Guidelines

AOS II and AOS III are not accepting new applicants. Applicant arts organizations that are not currently funded by the Indiana Arts Commission will be considered for AOS I level funding.  For more details, consult the guidelines for the region in which your organization operates. As each region has specific requirements, it's important to download the guidelines for your region.

Click here to download the evaluation criteria.

• FY23 Region 1 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 2 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 3 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 4 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 5 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 6 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 7 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 8 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 9 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 10 Guidelines
• FY23 Region 12 Guidelines

FY22 Guidelines

• FY22 Region 1 guidelines
• FY22 Region 2 guidelines
• FY22 Region 3 guidelines
• FY22 Region 4 guidelines
• FY22 Region 5 guidelines
• FY22 Region 6 guidelines
• FY22 Region 7 guidelines
• FY22 Region 8 guidelines
• FY22 Region 9 guidelines
• FY22 Region 10 guidelines
• FY22 Region 12 guidelines
• FY22 AOS III guidelines

It's important to know that their are certain requirements and expectations involved with receiving a grant from the IAC. Read the grant recipient requirements for organizations before you consider applying.

• Resources to help you with the application
• Fiscal Sponsorship Policy

FY22 grants have already been awarded. If you're interested in applying for Arts Organization Support, please consult FY23 guidelines.

Arts Organization Support I/II Contact

Questions about the program itself, application, and panel process should be directed to the applicant’s Regional Arts Partner.

• Region 1 - David Mika, South Shore Arts, david@southshoreartsonline.org
• Region 2 - Kayla Myers, Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, kayla@cfsjc.org
• Region 3 - Philip Slane, Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, pslane@artsunited.org
• Region 4 - Ann Fields Monical, The Arts Federation, ann@theartsfederation.org
• Region 5 - Braydee Euliss, Community Foundation of Randolph County, beuliss@randolphcountyfoundation.org
• Region 6 - Sherri Wright, Arts Illiana, sherri@artsilliana.org
• Region 7 - Ryan Shelton, Nickel Plate Arts, grants@nickelplatearts.org
• Region 8 - Sean Hildreth, Brown County Community Foundation, sean@bccfin.org
• Region 9 - Kim Wadholm, Columbus Area Arts Council, kwadholm@artsincolumbus.org
• Region 10 - Anne McKim, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, anne.mckim@artswin.org
• Region 12 - Alex Helton, Madison Area Arts Alliance, alex.artsherenow@gmail.com

Arts Organization Support III Contact

Paige Sharp
Deputy Director of Programs
Indiana Arts Commission
psharp@iac.in.gov
(317) 416-8536