SCAC opens three arts ed grants
Funding available for districts, teachers, and projects
The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) is starting 2021 by giving the state’s arts educators three grants to advance arts ed initiatives in their schools.
The grants are available to directly support teachers who need help to acquire supplies, materials, or professional development; school districts as they implement or further standards-based arts curricula; and several groups seeking to use the arts to advance learning in children.
That’s a lot to unpack, but The Hub is here to guide readers through the weeds. (It’s what we do.) Let’s get started.
Arts Teacher Support Grants
This time last year, you might remember the SCAC taking applications for SAM grants: School Art Materials grants. They were a first for the agency… a wildly popular first. But they were one-time grants supported by one-time funds. Not any longer. The SCAC allocated funds to Arts Teacher Support grants for FY21, a new recurring category that combines the SAM grants with elements of the erstwhile Teacher Standards Implementation grant category. Arts Teacher Support grants give teachers the same access to one-time funding for supplies, materials, and equipment but broadens to include professional development, the latter as valuable as any of the former. Grants up to $1,200 are available for projects occurring by May 15, 2021. A matching requirement might apply. Rolling applications are open now! Get details from the Arts Teacher Support grant guidelines here. (Don’t be confused about recurring vs. one-time funding. These grants recur annually now and can be applied for and received up to twice in a fiscal year for different purchases/projects and applied for and received up to twice in subsequent years… for different purchases/projects.)District Arts Support Grants
Is your South Carolina public school district committed to implementing standards-based arts curricula or making the arts an integral part of its basic curriculum and daily classroom instruction? If it is, it can get up to $25,000 per year to do it starting in FY22. The Hub won’t spend as much time here because this category, while worthy of awareness, is narrowly focused and applies to far fewer than the other two grants in this post. The deadline for districts to apply for this rigorous grant is March 5, 2021. Advisement from the SCAC is strongly suggested. Get further information on District Arts Support Grants here.Arts Education Project Grants
Arts Education Project grants fund projects and programs that use the arts to meet the educational, developmental, and social needs of K-12 students in both traditional arts education settings and through other organizations that utilize the arts to advance learning in students. Schools, districts, arts and non-arts nonprofits, colleges and universities, and governmental organizations are eligible for these grants. Use them to help underwrite things like:- Workshops
- Camps
- Artist residencies
- Public art projects
- Performances
- Exhibitions
- Acquisition of critical equipment or supplies
- Program planning
- Professional development for instructors, artists and/or administrators
Whether you are ready for advisement or simply have questions about these grants, please contact Specialist for Arts Organizations & Education Catherine Ntube (803.734.8694 | cntube@arts.sc.gov).