Discover grants for performing arts organizations supporting theater, music, dance, outreach, and cultural enrichment
500+
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$15.5M
Total funding
$5K
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Allied Arts Fund
These awards help talented young students further their training in their artistic field. Students must live within the boundaries of the Greater Renton Area or have a Renton address and are between the ages of 12-19. The categories under which a student may apply are all areas of visual or performing arts. Awards may be used for tuition, school fees or academic expenses such as music, lessons, books, painting supplies, etc.
Awards
About NPCF
The Northern Piedmont Community Foundation (NPCF) began in December 2000 when nine concerned citizens from Virginia’s Piedmont region were searching for solutions to the charitable needs in Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, and Rappahannock counties. With modest beginnings, our funds have grown to over $39 million in support of local charities, scholarships and community need in our northern Piedmont region.
NPCF manages a wide variety of funds established by local individuals, families, businesses, or charitable institutions. Through our investment strategies, the returns from these funds are put back into the community through grant cycles, and scholarships, along with the personal causes the fund holder holds dear.
On the nonprofit side, the staff at NPCF is committed to building deep bonds with our region’s nonprofits, educating and supporting them in their health as businesses and their resilience in their missions of supporting our most vulnerable.
We believe that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. By working on both sides of the equation — growing our citizens’ resources while maximizing local nonprofits’ use of those resources — NPCF is ensuring that each link in the chain is healthy, strong, and contributing to the wellness of the Northern Piedmont community.
Scholarships
Northern Piedmont Community Foundation manages the scholarship application process for dozens of scholarships for students in Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, and Rappahannock counties (as well as a handful serving students from surrounding counties too).
Tom And Dot Hand Scholarship (Universal Application)
This scholarship award was established to assist Culpeper and Eastern View High School students pursuing further education for Visual or Performing Arts at a public college in Virginia. One $1,000 scholarship may awarded. Applicants should demonstrate good community standing and possess a record that displays initiative and commitment to their chosen field of study.
The NAACP X Society Awards Scholarship
The NAACP x Society Awards Scholarship is one of many funding opportunities available to students through NAACP's Inspire Initiatives. We offer scholarships to outstanding and qualified students pursuing undergraduate degrees. Through the generosity of our donors, we advance efforts to ensure equity in educational opportunity that prepares students for success in school, work, and life.
Scholarship amount: $1,000 to $5,000
This is a non-renewable scholarship opportunity.
In 2025, the Community Foundation of Madison & Jefferson County awarded over $233,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors of the county’s public and private high schools. Nearly 50 different students earned money toward their college costs. Scholarships are available for a variety of applicants. Some are specific to schools, majors, need, or interests.
CFMJC scholarships may be used for tuition and related expenses like fees and required equipment at accredited colleges and universities. Room and board are not covered.
Madison Chautauqua Scholarship for the Arts in Memory of Bob Fourhman
Criteria evaluated:
Required materials:
Scholarship amount:
Individual Artist Fellowship
The Fellowship Program honors Oregon's professional artists and their achievements while supporting efforts to advance their careers.
The next deadline for the Fellowship program is for Performing Arts. This for the grant period from January 1, 2027 -- December 31, 2027.
The Arts Commission offers Fellowships in multiple artistic disciplines in alternating years:
Shawnee Fine Arts Club Scholarship
Provides a scholarship to graduating seniors of Shawnee High School, Liberty Academy, or home-schooled residents of Shawnee, Oklahoma with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7. Student must be accepted into the university of their choice, majoring in music, visual arts, dance, or drama.
Shannon Calderon Primeau Memorial Scholarship
Provides a scholarship for Oklahomans majoring in dance, modern performance, ballet performance, dance pedagogy, dance management or dance education at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, or the University of Central Oklahoma and who best meet the criteria.
Mission & Vision
Rochester Area Community Foundation, in partnership with generous philanthropists and community partners, works to improve the quality of life for people who live and work in the eight-county region through its leadership and strategic grantmaking.
Our Mission:
We are cultivating a thriving Greater Rochester region — powered by philanthropy, grounded in community, and sustained across generations.
Our Vision:
We envision a Greater Rochester region transformed by enduring philanthropy, where every person, neighborhood, and future generation can thrive.
Elvira Caroselli Creative Spirit Award
Purpose of Scholarship
The Elvira Caroselli Creative Spirit Award will provide small awards to encourage the creative spirit and endeavors of junior and senior high school students.
Number and Size of Awards
Number of recipients and award amounts vary; paid in one lump sum in the Summer. Maximum award $1,500.
Donor Information
Mrs. Caroselli loved creating, designing, and experimenting. This remarkable woman dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support her family. Despite a lack of formal education, she sold an invention to a major manufacturer when she was 70 years old.
Ecolab Foundation
Ecolab Foundation is a philanthropic arm of Ecolab dedicated to advancing community well-being through programs that promote education, environmental stewardship, and public health. Its mission is to create positive social impact by supporting initiatives that strengthen communities and foster sustainable development.
The foundation’s primary areas of engagement include educational programs that enhance learning and workforce readiness, environmental projects that encourage conservation and sustainability, and health-related initiatives that improve hygiene and safety. It focuses on partnerships that deliver measurable benefits and long-term impact.
Ecolab Foundation operates primarily within the United States while also supporting global initiatives aligned with its corporate responsibility goals. Its geographic scope reflects a commitment to addressing local community needs and contributing to broader sustainability efforts.
The foundation collaborates with nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and community-based groups. It prioritizes partnerships that demonstrate strong governance, clear objectives, and alignment with its mission of education, health, and environmental responsibility.
Ecolab Match Program
Ecolab established the Volunteer and Community Relations programs to encourage and reward Ecolab employee and alumni involvement in the communities where people live and work. There are three programs including the Board Leadership Volunteer Grant.
Board Leadership Volunteer Grant
Ecolab will donate up to $500 USD annually to a qualifying 501(c)3 organization (some restrictions apply) for which an eligible person serves on the Board of Directors.
Focus Areas of Giving
Deana’s 7th Inning Stretch Scholarship – Baseball/Softball
The applicant must be a graduating high school senior in one of the following counties: Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, Hart, LaRue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, and Washington Counties.
Requirements
An essay on how baseball or softball influenced your life.
Lowndes Community Foundation (LCF) Grants
Meeting the needs of Columbus and Lowndes County Communities—one grant at a time.
Sustainable Grantmaking
Our mission is to improve the quality of life within Columbus and Lowndes County. As a public foundation, we have a special role to play in creating a sustainable source of funding to address the needs of our community. Rather than relying on yearly fundraising, we draw on the investment earnings of the LCF Endowment, reinvesting a percentage into our communities while the remaining funds continue generating revenue for future projects.
Funding Priorities
Our community guides our grantmaking. Through the LCF's periodic Community Conversations--public gatherings where hundreds of local citizens come together to review current data on the state of the city and county and to engage in a democratic, deliberative process to identify our most pressing needs--we've identified five priority areas. In addition to these priority areas, we generally support initiatives within three areas of interest:
Eastern Carolina Community Foundation
Eastern Carolina Community Foundation, founded in 2006, is the newest community foundation in South Carolina. We have a permanent endowment to meet the changing needs of the Pee Dee.
Eastern Carolina Community Foundation improves the quality of life in our area of South Carolina through inspired philanthropy and innovative community programs. We serve Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg Counties.
Scholarships
Eastern Carolina Community Foundation partners with donors to administer 12 scholarship funds for the benefit of students in the Pee Dee. All scholarship opportunities are established through specific funds established at ECCF with criteria determined by the donor.
Christine Sides Fisher Arts and Music Education Scholarship
The Christine Sides Fisher Arts and Music Education Scholarship has been established by Christine and Tim Fisher in support of students who are seeking higher education in the field of performing arts and music education.
The fund provides up to a $10,000 4-year scholarship, awarded as a $2,500 multi-year scholarship to a Florence 1 Schools student or alumni pursuing an education degree in the field of performing arts education.
Students will receive a $2,500 award in their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of enrollment as long as proof of passing grades and enrollment in the performing arts department of the South Carolina educational institution or the University of North Carolina at Pembroke are submitted to Eastern Carolina Community Foundation by July 1 of each subsequent year.
South Arts Inc
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, South Arts is a nonprofit regional arts organization empowering artists, organizations, and communities, and increasing access to arts and culture.
In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the State Arts Agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee — with additional funding from other public and private donors such as the Doris Duke Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Mellon Foundation — South Arts supports artists and organizations through a rich and responsive portfolio of grants, fellowships, and programs. Why? Because South Arts believes that the arts elevate the region, increasing connectedness and inspiring meaningful change in the process.
Our mission: Advancing Southern vitality through the arts.
Arts in Community Grants
Program Description
Arts in Community Grants are designed to support deeper engagements between Southern communities and artists. Through these grants supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, we aim to increase access to the arts, expand audiences for artists, and broaden our reach. Eligible projects require a Southern artist/company visiting another Southern state for public activities, offering access to arts programming by professional artists. Funding supports Southern film directors, traditional artists, visual artists, performing artists, or writers:
Projects require an artist or artist ensemble and a host or partner organization. Project must include at least two in-person or live, virtual public activities – both a public presentation (a film screening, performance, reading, or exhibition) and an educational/community engagement activity (a workshop, demonstration, lecture, facilitated discussion, or master class). The grant requires a dollar-for-dollar cash match.
Community Foundation for Mason County, MI
The mission of the Community Foundation is to engage donors and connect them with opportunities to make a lasting impact, build community endowment, provide leadership on key issues, and make grants that reflect the communities we serve.
Scholarships
If you’re a high school or homeschooled senior, current college student, early college senior, or a student pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree, the Community Foundation for Mason County may have a scholarship for you.
Marlene Schoenberger Scholarship
This scholarship has been made possible by the generosity of Tamar Schoenberg, who established the Marlene Schoenberger Scholarship Fund of the Community Foundation for Mason County in memory of her mother, Marlene. This scholarship is presented to Mason County students pursuing Fine Arts and Performing Arts.
JFO Music & Cultural Arts Programs
This scholarship opportunity is available year-round.
The current program requirements include the following:
Kari Hamaker Performing Arts Scholarship
A scholarship awarded to a student in Marshall, Olivet or the surrounding area, during school or upon graduation, seeking a degree in Performing Arts or for additional enrichment opportunities in performing arts. Applicants must demonstrate financial need. GPA is not a qualifying factor; however, transcripts and test scores are required. Students who receive this scholarship are encouraged to apply for further support in subsequent years.
Marion Community Foundation
Since 1998, area residents have been turning to Marion Community Foundation to make their philanthropic giving as effective as possible. We are a public charity serving thousands of people who share a common concern … improving the quality of life in Marion County. We use distributions from the more than 500 charitable funds — created by generous, local donors — to award more than $2.5 million in grants and scholarships each year to many of the humanitarian, educational and cultural organizations in this remarkable community we call home.
Marion Community Foundation is the area’s leading philanthropic organization, providing charitable donors the opportunity to easily create endowment funds to benefit and support our community through grants and scholarships. We serve communities throughout Marion County through philanthropy, leadership, and civic engagement.
Clare Cooke Performing Arts Scholarship
Clare Cooke, the namesake of this fund, has worked as a performer, choreographer, and director for the Marion Palace Theatre since 1977, directing Christmas at the Palace and numerous community theater productions and junior musicals for many years, including The Wizard of Oz, The Will Rogers Follies, Annie, Oliver!, The Music Man, Guys and Dolls, Hairspray, and Oklahoma!
The Clare Cooke Performing Arts Scholarship Fund, created in 2012 through gifts from nearly 100 friends and family members, recognizes her outstanding contributions to the performing arts community and quality of life in Marion.
The Cooke Fund awards scholarships to Marion County high school seniors and graduates pursuing an education in the performing arts. Recipients are high school seniors who rank in the top 50th percentile of their graduating class or graduates with a college GPA of at least 2.5.
Theresa Alessandra Russo Foundation Inc
The Theresa Foundation honors the memory of Theresa Alessandra Russo by touching the lives of children with special needs and their families. The Foundation fosters each child’s unique abilities by supporting programs focusing on art, music, dance, drama, and recreation.
The Theresa Foundation has a vision of the world where artistic expression and physical recreation are just as important to adults as they are to children. We believe in a world where every child, regardless of ability or challenging conditions, is free to communicate through and participate in every art or recreational activity. A society without art is a society without soul. Art enables us to express our inner thoughts, fears, joys, and sadness.
The Theresa Foundation Grant Program
The Theresa Foundation Grant Program is committed to providing financial support for programs in art, music, dance, drama, or recreation that are designed specifically for children with special needs in order to ensure that no one is excluded from these activities.
We believe that every individual should have the opportunity to participate in art, music, dance, drama or recreation if they so choose. Our grant program works to provide direct funding for the success of these activities, while also promoting an environment of acceptance and inclusiveness where all can take part without judgment or fear.
As of 2026, the Theresa Foundation has provided over $3,300,000 in grant funding for over 200 programs in 29 states throughout the country and 4 international grants. With your help we can continue to make a difference in the lives of those with special needs by providing them access to enriching experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.
Mid-America Arts Alliance
Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) believes art can be a catalyst for expression, connection, collaboration, and community. This philosophy is reflected in our mission and values.
M-AAA is a nonprofit, regional arts organization representing Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and beyond. We focus on strengthening communities and improving lives by supporting artists, elevating arts organizations, and connecting people to extraordinary cultural experiences.
Artistic Innovations Grants for Individual Artists
Program Objectives
The Artistic Innovations program supports the development of new or original works of art across all disciplines, created exclusively by in-region individual artists and art-based organizations in M-AAA’s six-state region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and the Native Nations in this geography). Eligible applicants include individual artists and nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts organizations in the region.
Individual Artist Grant Considerations
The Artistic Innovations grant program supports direct project expenses incurred in the art-making process and production of public-facing engagements to individuals through private funds. These grants are funded through private support and, unlike Artistic Innovations grants to organizations, are not supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Charlotte Street
What We Do
Generative Performing Artist Awards
The Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Awards seek to recognize, encourage, and significantly support Kansas City-based artists creating original, exceptional new work in all genres of performance. Providing artists with financial support, critical recognition, and public exposure, these Awards aim to reward artistic accomplishment to date and to support the continued development of artists' work and careers. Artists must be generative artists—that is, the creators of original new work.
Awarded artists will be those who:
Through recognizing and supporting exceptional artists living and working in Kansas City, Charlotte Street seeks to empower and propel individual artists, enhance the artistic culture of our region, and increase Kansas City’s desirability as a place for artists to live and work.
Two recipients of the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Fellow will receive:
Criteria for selection:
Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
The mission of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) is to promote, perpetuate, and preserve culture and the arts in Hawai‘i. SFCA funding is provided by the State of Hawai‘i and the National Endowment for the Arts.
America250 Grant for Hawaiʻi Veterans
In celebration of the United States of America’s bicentennial, America250, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) allocated funding to state arts agencies nationwide to support arts projects celebrating the nation’s artistic heritage and creativity.
The project must celebrate America 250 through arts-based projects or programs directly focused on Hawaiʻi veterans. All project activities must be implemented in the State of Hawaiʻi. Proposals can include activities that honor veterans or improve the health and well-being of military and veteran communities. Examples of possible projects are arts and healing programs, visual arts, StoryCorps, spoken word, film, exhibition, performance, historical/heritage interpretations, and living history projects.
Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
The mission of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) is to promote, perpetuate, and preserve culture and the arts in Hawai‘i. SFCA funding is provided by the State of Hawai‘i and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Community Arts Grant Program
The Community Arts Grants program (previously called Biennium Grants) supports eligible nonprofit 501(c)3 arts and culture organizations throughout the state. The grant awards funding to organizations supporting programs and projects that advance the arts, culture, and the humanities in the lives of the people of Hawaiʻi.
The legal provisions of the Community Arts Grants are in Sections 9-11 through 9-18 of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes. Each fiscal biennium grant budget is contingent on the State fiscal biennium and appropriations from the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. Grants awarded are subject to available funding for the fiscal year.
Grant Categories
Applicants may submit an application for a project to one of the following categories that align with the SFCA Strategic Priorities 2019-2023. Applicants can apply for one or both fiscal years, and the category and project can be the same or different for each year.
A Community Arts Grant can be requested in the amount of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. A 1:1 match is required. This is a reimbursement grant program.
Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
The mission of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) is to promote, perpetuate, and preserve culture and the arts in Hawai‘i. SFCA funding is provided by the State of Hawai‘i and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Outreach Initiative Program
The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) provides public funds through the Outreach Initiative Program to support statewide touring and outreach activities that increase opportunities for individuals to experience different forms of artistic and cultural expression and engagement. The program supports the SFCA Strategic Priority Hoʻākoakoa (convene, to call together) to build community capacity for creativity, communication, and learning.
Program Scope
Administer a statewide touring program providing arts and culture outreach activities to under-served communities including, but not limited to, rural, socio-economic disadvantaged, geographically disadvantaged, programs for disadvantaged youth, programs for Native or immigrant populations, and activities involving individuals with varying abilities. The touring and outreach activities must be accessible. Activities must occur in person at public spaces, senior centers, public libraries, public housing communities, or a hybrid of online/streaming. The Outreach Initiative Program must provide activities to at least three (3) islands, including outreach to rural and/or under-served communities.
Kansas Department of Commerce
As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses.
Kansas Arts Commision (KAC)| Arts Everywhere
Enhancing student success, the economy and Kansas communities through the arts
The Arts Everywhere grant program provides funding for cultural projects, programs, exhibitions, series, arts education projects, and other arts programming. This program provides funding for educational institutions, arts organizations, and community service non-profits to use the arts to increase student success, foster creative thinking, develop critical job skills, enhance community development, and increase participation in the arts across Kansas. Projects must relate to an arts and culture discipline (music, dance, theatre, creative writing, literature, painting, sculpture, folk arts, photography, crafts, media arts, visual arts, programs of museums, and other such allied, major art forms).
Match Requirements: KAC requires that all grants are matched at a minimum of 1:1 through a combination of cash and in-kind expenses.
Arts Everywhere grants are awarded in four categories:
Visiting Artists
This program provides funding for eligible organizations to engage and deepen the impact of arts programming on local and underserved audiences through exposure to and interaction with professional visiting arts. Presenters may book artists in any discipline, not just in performing arts.
Kansas Department of Commerce
As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses.
General Operating (GOS) Support Grant Program
Strengthening the state’s cultural infrastructure
The General Operating Support (GOS) grant program provides funding for Kansas public and private non-profit arts and cultural organizations, including museums, local arts councils and commissions, statewide arts and cultural service organizations, and organizations that have cultural program activities in any of the art and cultural disciplines (music, dance, theatre, creative writing, literature, painting, sculpture, folk arts, photography, crafts, media arts, visual arts, programs of museums, and other such allied, major art forms). The organization’s mission must directly support arts and cultural programming.
Match Requirements: KAC requires that all grants are matched at a minimum of 1:1 through a combination of cash and in-kind expenses.
Harkness Foundation for Dance
The Harkness Foundation for Dance is a private grant-making foundation dedicated to invigorating and supporting the dance art form, predominantly in New York City. Since its inception the Foundation has contributed significantly to the dance field, extending grants to over 660 organizations and fiscally-sponsored artists. The Harkness Board of Trustees meets three times annually to consider proposals. The Foundation stands in solidarity with social and racial justice work in the dance field, and we are committed to ongoing evaluation of equitable practices in our grantmaking.
There are four major areas of support:
Project Grants
Project grants provide targeted support for specific projects. Pilot projects and collaborative projects involving multiple organizations may also be considered.
Grants for performing arts provide funding to support theatrical productions, dance companies, and music ensembles. The following grants help organizations promote artistic expression, foster cultural enrichment, and expand access to live performances.
Explore 100+ funding opportunities for performing arts, with $6M available. Instrumentl helps nonprofits sustain and grow cultural programming with strategic grant recommendations, deadline tracking, and funder insights.
How common are grants in this category?
Common — grants in this category appear regularly across funding sources.
Over the past year, when are grant deadlines typically due for grants for Performing Arts?
Most grants are due in the second quarter.
Instrumentl simplifies the grant application process for nonproft organizations interested in grants for performing arts. This platform streamlines your search of more than 100 grant opportunities by helping you filter out relevant funding opportunities. The platform also gives detailed funder insights that help organizations tailor their applications to align with grantor priorities. Discover how Eversight increased their grant success rate from 14% to 22%.
Nonprofits who are interested in grants for performing arts include nonprofit theatres, dance companies, orchestras, and arts education organizations. Funders provide grant monies that support theatrical productions, dance companies, and music ensembles. Many grants require applicants to be 501(c)(3) organizations and may prioritize programs that increase access to the arts, support emerging artists, and promote cultural diversity.
Grants in performing arts typically have the highest concentration of deadlines in Q2, with 27.3% of grant deadlines falling in this period. If you're planning to apply, consider prioritizing your applications around this time to maximize opportunities. Conversely, the least active period for grants in this category is Q4.
Performing arts grants support artistic performances, theatrical productions, dance companies, music ensembles, educational outreach, artist residencies, and community engagement initiatives. Funders also aim to promote and enhance artistic and cultural expression, expand arts accessibility and access to live performances, foster cultural enricnment, and sustain creative institutions. Over 100 grants are available and $2.6 million in funding is being offered for nonprofit groups that support the arts and artistic expression.
Funding for performing arts grants varies widely, with award amounts ranging from a minimum of $250 to a maximum of $3,750,500. Based on Instrumentl’s data, the median grant amount for this category is $5,500, while the average grant awarded is $58,601. Understanding these funding trends can help nonprofits set realistic expectations when applying.
Of the $2.6 million available in funding, most comes from private funders and state and local government entities. On the private side of grant funding, the Gates Family Foundation, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, and the New England Foundation For The Arts are just a few private grantors that support the performing arts.
In addition, there are many and state and local government funders, including the Utah Division of Art & Museums, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the California Arts Council. Federal funding is also available through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
To improve grant success in the performing arts, nonprofit organizations should concentrate on all of these key areas:
Not sure how much to request in a grant application? Learn how to calculate the right amount with our grant request sizing guide.