Since 1993, the Georgia General Assembly has appropriated funds to ensure that citizens in each one of the state's 159 counties have access to state funded arts activities. Half of the money is distributed based on population and the other half is distributed equally. Georgia Council for the Arts sets the state-wide guidelines, however the proposals to be funded are selected by a re-granting local arts agency.

The Friends of the Rylander is the re-granting agency for the Grassroots Arts Program in Chattahoochee, Crisp, Dooly, Doughtery, Harris, Lee, Macon, Marion, Muscogee, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Terrell and Webster counties with amounts ranging from $1200 to $9000 per county.

Grassroots Arts Program Goals:

• To provide every county with arts funding
• To decentralize decision making
• To encourage multi-county arts programming
• To build partnerships between arts and non-arts agencies
• To diversify and expand arts audiences

Our Applicants Are:

• Cultural, Civic, or arts organizations
• Community arts groups
• Non-profit and tax exempt or having consenting non-profit agent
• Able to raise matching funds
• Able to draw an audience

Our Projects Are:

• Focused on the visual or performing arts
• Accessible and available to the public
• Demonstrating benefit to the community
• Designed to outreach target populations

Evaluation Is Based On:

• Artists merit
• Accessibility
• Arts education
• Effective planning and leadership
• Community rapport
• Effective evaluation plan
• Quality of program and presentation
• Support of local arts community
• Quality of artistic personnel

Funding

Since 1993 the Georgia Assembly has appropriated funds to ensure that citizens in each of Georgia's 159 counties have access to state-funded arts activities. Georgia Council for the Arts directs the Grassroots Arts Program (GAP) through a statewide network of agencies that distribute funds to local organizations. Each county receives a specific allocated amount.

The Friends of the Rylander is the regranting agency for the Grassroots Arts Program in Chattahoochee, Crisp, Dooly, Doughtery, Harris, Lee, Macon, Marion, Muscogee, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Terrell and Webster counties with amounts ranging from $1200 to $9000 per county.

Funds must be used to support arts activities that are accessible and open to the general public. Programs must demonstrate a benefit to the community or be designed as outreach to targeted populations. Although funds may be used to expand existing programs to reach new audiences they should not be used to replace funds currently being spent in support of the arts.

Funding Available

GAP Will Fund

• Artists in Residence
• Dance performances
• Folk art projects
• Public art
• Arts materials, tools, and equipment related to the event
• Arts exhibits
• Concerts and theatre presentations
• and more...be creative!

GAP Will Not Fund

• existing deficits
• purchase or improvement of real estate
• prizes, scholarships, or endowment funds
• food, beverage, or entertainment costs
• activities which are primarily social, therapeutic, or recreational

Project Ideas

The following are descriptions of GAP funded activities from 2003.

The Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Arts Council presented "Four Grands at The Grand," which featured four Fitzgerald musicians presenting a concert on four grand pianos at the Grand Theatre of Fitzgerald. The four musicians included familiar favorite selections, anecdotes between the pieces, and a selection of patriotic pieces.

The Berrien County Collaborative used their GAP funds on a project focused on an after school program for at-risk youth and their families. The project organizers brought in artist-in-residence Windell Campbell, the comedy program "Peanut Circus Show" and also animal trainers from a regional park zoo.

The Cook County Council for the Arts presented the musical "Annie, Jr." The performance featured local talents, the costumes were designed and created by cast and crew. Local businesses distributed ads, the local School Board donated the space for rehearsals and for the performance, a local travel company provided the props and materials, and the local newspaper provided publicity for the project

The Ocilla Housing Authority presented their project "Beginning Violin", which involved children and their parents, residents of the Housing Authority. The children were enrolled in violin classes, and together with their parents, were transported to a nearby town for the lesson. Volunteers from the Housing Authority donated time and talent to practice with the children after school.

La Fiesta Del Pueblo - a festival celebrating Hispanic heritage, The festival involves local businesses who set up sampling booths, local clubs and organizations sponsor an educational corner, and the local hospitals sponsor a health fair and free screening. Entertainers delight the crowd while the Mexican consulate services the needs of the local Hispanic population.

Tifton Museum of Arts and Heritage - the museum sponsored the exhibit "Africa: Her Heritage and Culture," a collection of authentic African art and artifacts.

Atlantic Coastline Artist Guild - the guild sponsored an art competition centered around Georgia Folk Life. The winning pieces, all of which were submitted by tremendously talented local artists, were framed and included in a traveling exhibit.

The Turner County Arts Council together with the Historic Preservation committee and the Fireant Festival committee worked together to create awareness of the natural talents and resources present in this small rural county. This year's project was Phase One of a 3 year project which will involve a performance as a process of awakening self-confidence, effect social reconciliation among the community participants, and build a county-wide collaboration. The first phase involved collecting stories from local citizens, performances, and training of interviewers. The stories were transcribed and in the next phase will be sent to a playwright to being working on a script, to be used in a a performance and also to be used by a local museum.

The Wilcox County Arts Council sponsored two separated projects. The first one focused on storytelling and involved puppeteer artists who entertained and educated adults and children in a series of performances. The second project was a patriotic concert by the Warner Robbins USAF Reserve Band in honor of all the people from the community who were called to serve in Iraq.

The Worth County Margaret Jones Public Library hosted a vacation reading program with an art component called "Books Ahoy" The program included performances for the community by storyteller Sean Driscoll, as well as arts and crafts workshops sponsored by the local hardware store.  The Worth County Boy Scout Troop 100 sponsored a "Frontier Day". A local park in Sylvester was transformed back to the days of blacksmithing, knitting, quilting, corn shelling, and more. Local museums, parks and civic groups provided demonstrations, workshops, and performances.

Deadlines

Apply

The Grassroots Arts Program is designed to encourage local collaborations between artists, arts organizations and non-arts organizations (civic, human service, religious, business, etc.) You can make application for GAP funding if you are:

• An arts group incorporated in the State of Georgia as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization.
• An arts group not incorporated as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, partnering with a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Georgia.
• A non-arts group incorporated in the State of Georgia as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Examples of such organizations include:
  • Municipalities
  • Civic Organizations
  • Libraries
  • Historical Societies
  • Boys/Girls Clubs
  • Senior Citizen Centers
  • 4-H Clubs
  • Schools

Forms

Grant Guidelines & Restrictions

Grant Application

Final Report 2009 - 2010

Grant Review Panel Evaluation
Final Report

Funding Applications

10% Funding Document

90% Funding Document

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