4Culture is seeking applications for its Curiosity Pass: A Cultural Education Program.
Donor Name: 4Culture
State: Washington
County: King County (WA), King County (WA)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/08/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Create engaging arts, cultural, and science educational experiences for King County public school students! This grant provides 2-year funding to cultural partners with youth-serving projects that expand learning opportunities in K-12 public schools.
Groups and Individual educators can use this grant for funding the creation of new cultural education programs, or the continuation or expansion of existing programs. Programs can include in-school activities (residencies, workshops, performances, lessons), before and after school programs, field trips, programs that take place in the summer and/or during school breaks, and professional development.
By supporting school and community partnerships that align with and enhance formal classroom learning, the Curiosity Pass program works to advance the right to cultural access for public school students across King County’s 19 public school districts and tribal schools.
Funding Information
- Organizations/Groups: projected ranges for funding will be between $15,000 and $100,000 per year.
- Individuals: individual teaching artists and cultural educators may submit a smaller project budget between $5,000 and $15,000.
- This is a 2-year funding program.
Core Criteria
4culture fund this grant through a competitive process. A panel of local artists, cultural practitioners, educators, and school staff reviews all eligible applications based on the following criteria:
- Public benefit: your project provides and improves access to arts, heritage, historic preservation, science, and technology educational experiences for K-12 public school students in King County. Your project makes clear efforts to be accessible to multiple disabilities, languages, and communities.
- Student learning connection: your project provides a learning experience that is student-centered, age-appropriate, enriching, and interactive. Your project aligns with and/or enhances classroom learning through connections to WA State or local district learning standards for K-12 students. Curriculum connections could be through aligning your program to specific standards, or by sharing how your program adds to or enhances classroom learning.
- Qualifications: your work samples and experience demonstrate your ability to work with K-12 students and classes, and partner with public schools. Lead program staff can demonstrate at least 2 years of experience in youth education programs.
- Feasibility: your project budget and plan are realistic and achievable. The requested funding amount is appropriate for the project. If cultural education staff (including teaching artists or educators) are part of the project, the project demonstrates how cultural workers will be fairly compensated.
- Advancing equity: 4Culture’s mission focuses on racial equity and envisions a county where culture is essential and accessible to all. Your project specifically benefits communities of color and/or historically marginalized communities. The project leaders speak from their own experiences or collaborate with members of these communities.
Choice Criteria
Choice Criteria is an opportunity to select an important focus of your project. You must select ONE of the following that best describes your project’s goal and impact:
- Create: your project focuses on creating a new cultural education program or experience for K-12 students that addresses a cultural access need for students in one or more of King County’s 19 public school districts and tribal schools.
- Grow: your project builds upon your existing education programming to expand and/or improve cultural access for public school students in King County.
- Continue: your project continues an existing program or set of programs that support public school students to access cultural learning programs and demonstrates value in repeating this work.
Are You and Your Project Eligible?
You
Apply as a Cultural Organization/Partner if your group plans to offer cultural education programming for King County K-12 public school students in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years, and you meet all of the following requirements:
- Must be a nonprofit arts, heritage, historic preservation, or science & technology organization or Tribal government with a primary location in King County.
- If you are using a fiscal sponsor to apply for this grant, you must have prior approval by 4Culture staff. You will need to indicate if you are applying with a Fiscal Sponsor in your application, and 4Culture will review both you and your fiscal sponsor’s eligibility to receive funding. Please review our Fiscal Sponsorship page.
- Have a mission that includes a focus on one of disciplines: Arts, Heritage, Historic Preservation, or Science & Technology.
- Program lead staff have 2 years minimum experience developing and providing youth education programs for K-12 students. This can include classroom teaching, field trips, tours, workshops, artist residencies, etc. Experience partnering with public schools, a plus but not required.
- Partnerships between multiple, eligible groups are eligible, but only one of the partnering groups will apply on behalf of the partnership.
Apply as an Individual teaching artist or cultural educator if you plan to offer programming for King County K-12 public school students in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. Individuals must also meet the following requirements:
- Individuals must be at least 18 years old and a resident of King County when you apply through completion of your project.
- If selected for an award, you must provide a Social Security Number to receive payment. No fiscal sponsors may be used.
- Have experience in arts, heritage, historic preservation, or science & technology.
- Have 2 years minimum experience developing and providing youth education programs for K-12 students. This can include classroom teaching, field trips, tours, workshops, artist residencies, etc. Experience partnering with public schools, a plus but not required.
- 4Culture staff, Board, Arts Advisory Committee members, and 2025 Curiosity Pass selection panelists are not eligible to apply.
Your Project
Your project can include the following arts, heritage, historic preservation, or science & technology educational experiences for K-12 public school students. This grant can fund the creation of new projects, or the continuation or expansion of existing projects.
- In-school activities: workshops, residencies, performances, lectures, programs or other experiences that occur on a school’s campus. This could also include things like resource boxes/kits, or curriculum for teachers to use in their classrooms.
- Before- and after-school activities: programs or activities that occur before or after the usual school day and are often held on a school’s campus or at a central location such as a community center or at a cultural organization’s venue.
- Summer and school break activities: experiences, programs, and activities that occur outside of the normal school year, usually during summer, winter, mid-winter, or spring breaks. These programs can occur on or off school grounds and may serve public school students from multiple King County school districts.
- Field trips: off-site experiences usually occurring during the school day to augment classroom instruction. They are typically hosted at the venue of the cultural organization.
- Professional development: support services for public school educators or cultural organization staff to successfully complete proposed education projects.
Your project must serve public school students:
- At least 51% of your program participants must attend one of the 19 King County public school districts or tribal schools.
- If awarded, a Letter of Support will be required from partnering schools, districts, or school community members (for programs that take place outside of the school) at the time of contracting.
For more information, visit 4Culture.
