The City’s Initiative grant program provides funding to individual artists and nonprofits for strategic and creative opportunities to engage visitors and residents while building upon Houston’s cultural identity and tourism.
Donor Name: Houston Arts Alliance (HAA)
State: Texas
City: Houston
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/30/2023
Size of the Grant: $5,000 and $10,000
Details:
Houston is a true international city, linked by both commerce and culture to countless places around the world. Its growing populations show that Houston is now the single most ethnically diverse major metropolitan area in the entire country. One in four residents is foreign-born, contributing to an ever-changing culture that spurs creative innovation. It is one of the best places in the world for arts, and its creative community represents a strategic opportunity for Houston’s civic identity and tourism.
Funding Areas
- Art + Disaster Resilience Awareness: Proposed work should address the awareness and preparedness for environmental risk such as climate crisis, flooding, food deserts, hurricanes and tropical storms, environmental justice, electricity disruption and for other similar topics using the arts.
- Art + Neighborhood Cultural Destinations: Proposed work should identify a tangible or intangible art or cultural asset of a local neighborhood.
- Art + Conference Tourism: Proposed work should be in partnership with a significant conference to provide conference participants, residents, and visitors with an activity featuring Houston artists or arts and culture attractions in Houston.
Successful Projects will include the Following Elements
- Community Engagement – The project should include working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity or special interests.
- Measurable (tourism/neighborhood) Impact – The project should attract and be marketed to audiences from outside of the City of Houston either physically or digitally.
- Great Social Media Presence – The project should include a comprehensive marketing plan with a clear social media element.
- Documented Support of Local Artists and Creatives – A budget that reflects payments to Houston-based artists and creatives.
- Clear Alignment with one of the three funding areas – The project scope should fit well within one of the three funding areas listed above.
Funding Information
Grant expenses are restricted to project related costs, which include artist fees, and marketing costs. Typical awards are between $5,000 and $10,000.
Eligible Applicants
- All applicants must provide official documentation demonstrating a physical address within the City of Houston limits which is verified by HAA staff through the online Council Member verify mapping tool. P.O. Boxes are not accepted.
- Organizations or fiscal sponsors must be tax-exempt under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), with fiscal year ending 2021 filed with the IRS (990/990N), as verified by the IRS Tax Exemption Organization Search.
- An individual applicant must be at least 18 years old, which will be verified by the applicant’s submission of an official state-issued identification card, passport, or other official document.
- Applicants’ scopes of work must have a clear public presentation component, verified by staff review of the application.
- Applicants may only submit one application per grant program, per deadline, per year.
- Duplicate projects submitted across grant programs will be deemed ineligible.
- Applicants may only apply to one grant program per project.
- Applicants may not receive more than one City’s Initiative grant in a calendar year.
For more information, visit HAA.
