Through regionally based Administering Organizations the Individual Artists Fellowship program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures.
Donor Name: California Arts Council
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Fellowship
Deadline: 06/05/2025
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Program Goals
The CAC will select eight (8) Administering Organizations (AOs) to design and implement a two-year fellowship program that supports individual artists and culture bearers across all disciplines. This initiative is dedicated to ensuring equitable access to resources by reaching artists in all 58 counties. By providing unrestricted funding, the fellowship empowers artists at pivotal moments in their careers, enhancing their ability to contribute meaningfully to California’s diverse communities. Investing in individual artists and culture bearers through this program strengthens artistic expression, creative practice, and community collaboration statewide.
Funding Information
Applicant organizations may apply to serve one of the eight geographic regions and will indicate in their application which region they intend to serve. Applicant organizations can request up to the amounts listed below, with a baseline amount of $300,000 increasing based on regional population tier. Awards may differ from requested amounts based on panel rank and available funding. Total program allocation will be voted on by Council once the state budget is finalized. The eight geographic regions are as follows:
- Region 1: Upstate (Maximum Request Amount $300,000) To serve Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba counties
- Region 2: Capital (Maximum Request Amount $300,000) To serve Alpine, El Dorado, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties
- Region 3: Bay Area (Maximum Request Amount $700,000) To serve Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties
- Region 4: Central Valley & Eastern Sierra (Maximum Request Amount $450,000) To serve Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties.
- Region 5: Central Coast (Maximum Request Amount $300,000) To serve Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura counties
- Region 6: South- Los Angeles (Maximum Request Amount $1,000,000) To serve Los Angeles County
- Region 7: Inland Empire & South Coast (Maximum Request Amount $700,000) To serve Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties
- Region 8: Far South (Maximum Request Amount $450,000) To serve Imperial and San Diego counties.
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations eligible to apply include:
- Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), California organizations
- Units of municipal, county or Tribal governments.
- Have a principal place of business in California and a California address.
- Have a minimum two-year history of consistent arts programming and/or services prior to the application deadline.
- Demonstrate proof of nonprofit status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or section 23701d of the California Revenue and Taxation Code.
- Have “active status” with the California Secretary of State (SOS) showing evidence of “good standing” at the time of application.
For more information, visit CAC.
