The Special Opportunities – Arts Forward Grant is designed to support arts organizations and local governments to strengthen operations, expand community engagement in the arts, and commemorate America 250 through special projects.
Donor Name: Tennessee Arts Commission
State: Tennessee
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: All Time
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year
Details:
The Special Opportunities – Arts Forward are available to Tennessee arts organizations and local governments. Designed for flexibility, this program supports a wide range of activities—including technical assistance, small equipment or supply purchases, arts events in Tennessee communities, and projects that commemorate America 250 through the arts.
Applicants are asked to identify appropriate, realistic strategies for strengthening their organizations or addressing challenges and opportunities, and to demonstrate readiness to carry out the proposed activity. Proposed projects should enhance the overall artistic, educational, and/or cultural value of the organization to its community and help maintain a strong infrastructure for the arts statewide.
Funding Information
- General Projects
- Maximum request: $5,000
- No match required
- Funding is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are depleted
- Creative Placemaking Summit
- Organizations: Maximum request $2,000
- Individuals: Maximum request $1,000
- No match required
- Funding is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are depleted.
Grant Period
November 15, 2025 – June 1, 2026.
Eligible Activities
Organizations may apply for activities that include (but are not limited to):
- Short-term consultations or technical assistance (planning, board/staff development, marketing, accessibility training, financial management, technology, etc.)
- Small equipment or supply purchases tied to an organizational or project need (software must include training; routine maintenance is not eligible)
- Engaging professional touring artists or groups for public performances and educational activities in Tennessee communities.
- Arts participation projects such as community workshops, classes, or collaborative art-making activities that engage participants directly in the creative process.
- America 250 Projects: Activities that commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary through the arts. Organizations may propose projects that highlight American history, culture, and community reflection as part of this special initiative.
Eligibility Criteria
The Tennessee Arts Commission encourages applications from any eligible organization from across the state, with special encouragement for those located in distressed, at-risk, and rural counties.
- For general Arts Forward projects (including America 250):
- The applicant is a nonprofit organization legally chartered in Tennessee, with its headquarters and home season (or equivalent activity) in Tennessee, and holds IRS 501(c)(3) status, or
- The applicant is an entity of local Tennessee government.
- For the 2026 South & Appalachian Creative Placemaking Summit grant:
- Nonprofit organizations or entities of local government as defined above, or
- Individuals (must be a Tennessee resident)
- Applicants are eligible for one Special Opportunities: Arts Forward grant per year, unless one of the projects is focused on America 250. In that case, an organization may receive up to two awards in FY26 — one for a general project and one specifically for an America 250 project.
- Individuals applying for the Creative Placemaking Summit must be a Tennessee resident and will be required to upload proof of Tennessee residency (e.g., driver’s license or voter registration card) with their application.
- Organizations that receive revenue directly from a “New Specialty Earmarked Plate” under T.C.A. 55-4-301(a)(1) are not eligible.
Ineligibility
Special Opportunities funds cannot be used for:
- Any project or activity currently funded through another Tennessee Arts Commission grant
- Routine operating expenses not directly tied to an eligible use
- Ongoing maintenance or website costs
- Any activity the Commission determines to be outside the scope or intent of this grant category.
For more information, visit TAC.
