The South Carolina Arts Commission is accepting applications for its School Arts Support Grants Program.
Donor Name: South Carolina Arts Commission
State: South Carolina
County: Allendale County (SC), Bamberg County (SC), Calhoun County (SC), Edgefield County (SC), Hampton County (SC), Lee County (SC), Marlboro County (SC), Saluda County (SC), Union County (SC), Williamsburg County (SC)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/17/2026
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year
Details:
The purpose of the School Arts Support Grants Program to help schools acquire the supplies, materials, equipment, professional development, or creative arts therapy services needed to address student outcomes through innovative arts practices and/or curriculum, arts-enhanced curriculum, or arts-integrated curriculum.
Categories
The variations can be distilled into three main categories:
- Arts as Curriculum.
- Arts-Enhanced Curriculum.
- Arts-Integrated Curriculum.
Funding Information
Up to $2,500 per grant request.
Grant Period
August 18, 2025 – May 15, 2026.
Uses of Funds
4K Providers
May use grant funds to pay for:
- Artists in Residence or Wolf Trap Residency. Please note:
- The artist in residence must spend peer-to-peer training time with the teacher to ensure growth in the teacher’s skill level and ability to teach the skill in future years.
- Grant recipients must use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded activities.
- Wolf Trap affiliates are listed on the S.C. Arts Directory.
- Consumable and non-consumable resources directly related to artist residencies or professional learning in arts strategies or arts integration.
- All material purchases must be made and items received within the project dates set in your grant application and confirmed in the grant contract. Grant funds are considered spent—and the “end date” of your project is when materials are received.
K-12 Providers
May use grant funds to pay for:
- Materials/Equipment/Supplies. Examples could include:
- Arts materials that will enhance teaching the Visual and Performing Arts Standards
- Supplies/equipment for an arts-enhanced or arts-integrated lesson
- Professional Development Opportunities. Examples could include:
- Membership in state or national arts education associations
- Conference, travel, and hotel fees for state or national conferences (travel and hotel must follow the S.C. state travel guidelines and rates).
- Substitute teacher costs to allow for peer-to-peer planning for arts-rich learning opportunities.
- Arts Residencies
- The artist in residence MUST spend peer-to-peer training time with the arts teacher to ensure growth in the teacher’s skill level and ability to teach the skill in future years.
- Grant recipients must use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded activities.
- SAS Grant funds can purchase materials to support the arts residency.
- Creative Arts Therapy Project/Experience
- Grant recipients must use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded activities.
- A letter of support from your school’s guidance counselor will be required if pursuing an art therapy project. The letter will need to include the following information:
- A statement of support from the guidance counselor of the proposed Creative Arts Therapy Project/experience.
- Details about the school’s policy on mandated reporting if a student were to disclose information during the art therapy experience that requires immediate action to ensure their safety and well-being.
- A commitment to obtaining verbal consent from parents for a credentialed therapist to deliver programming in their child’s classroom.
Geographical Areas
Priority may be given to:
- Schools on this S.C. Department of Education list of schools with low-income student populations above 70%.
- Schools in SCAC FY26 Opportunity Initiative Counties:
- Allendale
- Bamberg
- Calhoun
- Edgefield
- Hampton
- Lee
- Marlboro
- Saluda
- Union
- Williamsburg.
Eligibility Criteria
For 4K Providers
- The applicant must be:
- In a public school or school district in South Carolina or an SC First Steps 4K Provider.
- An SC First Steps or S.C. Department of Education Childhood Early Reading and Development Education Program (CERDEP) 4K Provider.
- An Arts in Basic Curriculum (ABC)-certified school with a CERDEP 4K classroom.
- You are unsure of your CERDEP status for eligibility; or
- the applicant organization is not part of a school district, not a unit of government, or not a non-profit organization.
- For K-12 Providers
- Arts in Basic Curriculum (ABC) Certified schools are not eligible to apply.
- The applicant must be a public, private, or charter K-12 school in South Carolina.
- Private and charter schools must be:
- currently registered as a charity with the S.C. Secretary of State’s Office (Note: Applicants who are exempt from this registration must upload their registration exemption approval.)
- reflecting S.C. as the primary address on all current official organizational documents
- with federal tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service OR applying through a tax-exempt fiscal agent/receiver organization Note: Applicants who are applying through a fiscal agent/receiver must submit a letter outlining the working relationship and responsibilities of both parties.
For All Providers
- In accordance with federal government policy, all organizations – including (but not limited to) private schools, public school districts, government entities, and nonprofit organizations – must provide a valid UEI number* to receive an SCAC grant award. Note: If an applicant organization is using a fiscal agent/receiver, separate UEI numbers must be provided for both the applicant organization and the fiscal agent/receiver. Exceptions to separate UEI numbers are organizations run by a local government or a school district.
- Individual public schools may use their school district’s Unique Entity ID and do not need to register separately.
- An arts teacher within the school or an arts professional from outside of the school must serve as a partnering expert in the art form that will be utilized.
- Commissioners and staff of the S.C. Arts Commission and members of their immediate families are not eligible to apply for any individual SCAC programs, grants, fellowships, or services that provide financial support or career recognition.
For more information, visit SCAC.
