The Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants are available to nonprofit organizations and state/local/tribal government entities that have at least three-years experience in presenting/producing arts-based projects and/or programming for military communities.
Donor Name: Mid-America Arts Alliance
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/15/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
These Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants are intended to support non-clinical arts engagement programs taking place in healthcare, community, or virtual settings. Creative Forces-supported community programs have involved a range of arts activities, including visual, written, and performing arts offered through single events, drop-in programs, and ongoing engagement led by artists in residence, teaching artists, or creative arts therapists.
Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Program projects should engage military-connected individuals through experiences of art or art-making with one or more of the following participant outcomes in mind:
- Creative Expression: Participants have a better understanding of themselves and others by creating or engaging with art.
- Social Connectedness: Participants have supportive relationships in their lives and a sense of belonging to a community.
- Resilience: Participants feel they can rebound from stress, unexpected events, or life’s challenges.
- Independence and Successful Adaptation to Civilian Life: Participants have both an individual and shared sense of purpose, as well a positive self-worth, that support adapting and readjusting to civilian life.
This grant program also seeks to advance the capacity of the applicant and its partner(s) in one or more of the following ways:
- Networked Organization: Grantees build networks and partnerships that support the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs for military-connected participants, leading to stronger outcomes for participants.
- Strengthened Capacity: Grantees build their capacity to design, implement, and evaluate programs that meet the needs of military-connected participants.
- Increased Value of the Arts: Grantee partnerships and activities lead to an increased understanding of the value and impact of the arts across local participating networks and communities.
Funding Information
Matching grant awards of $10,000–$25,000 will be awarded to approximately 45 applicants to support projects that engage targeted military-connected individuals through experiences of art or art-making.
Project Types
Eligible types of Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Program projects include, but are not limited to:
- Military/veteran family, and caregiver support.
- Apprenticeship/internship/residency
- Arts instruction
- Creation of a work of art
- Concert/performance or exhibition
- Recording/filming/taping
- Support for military-connected populations impacted by natural disasters.
Eligibility Criteria
The Applicant Organization must:
- be a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)3, U.S. organization, a unit of state or local government, or a federally recognized tribal community or tribe located in the U.S. (including the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories as well as the Native nations that share that geography);
- have either a minimum of three years’ experience:
- programming for/with military communities or
- presenting/producing arts-based projects.
For more information, visit MAAA.
