The FY24 Funding Cycle is closed, please check back at a later date for updates regarding the FY25 Funding Cycle.
For the FY24 cycle, twenty-five (25) grants of $2,000 will be awarded to individuals and organizations that are engaging in activities that promote the cultural economy through educating our youth, training our cultural producers, providing networking opportunities, creating cultural events, and other projects that align with the Office of Cultural Economy’s mission.
Grant Packet:
Please Note: All interested applicants should carefully and thoroughly read the funding terms and conditions before submitting.
Deadline:
Funding Calendar:
- Applications should be submitted at least three (3) months before the date the requested funds are needed.
- Once you have submitted your application, please allow at least six (6) weeks for review and notification of the result of your request.
- Additionally, all funding payments are submitted through BRASS, the City’s Procurement and Finance System. The estimated time for awards to be processed and disbursed is between 30-60 days.
Please Note: All funded programs, events, and activities must acknowledge support from the Office of Cultural Economy through use of our logo or written/verbal acknowledgment.
BRASS Registration:
Grant recipients must register with the City's BRASS System to receive payment. For more information, please click here.
Questions regarding the BRASS Portal should be sent to procurement.brass@nola.gov or call (504) 658-1550.
Recipients experiencing difficulties in the BRASS Supplier Portal can also submit a form to request assistance from the Office of Procurement, available here.
Contact Us
Please direct any questions to culturaleconomygrants@nola.gov.
What We Fund:
- Workshops, training, and conferences that build cultural economy capacity in cultural non-profits, neighborhood organizations, and cultural businesses. Capacity Building includes networking, teaching skills such as fundraising/grant writing, working with partners to improve programming, leveraging, education about sustainability, learning of new concepts such as place-based planning, etc.
- Workshops, training, and conferences in any of the Cultural Economy segments as defined by the Office of Cultural Economy: Entertainment (dance, theater, music, film, sound recording), Design (fashion, interactive media, communications), Preservation (architecture, construction, landscape architecture, and interior design related to preserving historic buildings and assets), Culinary Arts, Literary Arts and Humanities, and Visual Arts and Crafts.
- Events with art and cultural components. Funds can be used for paying musicians or other performers, attracting tourists, or other activities that will directly impact either cultural workers or attract sales for art and cultural vendors.
- *Note: all funded programs, events, and activities must acknowledge support from the Office of Cultural Economy through use of our logo or written/verbal acknowledgment*
Who We Fund:
- State and federal 501(c)3 nonprofits
- For profit businesses licensed with the City and State and are in good standing *Note we do not fund for-profit activities, but community/cultural activities organized by for-profit businesses qualify*
- Individuals, such as artists, who have secured a fiscal agent (such as a nonprofit)
How We Evaluate:
- A committee of five employees from the Office of Cultural Economy reads through all applications
- Each employee then scores each application on the strength of the following criteria:
- Community Impact: Creates a deep and lasting affect on the community and the means to maintain that impact
- Economic Impact: Significantly impacts the economy through training, networking, and creating lasting contributions to individuals and businesses’ development in their field
- Cultural Contribution: Deeply aligns with the culture of the community, enhances it and recognizes its diversity, and works with those qualities to contribute to the culture
- Alignment with the missions of the Cultural Economy and Economic Development Offices