Cultural Economy Funding Program

FY26 Grant Cycle Update

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy (OCE) has announced a temporary pause of the Cultural Economy Funding Program for the Fiscal Year 2026 Grant Cycle due to ongoing citywide budget constraints and impending budget cuts.

 

Updates on future funding cycles will be shared here, on social media (@embracetheculturenola), and in the "Cultural News You Can Use" newsletter as soon as they become available.

BRASS Registration: 

Grant awards are processd and disburesed through BRASS, the City’s Procurement and Finance System. All grant recipients must be registered in the system as a supplier or vendor to receive funding payment. 

Interested applicants are encouraged to complete their BRASS registration to remain eligible for future funding opportunities. For more information, please click here. 

• How to Register as a Supplier 
• How to Submit an Invoice on a Purchase Order

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. 

What We Fund:

• All proposed activities must take place within the City of New Orleans to be considered for funding.

• 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.

Please Note: All grant recipients ​must acknowledge support from the Mayor's Office of Cultural Economy through use of our logo and 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

Contact Us

Please direct any questions to culturaleconomygrants@nola.gov.