Arts Foundation Grants

Funding the Arts

The Arts Foundation is committed to advancing artists’ lives and supporting both emerging and established arts organizations. We are detail-oriented when it comes to inclusion, inviting young people and elder professionals, and reaching out to arts organizations in rural towns and tribal lands. We welcome working artists pursuing their passions, neighborhoods animating shared space, and arts organizations opening their doors for creativity and innovation.

Untitled # 3 from Thuy & T., Anh-Thuy Nguyen, 2021. New Works Grantee. Photo courtesy of the artist

Grantmaking for Southern Arizonans

Since 2001, Arts Foundation has stewarded over $12M of public funds from City of Tucson and Pima County enriching the metropolitan region of Southern Arizona. In the last 20 years, our annual grant portfolio has seen an 11% overall increase and 50% growth in the last 3 years. Throughout the pandemic, we joined forces with local, county, state and national partners to provide rapid aid for our regional creative workforce. With a long history of championing public funds for public good, Arts Foundation was enlisted by the City of Tucson in 2020 to distribute $1.75M of Somos Uno/We Are One Federal CARES relief. An additional, $440k was granted through Project Creosote– a recovery grant portfolio aimed to catalyze the rebound of the arts sector throughout Southern Arizona, thanks to funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Tucson and Pima County. These milestone investments in the region are restoring trust, solidarity and affirmation needed to rebuild together, in community, into the future.

In this landmark year, our grants attracted applications from 15 cities in our diverse service region including, Native Sovereign Nations, border communities and rural communities in Southern Arizona. We received bilingual applications from 103 Arts and Culture Organizations and 491 applications from working artists. Our $2.2M grant portfolio in FY21 awarded over 500 artists, collectives and organizations reaching 66% first time applicants, and 75% BIPOC grantees from all communities in our applicant pool. Critical seed funding reached 12 fiscally sponsored BIPOC grassroot arts and culture organizations with micro budgets under $50,000investing in those who are innovating models for self-determination and community wealth.     

2024 stART Grant

2024 stART Grant

Application Status:Closed

The stART Grant provides individuals, collectives, co-ops, and 501(c)3 organizations with award funds through two alternate tracks of support: Community Impact track and Artist Development track.

Project Mesquite: stART grant

Project Mesquite: stART grant

Application Status:Closed

stART Grant provides individuals, collectives, and co-ops awards funds through two alternate tracks of support: Community Impact track and Artist Development track.

Project Mesquite: New Works Project Grant

Project Mesquite: New Works Project Grant

Application Status:Closed

Supporting individual artist projects that meet the highest standards of excellence across a diverse spectrum of artistic disciplines and cultural expressions.

Project Mesquite: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

Project Mesquite: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

Application Status:Closed

Designed to identify and reward high school seniors within Pima County who demonstrate excellence in dance, music, theater, visual arts, media arts, literary arts, poetry, spoken word, craft, or art related to cultural preservation.

Somos Uno | We Are One

Somos Uno | We Are One

Application Status:Archived

Funded by the City of Tucson We Are One/Somos Uno Resiliency Fund, through the Federal CARES Act. Administered by the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Project Creosote: New Works Project Grant

Project Creosote: New Works Project Grant

Application Status:Archived

The Project Creosote: New Works Artist Project Grant seeks to support the depth and breadth of innovative new artwork created and produced in the City of Tucson and Pima County. The grant program supports individual artist projects that meet the highest standards of excellence across a diverse spectrum of artistic disciplines and cultural expressions.

Project Creosote: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

Project Creosote: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

Application Status:Archived

The Youth Arts Scholarship is designed to identify and reward high school seniors within Pima County who demonstrate excellence in dance, music, theater, visual arts, media arts, literary arts, poetry, spoken word, craft, or art related to cultural preservation. 

Project Creosote: Rebuilding Grant for those organizing in the arts

Project Creosote: Rebuilding Grant for those organizing in the arts

Application Status:Archived

The Project Creosote: Rebuilding Grant for those Organizing in the Arts provides unrestricted awards to non-profit arts and culture organizations servicing Tucson and Southern Arizona whose goals may include attending to their creative communities’ needs, saving jobs, funding operations, purchasing supplies, and reaching audiences for engagement and participation.

Project Creosote: stART to Heal

Project Creosote: stART to Heal

Application Status:Archived

The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona’s stART to Heal Grant for Creatives provides individuals, collectives, and co-ops awards funds through two alternate tracks of support: Community Impact track and Artist Development track.

2024 stART Grant

2024 stART Grant

The stART Grant provides individuals, collectives, co-ops, and 501(c)3 organizations with award funds through two alternate tracks of support: Community Impact track and Artist Development track.

Application Status: Closed

Project Mesquite: stART grant

Project Mesquite: stART grant

stART Grant provides individuals, collectives, and co-ops awards funds through two alternate tracks of support: Community Impact track and Artist Development track.

Application Status: Closed

Project Mesquite: New Works Project Grant

Project Mesquite: New Works Project Grant

Supporting individual artist projects that meet the highest standards of excellence across a diverse spectrum of artistic disciplines and cultural expressions.

Application Status: Closed

Project Mesquite: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

Project Mesquite: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

Designed to identify and reward high school seniors within Pima County who demonstrate excellence in dance, music, theater, visual arts, media arts, literary arts, poetry, spoken word, craft, or art related to cultural preservation.

Application Status: Closed

Somos Uno | We Are One

Somos Uno | We Are One

Funded by the City of Tucson We Are One/Somos Uno Resiliency Fund, through the Federal CARES Act. Administered by the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Application Status: Archived

Project Creosote: New Works Project Grant

Project Creosote: New Works Project Grant

The Project Creosote: New Works Artist Project Grant seeks to support the depth and breadth of innovative new artwork created and produced in the City of Tucson and Pima County. The grant program supports individual artist projects that meet the highest standards of excellence across a diverse spectrum of artistic disciplines and cultural expressions.

Application Status: Archived

Project Creosote: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

Project Creosote: Pima County Youth Arts Scholarship

The Youth Arts Scholarship is designed to identify and reward high school seniors within Pima County who demonstrate excellence in dance, music, theater, visual arts, media arts, literary arts, poetry, spoken word, craft, or art related to cultural preservation. 

Application Status: Archived

Project Creosote: Rebuilding Grant for those organizing in the arts

Project Creosote: Rebuilding Grant for those organizing in the arts

The Project Creosote: Rebuilding Grant for those Organizing in the Arts provides unrestricted awards to non-profit arts and culture organizations servicing Tucson and Southern Arizona whose goals may include attending to their creative communities’ needs, saving jobs, funding operations, purchasing supplies, and reaching audiences for engagement and participation.

Application Status: Archived

Project Creosote: stART to Heal

Project Creosote: stART to Heal

The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona’s stART to Heal Grant for Creatives provides individuals, collectives, and co-ops awards funds through two alternate tracks of support: Community Impact track and Artist Development track.

Application Status: Archived

Meet the Arts Foundation Grantees

Read about the artists and cultural leaders making an impact on our communities’ arts landscape. Look through the profiles of current and past Arts Foundation grantees to connect with the thriving Tucson and Southern Arizona arts community. 

Grants review process

Our grants review process relies on a panel of artists, arts administrators, community advocates, and cultural workers from varying geographies, disciplines, and backgrounds who review, deliberate, and score the materials submitted by each applicant. Materials are assessed based on eligibility, completeness, and clarity based on the published review criteria. Panel recommendations are then submitted to the Arts Foundation Board of Directors for formal approval and authorization. 

Project Creosote Panelists

The Grants Team collaborates with community members who have expertise in the arts, arts management, and/or nonprofit administration functioning as an advisory group to Art Foundation’s Board of Directors. Panelists review grant applications and awards, as well as make allocation recommendations to the Board of Directors. 

  • Antonio Estrada
  • Betty Villegas
  • Bianca Finley Alper
  • Christian Ruvalcaba
  • Desiree Gonzales
  • Diana Delgado
  • Génesis Cubillas
  • José Merino
  • Khailill Knight-Papaioannou,
  • Lourdes Pereira
  • Marcos Ysmael
  • Rameen Ahmed
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