Grants to support Idaho’s Emerging Arts Organizations (US)

These programs represent the highest standards of excellence, engage the public, encourage community access, education and participation in the arts and follow best practices in business management and administration. Entry Track grants are intended to prepare organizations for transition to Public Programs in the Arts.

Ineligible Activities

• Establishment of or contributions to an endowment;
• Fundraising projects that do not raise funds for the arts;
• Prizes, scholarships, or free tickets;
• Projects or programs to generate or attract audiences;
• Offsetting of debt, payment of fines, penalties, or legal fees;
• Activities that are primarily promotional or created for mass distribution, such as duplication of CDs, creation of portfolios, private gallery announcements, brochures, or websites;
• Self-published books;
• Student exhibitions, anthologies, publications, or performances, unless those activities document an arts education grant;
• Costs associated with any degree or professional certification, such as tuition, fees, and teaching materials;
• Projects or activities already completed or beginning before the eligible start date or documentation of previously completed projects;
• Documentation of projects except for arts education activities;
• Projects primarily recreational, vocational, or religious;
• Activities restricted to an organization’s membership;
• Costs for consecutive attendance at annual activities that are routinely within an arts organization’s budget including, but not limited to, conferences of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Americans for the Arts, American Folklore Society, or the Western Arts Alliance;
• Pageants, festivals, or celebrations unrelated to arts, ethnic, or cultural activities;
• Journalism;
• Historical or academic documentary film and electronic media arts that do not demonstrate significant artistic emphasis, consideration, and distinction;
• Scholarly or academic works in history, languages, archeology, and political science;
• Lobbying expenses or political activities;
• Hospitality expenses such as food and drink, alcohol, flowers, etc. Any such expenses included in a project approved for funding must be paid with applicant funds;
• Capital expenses for an individual; or
• Writing intended for youth.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicant must be a nonprofit, IRS tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization or applying through a fiscal agent; or be a unit of local, county, tribal, or state government, including schools and school districts. Nonprofit organizations must have a valid 501(c)(3) Determination Letter with an effective date at least three years prior to the grant application deadline date
• Applicant must provide a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)
• Applicant must have a minimum of a three-year program history as of the application deadline date
• Applicant must compensate professional artists and administrators
• Nonprofit organizations primary purpose must be the production, presentation, or support of the arts; this restriction does not apply to government entities, schools, or school districts
• University applicants are eligible for one Entry Track grant application per year, if the institution does not already receive a Public Programs in the Arts grant
• Final reports for past Commission grants and awards must be submitted and approved.

For more information, visit Idaho Commission on the Arts.