• Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations with an annual operating budget between $50,000 and $350,000 before the pandemic.
• Fiscally sponsored arts and culture organizations with an annual operating budget between $50,000 and $350,000 before the pandemic. Groups must be sponsored by nonprofit organizations that have arts, culture, and/or heritage in their mission statement.
• Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations must have current federal tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, including those affiliated with tribal organizations.
• All applicants must have a minimum of one-year-history of providing continuous arts programming prior to the pandemic.

• Individuals
• For-profit organizations
• Political or advocacy organizations
• Organizations based outside of Washington State

Applications submitted by the deadline are reviewed by ArtsWA staff for completion and eligibility. Complete and eligible applications are sent to scoring panel for evaluation.

Evaluation and Scoring Panel
A panel of arts professionals, ArtsWA commissioners and staff evaluate eligible applications. Panelists use scoring criteria to give a numerical score to each application. An application’s final score is the combined average of all panelists scores.

Panel Recommendations and Board Approval

• The Scoring Panel makes funding recommendations based on numerical scores.
• Funding recommendations are presented to the ArtsWA Executive Director for approval.

Notification of Award
Notifications are sent to applicants approximately four to six weeks of application submission.

• Financial Need, Planning and Strategy (10 points)
• Arts and Cultural Programming (10 points)
• Communities Served (10 points)

Financial Need, Planning and Strategy: The organization demonstrates financial need and thoughtful strategy and planning for moving forward.

Describe how the pandemic has impacted your organization’s operations and services (make sure your response is succinct).

Tell the Scoring Panel how receiving funding will help you move forward, such as plans to move programming online and related costs.

• Access to arts and culture experiences for the public including arts/culture education programs.
• Services culturally relevant to communities the organization serves – be specific in your response.
• Participation of underserved populations as leads, presenters, participants, and audiences. Include people of color, LGBTQ+, people who live in rural areas, people with disabilities, people who identify as immigrants or refugees, and people whose first (or only) language is not English and people most impacted by social/economic inequities. (This is not an exhaustive list.)

Arts and Cultural Programming: The organization’s mission, programs, and services are focused on arts and/or cultural programing.

Provide your organization or group’s mission statement and list all programs/services that demonstrate:

• Access to arts and culture experiences for the public including arts/culture education programs.
• Services culturally relevant to communities the organization serves – be specific in your response.

Communities Served: The community served by the organization is reflective of Washington’s diverse populations including cultural diversity, artistic disciplines, geographic locations, and underserved populations.

Describe the communities your organization serves. Application narrative examples can include (but are not limited to):

• Participation of underserved populations as leads, presenters, participants, and audiences. Include people of color, LGBTQ+, people who live in rural areas, people with disabilities, people who identify as immigrants or refugees, and people whose first (or only) language is not English and people most impacted by social/economic inequities. (This is not an exhaustive list.)

Please review Grant Application Guidelines for complete details.

• Relief Grants for Mid-sized Organizations Guidelines (PDF)
• Relief Grants for Mid-sized Organizations – Application Guide – Includes Application Questions (PDF)
• Operating Budget Template (XLSX)
• Fiscal Sponsorship Responsibilities  (PDF)
• Allowable Expenses (PDF)