Culture
Historic $22.7 Million in Arts Grants Approved by Ohio Arts Council Board including 18 based in Athens County
By: WOUB Culture Team
Posted on:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Yesterday the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) board approved $22,704,702 in grants to support Ohio artists, nonprofits, arts and cultural organizations, students and educators, and public arts programming, marking the largest single round of grants distributed to OAC funding applicants in the agency’s history.
As a part of this, 18 applicants from Athens County received more than $280,500.
These grants stem from the state’s 2024-2025 operating budget, which included a record-high state appropriation of nearly $51.1 million for the OAC over the two-year period.
Athens County applicants awarded grant funding included groups such as the Athens Photographic Project, the Calliope Feminist Choir, and Stuart’s Opera House.
Grants were awarded in the following areas:
Operating Support
Sustainability supports ongoing arts and cultural activities in all genres. Awards support the state’s arts and cultural ecosystem, providing stable and consistent funding to organizations regardless of budget size. This flexible and reliable funding supports a wide range of the state’s arts providers as they make high-quality artistic experiences available to residents and visitors, positioning Ohio as a national leader in creativity, artistry, and cultural wealth.
446 grants totaling $17,167,288
Statewide Arts Service Organizations (SASO) are qualifying organizations that provide statewide professional services to arts and cultural organizations. These organizations often serve as critical partners to the OAC’s work as they, along with their members or constituents, support our mission to strengthen Ohio communities through the arts. SASOs are eligible to receive OAC support in a way that honors their unique and valuable contributions to Ohio’s arts sector.
5 grants totaling $292,300
Project Support
ArtSTART provides flexible, accessible funding to help organizations complete short-term projects addressing a wide variety of goals and objectives. Most awards support the programming of new or emerging organizations, including first-time OAC applicants, as well as new or established organizations in areas not served by other arts providers.
181 grants totaling $625,979
ArtsNEXT provides competitive funding for innovative and experimental projects. Awards support big ideas that push boundaries, engage participants in unexpected ways, pilot new solutions to challenging problems, improve program design with calculated risk-taking, or result in the creation of new work. These forward-looking projects help define Ohio as an exciting, cutting-edge place to make, consume, and experience the arts.
66 grants totaling $974,891
Ohio Artists on Tour enables Ohio organizations to tap into the creative potential of artists to enrich their programming and the vitality of their communities. This program provides awards in the form of fee support to institutions that present Ohio-based performing artists.
31 grants totaling $162,071
Arts Learning
Arts Partnership supports arts education projects that address the needs of individual learners and their communities. Grant recipients engage in collaborative planning with partners, emphasize in-depth study of the arts, and use arts learning outcomes and standards-based arts education practices. The program supports organizations seeking to both maximize community strengths and shed light on community challenges, especially those in historically under-resourced areas. By supporting these projects and programs, the OAC strengthens arts education locally, regionally, and statewide.
88 grants totaling $1,002,171
TeachArtsOhio brings schools and community organizations together with teaching artists to share engaging, personal, high-quality arts learning experiences. Engagements can vary from short introductory exposures lasting as few as 10 days to in-depth immersive experiences spanning a full school year.
100 grants totaling $2,415,000
Artist Programs
Traditional Arts Apprenticeships provide support for master artists to work with apprentices to build understanding and proficiency in folk and traditional art forms. These awards support the teaching and sharing of important cultural traditions and enrich the lives of Ohioans.
18 grants totaling $65,002