Eligibility

Applicant must be a Colorado-based nonprofit organization, or a PK-12 school.

• School applicants must engage an artist or arts organization as a partner. 
• Organizational applicants must:
  • Be engaged with a school partner or have a strong history of working with youth
  • Be registered with Colorado Secretary of State with an address in Colorado
  • Have a Colorado-based staff person who will be actively engaged in the project

Funded projects may take place at schools (during the school day or after school), community centers, libraries, nonprofit arts sites, and other locations that are highly accessible to youth. Projects may involve any arts & culture discipline or genre, such as theater, dance, music, visual arts, media arts, literary arts, folk and traditional arts, or interdisciplinary art forms. Arts integration projects (connecting an art form with another subject area) are encouraged. 
Projects should:

1. Take place over a period of time that allows for depth of learning and relationship building. Ideally, projects take place over the course of six weeks or longer. 
2. Center the identities and needs of youth. Youth should be consulted in the project’s design and be able to influence the project’s evolution along the way.
3. Fill a clear gap in the school or community. The rationale for the project should be informed by the stated needs of the student and community.
4. Engage experienced artists and culture bearers. Teaching artists should have a successful record of working with youth, and whose identities reflect the youth participants. 
5. Be highly accessible to youth participants. A fee may not be charged for participation, and it must take place in a setting that youth are able to easily get to. 
6. Allow for time and resources to measure and communicate the project’s value and impact. Evaluation results will be collectively shared.