Grants for Arts Projects (GAP)

Overview

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is committed to supporting excellent arts projects for the benefit of all Americans. Through project-based funding, Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) supports a range of arts activities to enable Americans throughout the nation to experience the arts, foster and celebrate America’s artistic heritage and cultural legacy, and benefit from arts education at all stages of life. We also support arts and health programs, including creative arts therapies, that advance the well-being of people and communities.

We fund arts projects with specific, definable activities. We strongly encourage applications for arts projects that focus on one or more agency funding priorities. Applications will be assessed based on the Review Criteria of artistic excellence and artistic merit. However, priority for funding will be given to those projects that align with the identified agency funding priorities, though consideration is not limited exclusively to these areas. 

Projects may be small, medium, or large, and may take place in any part of the nation’s 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. jurisdictions. A project may consist of one or more specific events or activities; it may be a new initiative or part of your organization’s regular season or activities. Organizations that undertake a single short-term program in a year may apply for that event, or may choose to identify certain components of that program as their project. Organizations may apply for any or all phases of a project, from planning through implementation. The NEA does not fund general operating support or a full season of programming; a project should not cover an organization’s entire annual activities or costs. 

Projects should have regional, national, or artistic field-wide significance. This includes local projects that can have significant impact within communities or are likely to demonstrate best practices for the artistic field. 

We welcome applications from first-time and returning applicants; from organizations serving rural, urban, suburban, and tribal communities of all sizes; and from organizations with a range of operating budgets.

An organization may submit only one application to the FY 2027 GAP program (i.e., one application per calendar year), with limited exceptions. Applications will not be transferred between NEA funding categories. Applications to GAP will not be transferred to Research Awards or vice versa.

Eligible applicants include: nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations; units of state or local government; and federally recognized tribal communities or tribes. Funding in this category is not available for individuals, fiscally sponsored entities, commercial/for-profit enterprises, State Arts Agencies (SAA), or Regional Arts Organizations (RAO).

[Per sponsor, ASU is considered a state entity, and the AZ Board of Regents for Arizona State University is eligible to apply for GAP funding.]

A 1:1 cost share is required. Additionally, applications that do not include a project budget meeting the minimum requirements of at least a $10,000 NEA funding request, a $10,000 cost share, and $20,000 in total project expenses will be deemed ineligible and not be reviewed.

Period of Performance: NEA support of a project (i.e., “Earliest Start Date”) can begin no sooner than June 1, 2027 (for applicants to the July cycle GAP2). Awards in this program generally may cover a period of performance of up to two (2) years. The two-year period is intended to allow an applicant time to plan, execute, and close out its project, not to repeat a one-year project for a second year. You are expected to complete your project during the requested period of performance. A recipient may not receive more than one NEA award or other federal funding for the same activities/costs during the same period of performance.