The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) released its 2022-23 Cultural Grants Program Guidelines for nonprofit organizations and festival producers seeking grant support for free and/or low cost cultural events to take place between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.
 
Guidelines and instructions for DCA’s 2022-2023 Cultural Grants Program can be found online at: https://culturela.org/grants/cultural-grant-program-org/. Friday, August 27, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. is the deadline for online submission of application materials.
 
“Our Cultural Grants Program supports creative projects that reflect the core values of the Department of Cultural Affairs: inclusion, diversity, equity, excellence, and access,” said Danielle Brazell, DCA’s General Manager. “Through these vital partnerships with local organizations, we deliver world-class arts and cultural experiences throughout the year that activate and engage our residents and visitors in neighborhoods all across Los Angeles.”
 
“DCA’s grant guidelines contain incremental changes to increase the City’s alignment with contemporary topics regarding social justice, with one category name-change, and a stratification of the ‘Outdoor Festivals/Parades’ category into three sizes. New instructions welcome applicants to present their authentic values toward fostering inclusion, diversity, equity, excellence, and access. This can be demonstrated by showcasing specific workers and/or themes within project-proposals,” said Joe Smoke, DCA’s Grants Administration Division Director. “Please carefully read the educational introduction and online instructions written by DCA’s expert Grants staff, and enroll in a webinar or workshop in order to feel wholly prepared to enter this ‘open call’ system which will result in a spectrum of the most competitive proposals being funded.”
 
All proposed cultural activities should be easily accessible for targeted communities or general audiences of City of Los Angeles residents, visitors, and/or tourists. Eligibility and scoring are described for proposals in various art discipline(s), with a special emphasis this year (DCA’s odd-numbered year cycle) on projects in: Culture/History, Design/Visual Arts, Literary Arts, Media Arts, Outdoor Festivals/Parades, Traditional/Folk Arts, and Field Advocacy and Sector Learning (FASL).
 
With this Request for Proposals (RFP), DCA is seeking to invest in a variety of expertly produced, uniquely disbursed, and socially relevant projects that: may take the form of participatory workshops and/or engaged demonstrations; include full-time, part-time, seasonal, or occasional jobs for artists and art-event coordinators; and have both broad marketing and measurable impacts.
 
The proposed projects should be aligned with the applicant’s mission, history, and a defined public purpose. Project budgets should be estimated as public/private partnerships for which applicants should forecast matching funds of at least 1:1. Examples of eligible projects include: arts business/networking activities; culture/history presentations; dance concerts or classes; design/visual art exhibitions or museum projects; literature or publishing projects; media activities or presentations; music concerts or classes; outdoor festivals or parades in one public street or public area over one day or one weekend; theatrical workshops or productions; traditional/folk arts activities or presentations; and/or multi-disciplinary arts activities.
 
A series of free online webinars and in-person workshops are available to provide assistance to potential applicants. Webinar space is limited to 30 participants per webinar, and RSVPs are required at least two business days in advance. The calendar of webinars and workshops, and instructions to register may be found below and at: http://dcaredesign.org/grants/training/workshop-schedule/.
 
UPCOMING ONLINE WEBINARS AND IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS:
 
Friday, August 6, 2021 (Virtual Meet-and-Greet with DCA Grants Staff)
(Recommended for new applicants to discuss organization and project eligibility.)
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
 
Thursday, August 12, 2021 (Webinar)
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
 
Wednesday, August 18, 2021 (In-Person Workshop with the Grants Director)
(Recommended for new applicants or new staff at returning organizations.)
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Sun Valley Youth Arts Center on the Rear Patio

Saturday, August 21, 2021
Online Webinar
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
 
For more information, please contact DCA’s Grants Administration Division at [email protected]. We are still telecommuting, so please expect emailed questions and inquiries to be returned in approximately 48 hours.
 
In addition to the release of the new Cultural Grants Program RFP, DCA is also inviting arts managers, cultural events producers, arts experts, and cultural business financial managers to participate in the grant review process through an Open Call for Panelists. If selected, eligible individuals may be invited to serve as a part of one democratic team who would determine a set of grant-funding priorities for DCA. For more information about how to nominate yourself as a potential grant-reviewer, please visit:
https://form.jotform.com/211934716880158.