The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation—the nonprofit that owns Jazz Fest—is now accepting applications in five categories of the Community Partnership Grants program for the 2021-2022 grant cycle. The Jazz & Heritage Music Relief Fund is also open specifically for culture bearers in the Black masking tradition, including Mardi Gras Indians, Baby Dolls and Northside Skull & Bones members.
Since 1979, the Jazz & Heritage Foundation has invested proceeds from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell directly into the community with grants to fund projects that support the foundation’s mission. Over the last ten years, $10 million has been awarded in Community Partnership Grants. To read about the 2020-2021 grant stats and recipients, please read here.
The Community Partnership Grants program offers grant awards of up to $5,000 to support music and art education programs, cultural events put on by Louisiana arts-based nonprofits, new artistic works that interpret Louisiana culture and other projects that support the Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s mission.
The deadline to apply is Friday, August 13, 2021. Activities funded by these grants must occur between Sept. 1, 2021 and Aug. 31, 2022 and must take place in Louisiana. This grant allows for one application per category per organization or person.
The five categories now open are:
Jazz & Heritage After-School and Summer Education Programs in Music, Arts and Cultural Traditions. This category supports after-school and summer educational arts programs offered by nonprofit organizations and Louisiana K-12 schools. Organizations apply for money only to pay the professional teaching fees of the artists or educators who provide arts instruction.
Jazz & Heritage In-School Education Programs in Music, Arts and Cultural Traditions. This category supports music and arts education in the schools by funding music and arts instruction that takes place at Louisiana K-12 schools during the regular school day or after school. Schools (public or private) may apply for money to pay for instruments/instrument repair, sheet music, visual art supplies or other needed materials to support arts instruction as part of the school’s curriculum.
Louisiana Cultural Equity Arts Grant. This category is open to Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color. It supports the creation, documentation or exhibition of art works that reflect, interpret, document or preserve the indigenous culture of Louisiana. Only Louisiana based individuals and non-profit organizations may apply.
Jazz & Heritage Presenting: Festivals and Concerts in Music and Performing Arts. This category supports employment for Louisiana performing artists by providing funding to Louisiana-based nonprofit arts organizations to help cover the cost of hiring Louisiana-based performers for festivals or other public cultural events in the state. Only arts-based nonprofits in Louisiana may apply.
Media and Documentation. This category supports the creation, documentation or exhibition of art works that reflect, interpret, document or preserve the indigenous culture of Louisiana. Individuals and non-profits may apply. Priority will be given to Louisiana-based applicants.
For more information on all grant opportunities, visit here.
