The City of Pittsburgh and American Rescue Plan Act Support for Artists Grant - Casey Droege Cultural Productions (Due June 16)
The City of Pittsburgh and American Rescue Plan Act Support for Artists Grant - Casey Droege Cultural Productions
Deadline: June 6th, 2025
The City of Pittsburgh, with funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), is launching the Support for Artists Grant Program, to be facilitated by Casey Droege Cultural Productions. These ARPA funds are meant to support the recovery of the City’s arts and culture sector from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Support for Artists program specifically supports the economic recovery of individual artists. Through this program, 75 one-time grants will be awarded at levels of $500, $1,500, and $3,000.
Twenty-five artists will be selected for each grant amount and will receive a one-time deposit. Grants will be awarded to individual artists working in any and all disciplines who have experienced a disruption to their income stream due to the COVID-19 pandemic as of March 3, 2021 or later. Individual artists must currently be residents within the City of Pittsburgh municipal boundary (see map). Selected artists may be required to provide financial evidence in the form of tax statements or pay stubs. Throughout the course of this program, the City of Pittsburgh is required to follow all federal ARPA guidelines and all other applicable law. Artists are responsible for personal tax implications associated with an award.
Applications for the grant program will open on May 5, 2025, and will be due by 11:59 PM EST on June 16, 2025. Awarded grantees will be identified through a two-step process involving an eligibility assessment followed by a lottery system, all conducted by a review committee. Awarded grantees will be notified by September 1, 2025.
Eligibility
Individual artists are welcome to apply for the Support for Artists grant if they meet the following eligibility criteria:
Must be a resident within the City of Pittsburgh municipal boundary (see map)
Must be at least 22 years of age (or at least 18 years of age as of March 3, 2021)
Must be able to demonstrate a COVID-19 pandemic-related disruption to income as of March 3, 2021 or later
Must be able to demonstrate having a creative practice active before and after March 3, 2021. The practice may be in one or more of the following areas:
Crafts
Dance
Design Arts
Folk/Traditional Arts
Literature
Media Arts
Multi-Disciplinary
Music
Musical Theater
Photography
Poetry
Theater
Video/Film
Visual Arts (2-D)
Visual Arts (3-D)
Writing (fiction or nonfiction)
The City of Pittsburgh allocated funds for 75 grants and it anticipates a high demand. At this time, the City of Pittsburgh will, within a lottery system, prioritize distributing grants to the following individual artist classifications. Note that any priorities within the application review and lottery system do not guarantee a grant, nor do they exclude anyone otherwise eligible from applying and being considered.
Individual artists who did not receive any emergency grant funds from any local arts foundations during the COVID-19 pandemic (note: federally-given stimulus checks do not count)
Individual artists whose household income is at or below the federal poverty level
Individual artists whose creative practice is the sole income for the household
Support for Artists grants are not available to cover any of the following:
Damages covered by insurance
Expenses that have been or will be reimbursed under any federal programs or other sources
Contributions to “rainy day” funds, financial reserves, or similar funds
Payment of interest on or principal of outstanding debt instruments, including, but not limited to, short-term revenue or tax anticipation notes, or other debt service costs
Satisfaction of any obligation arising under or pursuant to a settlement agreement, judgment, consent decree, or judicially confirmed debt restructuring
Deposits into any pension funds, as defined by ARPA guidance issued by the U.S. Treasury or applicable law
Expenditures not in compliance with any other limitations or requirements that have been or will be established by the City, applicable law, applicable regulations, or applicable ARPA guidance
Reimbursement of expenses paid prior to March 3, 2021
An applicant must meet the eligibility requirements and submit a completed application
including all supporting documents to be considered. Applicants may select which grant amount they would like to be considered for. Applications for the Support for Artists grant will be assessed by a review committee against a simple rubric evaluating for base eligibility and any prioritization match. Eligible applications will be entered into and selected at random through a weighted lottery system generated for each grant amount. While all eligible applications will be entered into the lottery system one time, entries will increase by one for each additionally held priority. Note that an individual artist can only be awarded one grant.