Express Grant Program

The Express Grant program by South Arts aims to provide expedited financial support for the presentation of touring artists, particularly focusing on rural communities within its nine-state region. This initiative aligns with South Arts' mission to ensure that rural communities have access to and can present great art, recognizing the specialized support often required for this vision. The program offers fee support to organizations for presenting Southern guest film directors, visual and performing artists, or writers. The target beneficiaries are nonprofit and governmental presenting organizations located in rural communities (cities with a population of 50,000 or below) within South Arts’ nine-state region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. A key impact goal is to foster artistic engagement in these underserved areas. South Arts explicitly prioritizes diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, encouraging applications from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) led organizations, LGBTQIA+ led organizations, and organizations representing persons with disabilities, as well as projects that engage BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and artists with disabilities. The program focuses on supporting various artistic disciplines including film (documentary, fiction, experimental, animation), performing arts (theater, music, opera, musical theater, dance), literary arts (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry), traditional arts, and visual arts (crafts, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media). The grants, up to $3,000, are expedited, reflecting a strategic priority to quickly enable cultural presentations. The theory of change suggests that by providing targeted financial support, South Arts can overcome barriers to artistic presentation in rural areas and promote a more inclusive arts landscape. Expected outcomes include an increase in the presentation of diverse artists and artistic forms in rural communities, enhanced cultural access for residents of these areas, and the strengthening of presenting organizations. Measurable results would likely include the number of grants awarded, the number of artists presented, the types of communities served, and the representation of prioritized groups among applicants and grantees. The strategic priority to support rural communities and diverse artists reflects South Arts' commitment to a broad and equitable distribution of artistic resources.