City of Lafayette Arts in Education

The Lafayette Cultural Arts Board (LCAB) offers the Arts in Education Grant for the 2025–2026 school year and 2025 summer school session. This grant opportunity supports educators and artists working within the City of Lafayette, Colorado, to implement arts and culture-related projects that benefit K–12 students. The grant is specifically limited to projects that occur within the official city boundaries and are hosted at Lafayette schools. Applicants must be Lafayette school personnel or artists co-applying with such personnel. The program ensures all funded projects directly benefit students at the designated school and align with LCAB’s mission. LCAB’s mission is to promote, nurture, and celebrate the visual, performing, cultural, and language arts within the city. It accomplishes this by fostering partnerships, encouraging artist engagement, and embracing multiculturalism. The board operates under an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) framework and seeks to empower historically underserved community members through its grantmaking. Preference is given to projects that incorporate themes of cultural equity, diversity, and social justice in their artist selection, audience inclusion, content, or collaborations. Projects must be completed before the end of the school year, and final reports are required to be submitted within the same academic year. Failure to submit a final report from a previous grant cycle disqualifies applicants from receiving new funding. Projects should be well thought out, with thorough applications, a clear and reasonable budget, and a demonstration of the project's positive impact on students. The grant is not intended to fund retrospective projects, capital improvements, general operating expenses, employee salaries (though visiting artists are allowed), receptions, fundraising events, or refreshment costs. Awards are generally capped at $1,000, though larger amounts may be considered in limited circumstances depending on the number of applicants. The number of awards distributed varies by applicant volume, and exact totals are not specified. All funded projects must include a credit line acknowledging support from the Lafayette Cultural Arts Board and display the Arts & Cultural Resources department logo. Applications must be submitted online via the Lafayette city website by March 14, 2025. No extensions will be granted, and the application must be fully completed for consideration. Applicants are encouraged to consult LCAB’s IDEA framework on the city’s website to improve their application’s alignment with program values. Evaluations are based on criteria such as project quality, impact, financial planning, access to arts and culture, and consistency with IDEA principles. For questions, applicants are directed to contact the Grants Coordinator or Arts & Cultural Resources Director via email at arts.grants@lafayetteco.gov. All applicants and funded projects must also comply with LCAB’s Nondiscrimination Statement, which prohibits discrimination based on numerous protected characteristics including race, gender, religion, and socio-economic status.

Review LCAB’s IDEA Framework on the city website to improve application success