Grants & Programs

Illinois Arts Council Grants

Arts and Foreign Language Implementation and Planning Assistance Grants program

A joint project of the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Arts and Foreign Language Implementation and Planning Assistance Grants program (AFL) is designed to assist Illinois public school districts, public university laboratory schools, charter schools and area vocational schools with the development, maintenance, or enhancement of curricular programs in the Arts or Foreign Language.

Arts-in-Education Residency Program

These grants provide support for artists residencies in schools and communities statewide. Residencies last from one to six months. Primary and secondary educational institutions, community colleges, and local community organizations are eligible to apply, as well as four-year colleges and universities if the residency invovles local K-12 student population.

Community Arts Access

(Regranting): The Community Arts Access program provides the opportunity for local arts agencies to distribute state funds in their own service areas according to their assessment of local needs.

Ethnic and Folk Arts Master Apprentice Program

The Ethnic and Folk Arts Master Apprentice Program recognizes the vital role of the master artist/apprentice relationship in the preservation of the state’s cultural heritage. The program helps communities preserve their own culture by providing an opportunity for master traditional artists to pass on their skills to a qualified apprentice in a time-honored method.  Suspended since 2009 as the result of state budget cuts, the IAC was pleased to be able to reinstate the Master Apprentice Program in FY2012 with the aid of funding received from the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Infrastructure grant program. 

Grants to Arts Service Organizations

Grants to Arts Service Organizations (ASO) are available to not-for-profit arts service organizations in Illinois for quality programming that provides services to members of the arts community. Grants are available for either general operating support or project support.

Individual Artist Support

The Individual Artist Support (IAS) Initiative was created to help Illinois artists realize a career goal, take advantage of a professional opportunity, or for the production and presentation of an artistic project.  

Partners in Excellence

Recognizing that Illinois is the home of creative arts institutions of regional and national significance; the Illinois Arts Council has implemented the Partners in Excellence Program (PIE).  The PIE Program provides general operating support to designated organizations of scale and significance in all regions of the state.

Program Grant Overview

Program Grants are available for Illinois non-profit organizations that provide arts programming of high artistic merit in arts-education, dance, ethnic and folk arts, literature, media, multi-disciplinary, music, theater and visual arts. Grants are available for either general operating support or project support.

QuickStart

QuickStart provides funding for schools/sponsoring school districts to host a professional Illinois artist to work with teachers and students up to six times during a six week period. The program encourages participants to develop new initiatives and relationships with artists.

illinois.gov