The 2025 Round 1 Teaching Artist Grants, administered by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, provide funding from $500 to $5,000 for sequential arts education projects in schools and community centers within Cattaraugus, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, and Tioga counties. These grants, funded by New York State’s Statewide Community Regrant (SCR) program, support teaching artists or nonprofits partnering with public or charter schools certified by BOCES or community centers in the same county as the applicant.

Projects must include a minimum of three sessions with the same teaching artist and group of K-12 students, offering in-depth, hands-on, skill-appropriate learning in a participatory art form. The grant also supports artist fees, though equipment spending is capped at $1,000. Certain expenses, such as cash prizes, scholarships, or out-of-state travel, are not eligible for funding. Priority is given to projects featuring BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, or Folk & Traditional artists or audiences and to those that pay artist fees.

Applications are due by December 13, 2024, at 11:59 p.m., submitted through the ARTS Council’s online portal. Applicants are encouraged to contact Grants Manager Chris Walters (chris@eARTS.org) for application guidance. Funding decisions are made by a community-led panel, with notifications sent by early February 2025.