DCCAH 2010 Art Grant Season Opens

Last week, the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities opened its call for applications for its 2010 grant season. Each year the well-funded DCCAH has hundreds of thousands of dollars to give away to the artistically-minded, and the crazy part is that they can't seem to find enough people to give it all away to every year. Free money, guys! You just have to ask!

Big arts festivals like Capital Fringe and FotoweekDC always take advantage, but it's really the little guy who can get a huge benefit from the grant program. The Small Projects Program is perfect for anyone who is trying to get a new project going, but may not have the experience or name-recognition to get the support they need early on. Last year, Ronald Alexander Clark won a $1345 grant for his solo exhibition at Busboys and Poets, while Steven Nero won $2000 to support interviews for his documentary on the freedom riders movement in D.C. in 1961.

Need tips on how to apply for a grant? Check out one of their Wednesday Workshops over the next few months, including three at Artomatic.

The DCCAH has gone through some changes recently, including the appointment of new Executive Director Gloria Nauden last September and hiring consultants to implement a five-year plan for art in D.C. Over at DCist's arts desk, we've definitely noticed DCCAH's efforts to become more visible in the community, and certainly hope our readers take advantage. See the listing of available grants here (each section has a list of last year's winners, so you can get some ideas of what they're looking for) and most applications are due around September.