Opportunity Information: Apply for 2018NEA01CA
The NEA Challenge America FY2019 opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 2018NEA01CA, CFDA 45.024) is a discretionary grant program from the National Endowment for the Arts designed to help expand access to high-quality arts experiences, particularly in communities that have historically had fewer opportunities to engage with the arts. The program is geared primarily toward small and mid-sized organizations and supports projects that bring professional arts programming into places and populations where access is limited, while also encouraging arts-based efforts that contribute to community development. At its core, the program is tied to the objective of engagement, meaning it prioritizes projects that increase public participation in and access to excellent art across the United States.
A central requirement of Challenge America is that the proposed project must specifically serve an underserved population. For this program, underserved audiences are defined as groups whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. Importantly, age by itself does not qualify someone as underserved under these guidelines, so proposals aimed at youth or seniors must also demonstrate at least one of the qualifying barriers (for example, low-income seniors, rural youth, or people with disabilities). Applicants are expected to clearly identify which underserved audience they intend to reach and provide concrete details that explain the barrier(s) to access and how the project directly responds to those circumstances.
Funding under this opportunity is provided as a grant, with an award ceiling of $10,000. Supported activities can include professional arts programming (such as performances, exhibitions, readings, workshops, residencies, or other artist-led experiences) as well as projects that emphasize the arts as a tool for community development. While the summary information provided does not list a specific number of expected awards, it does establish the maximum award amount and the program focus, which is heavily oriented toward broadening access and engagement rather than general operating support.
The timeline and period of performance are also clearly outlined. NEA-supported activity for a project funded through these FY2019 guidelines may begin on or after January 1, 2019. Grants typically allow for a period of performance of up to two years, giving applicants flexibility to plan and implement multi-phase programming, sustained community partnerships, and outreach efforts that require more than a single season to complete.
There are key application restrictions applicants need to plan around. An organization that applies to the Challenge America category may not also submit an application to the Art Works category, meaning an applicant must choose between those two for the same fiscal year cycle. However, an organization may apply to other NEA opportunities, including Our Town, in addition to Challenge America, as long as each request is for a distinctly different project or a distinctly different phase of the same project, and each has its own separate period of performance and distinct costs. This is meant to prevent duplicate funding for the same work while still allowing organizations to pursue multiple, clearly separated initiatives.
Another important eligibility limitation relates to repeat funding. Organizations that received Challenge America grants in FY2016, FY2017, and FY2018 are not eligible to apply again for Challenge America under the FY2019 guidelines. Those organizations may still seek FY2019 support through other NEA programs, including Art Works, but they cannot continue in Challenge America that year due to the stated restriction.
Eligibility for applicants is broad and includes a range of public and nonprofit entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; and nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in that nonprofit category). The original closing date listed for this opportunity is April 12, 2018, indicating the deadline for submitting applications for FY2019 consideration.
Overall, NEA Challenge America FY2019 is structured as a targeted access and engagement grant: modest in maximum award size, focused on professional arts and community development projects, and explicitly designed to reach audiences facing geographic, economic, disability-related, or ethnicity-related barriers to arts participation. The program places strong emphasis on clearly defining the underserved community being served and demonstrating how the proposed activities measurably expand arts access and public engagement.Apply for 2018NEA01CA
- The National Endowment for the Arts in the arts sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NEA Challenge America, FY2019" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.024.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2017-12-05.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-04-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.
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Applicants also applied for:
Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (2018NEA01CA) also looked into and applied for these:
| Funding Opportunity |
|---|
| Ambassadors Fund For Cultural Preservation (AFCP) Large Grant Award 2018, Lebanon Apply for AFCP2018LG LEBANON Funding Number: AFCP2018LG LEBANON Agency: U.S. Mission to Lebanon Category: Arts Funding Amount: $1,000,000 |
| NEA Our Town, FY2019 Apply for 2018NEA01OT Funding Number: 2018NEA01OT Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| NEA Art Works 2, FY2019 Apply for 2018NEA01AW2 Funding Number: 2018NEA01AW2 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| NEA Research Labs, FY2019 Apply for NEAPS1801 Funding Number: NEAPS1801 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $150,000 |
| NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert and Ancillary Events, FY2020 Apply for NEAPS1802 Funding Number: NEAPS1802 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $425,000 |
| NEA The Citizens' Institute on Rural Design TM (CIRD), FY2019 Apply for NEAPS1803 Funding Number: NEAPS1803 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $350,000 |
| NEA Documentary Sustainability Project, FY2019 Apply for NEAPS1804 Funding Number: NEAPS1804 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| NEA Research: Art Works, FY2019 Apply for 2019NEAORA Funding Number: 2019NEAORA Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| NEA Literature Fellowships: Translation Projects, FY2020 Apply for 2019NEA03LFTP Funding Number: 2019NEA03LFTP Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $25,000 |
| U.S. Mission to Nigeria: Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Apply for DOS NGA ABU 19 025 002 Funding Number: DOS NGA ABU 19 025 002 Agency: U.S. Mission to Nigeria Category: Arts Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| U.S. Mission to Nigeria: Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Apply for DOS NGA ABU 19 025 001 Funding Number: DOS NGA ABU 19 025 001 Agency: U.S. Mission to Nigeria Category: Arts Funding Amount: $800,000 |
| U.S. Mission to South Africa: Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Apply for DOS PTA AFCPS19 Funding Number: DOS PTA AFCPS19 Agency: U.S. Mission to South Africa Category: Arts Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| U.S. Mission to South Africa: Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Apply for DOS PTA AFCPL19 Funding Number: DOS PTA AFCPL19 Agency: U.S. Mission to South Africa Category: Arts Funding Amount: $800,000 |
| U.S. Embassy Conakry, Annual Program Statement: Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Apply for DOS CONAK FY18 02 Funding Number: DOS CONAK FY18 02 Agency: U.S. Mission to Guinea Category: Arts Funding Amount: $200,000 |
| Ukraine: U.S. government Public Diplomacy Small Grants Program –Culture Apply for PAS UKRAINE 2019 001 Funding Number: PAS UKRAINE 2019 001 Agency: U.S. Mission to Ukraine Category: Arts Funding Amount: $24,000 |
| NEA USArtists International, FY2019 Apply for NEAPS1806 Funding Number: NEAPS1806 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $435,000 |
| NEA Performing Arts Discovery, FY2019 Apply for NEAPS1807 Funding Number: NEAPS1807 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| NEA Performing Arts Global Exchange, FY2019 Apply for NEAPS1805 Funding Number: NEAPS1805 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $300,000 |
| NEA Literature Fellowships: Prose, FY2020 Apply for 2019NEA03LFCW Funding Number: 2019NEA03LFCW Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $25,000 |
| NEA Art Works 1, FY2020 Apply for 2019NEA01AW1 Funding Number: 2019NEA01AW1 Agency: National Endowment for the Arts Category: Arts Funding Amount: $100,000 |
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