Create Grants
Create Grants
Funding for arts and/or cultural projects open to the public in Santa Cruz County, up to $3,000. Open to Santa Cruz County artists, arts organizations, and non-arts organizations working in collaboration with artists.
Apply online in the grants portal by April 1, 2026 at 5pm.
Please read the guidelines before beginning your application. Guidelines include important information about eligibility and review criteria.
Watch this recording of the Create Grant orientation, which goes over the guidelines, how to apply, recent changes, and more.
Arts Council grant applications must be completed online in the grants portal. Download a list of application questions here.
Key Dates
Begin working on your application in the grants portal.
Attend in person or on Zoom, registration encouraged. The orientation will begin with a presentation by Tamara Liu, Grants Program Manager, covering everything you need to know about Arts Council grants. There will be time for questions after the presentation.
In-person at Watsonville Center for the Arts, 375 Main Street, Watsonville and Zoom.
(February 5, 12, 19, 26 and March 5, 12, 19, 26)
No registration, but if you prefer Spanish please email grantsprogram@artscouncilsc.org several days ahead of time so we can plan to have a Spanish-speaking staff member present. Click the link below to join the Zoom meeting.
Office hours are informal times when you can get grant application support from Grants Program Manager Tamara Liu. You can drop in during any of the scheduled times, and since there isn’t a presentation, you don’t have to be there at the beginning or stay til the end. If lots of folks show up at once, we’ll use a learning circle approach, with each person sharing questions or ideas. If you’re the only one, you will get direct one-on-one support! No questions or situations are too simple or too complicated. Hope to see you there!
Can’t attend at this time, or want to request an in-person meeting? Click here to book a time or email grantsprogram@artscouncilsc.org.
Please plan to submit your application well before the 5pm deadline in case of technical difficulties or other issues. The grants portal is often slower to load as the deadline approaches.
Look for an email on this date, sent to the email you used to log into the grants portal. The email will be sent by administrator@grantinterface.com, so please make sure to add this address to your safe sender list.
Grant payments will be sent once you’ve signed your grant agreement.
When all funded activities/expenses must take place.
Create Grant FAQs
- You can apply for both a Create grant and a Develop Quick Grant (or a Support grant and a Develop Quick Grant - but current Support grantees cannot apply for Create grants).
- ID & Residency verification added to application.
- Project Design & Planning questions/criteria have been updated slightly.
- $16k in additional funding available this year for Create grants, thanks to increases from Hewlett Foundation and the City of Santa Cruz (This is a one-time increase for this year only).
First, read the guidelines and attend the grants orientation (or watch the recording). Once you've done that, if you're still unsure, please feel free to reach out and ask! Email our team at grantsprogram@artscouncilsc.org.
If you are planning to have an audience and / or participants, then you most likely are eligible to apply for a Create grant, which has a higher maximum award. If you're not planning to share your work publicly as part of the grant, then a Develop grant may be a better fit. However, certain activities can sometimes fit either type of grant. First, read the guidelines and attend the grants orientation (or watch the recording). Once you've done that, if you're still unsure, please feel free to reach out and ask! Email our team at grantsprogram@artscouncilsc.org.
We like to support a variety of different projects each cycle! If your idea meets the eligibility and criteria listed in the guidelines, we'd love to read your application. View our list of current grantees for some examples of recently funded Create grants (note that all types of grants are included on this webpage).
Yes! Download this document to see a few examples of responses that have received high scores in recent grant cycles.
General FAQs are available at the bottom of our Apply for a Grant webpage.