Our Town - National Endowment for the Arts

One of the two primary partners must act as the official applicant (lead applicant). This lead applicant must meet the eligibility requirements, submit the application, and assume full responsibility for the grant. Eligible lead applicants are: Local governments. For the purposes of these guidelines, local governments are defined as counties, parishes, cities, towns, villages, or federally recognized tribal governments. Local arts agencies or other departments, agencies, or entities within an eligible local government may submit the application on behalf of that local government. The following do not qualify as local governments: state level government agencies, other state-designated entities, state higher education institutions, regional governments and entities, quasi-government organizations, regional planning organizations, and business improvement districts. For U.S. territories, if no local government exists, the territory government can serve as the local government. Nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) U.S. organizations with a documented three-year history of programming. To be eligible, the lead applicant organization must: For an organization other than a local government, have a three-year history of programming prior to the application deadline. Meet the Arts Endowment’s "Legal Requirements," including nonprofit, tax-exempt status, at the time of application. Have submitted acceptable Final Report packages by the due date(s) for all Arts Endowment award(s) previously received.