Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Applications Due January 17

The National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance, is pleased to announce that applications are now available for the Creative Forces Community Engagement grant program. Grants support community-based arts engagement programming for military and veteran populations—including family members and caregivers. Through the experience of art or art-making, participants can express themselves creatively while building resilience, social connectedness, and gain support for successful adaptation to civilian life. Applications for this round of funding are now open on maaa.org/CreativeForces.

The deadline to apply is Wednesday, January 17, 2024.

Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs which seeks to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers.

The Creative Forces Community Engagement projects address the distinct experiences, challenges, and strengths of a broad military-connected population, including active-duty service members, guardsmen, reservists, veterans, military and veteran families, as well as caregivers and healthcare workers providing care for military service members and veterans.

Projects will require at least one partner. They must be led by or include at least one organization with a history of creative or artistic programming. Partnerships among arts organizations and veteran and military service organizations are highly encouraged. Funding will support projects beginning on or after July 1, 2024, in one of two categories:

Emerging:

• Support for eligible organizations to develop and implement new or emerging non-clinical arts engagement programs or for small organizations to provide non-clinical arts engagement for military-connected populations
• Matching grant amount: up to $10,000 for one-year projects

Advanced:

• Support for eligible organizations with established military-related non-clinical arts engagement programming
• Matching grant amounts: $10,000 – $25,000 for one-year projects or up to $50,000 for two-year projects

Resources for potential applicants include:

• Sign up for office hours
• Five Helpful Hints for Applicants (video)
• Insights webinar series from the Creative Forces National Resource Center
• Community Engagement Logic Models
• Insights on How to Serve Military and Veteran Populations

Additional resources and information can be found on the Creative Forces National Resource Center.

About the Creative Forces Initiative

Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The initiative seeks to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers. Creative Forces is managed in partnership with Civic Arts, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, and Mid-America Arts Alliance. More information can be found at arts.gov/CreativeForces and CreativeForcesNRC.arts.gov or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. To learn more, visit arts.gov or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Header photography credits: Exit12 company dancers, veterans, and refugees from Ukraine perform together in Truths Colliding, a project funded by Creative Forces and presented on Memorial Day weekend 2023. The performance took place on the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, New York. Photo by Alberto Vasari.