ArtsOrange is pleased to announce recipients of the 2026-27 Grassroots Arts Program and Artist Project Grants. This year, ArtsOrange awarded thirty-seven grants to seventeen artists or artist-groups, fifteen nonprofit organizations, and five schools.
2026-27 Grassroots Art Program Grant Recipients
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation – Guest Residency with CHCCS High School Jazz Bands ; ArtsCenter Programs for Phoenix Academy High School Students ; Poet Laureate Program 2026-2027 for CHCCS High School Students
- Cosmic Rays – 2027 Cosmic Rays Film Festival: Artist Honoraria and Festival Operations Support
- Chelsea Art Theater – Operational Support 2026-27
- Estes Hills PTA – Estes Hills Elementary Cultural Enrichment Program 2026-27
- FRANK, Franklin Street Arts Collective – Operational Support 2026-27
- McDougle Elementary PTA – 2026-2027 McDougle Elementary School Cultural Arts Programming 2026-2027
- McDougle Middle School PTA – 2026-2027 McDougle Middle School PTA Cultural Arts Programming
- MYCO (Mallarme Youth Chamber Orchestra) – Side-by-side MYCO chamber orchestra project
- Northside Elementary School – Northside Elementary dance and music education with NC Arts in Action
- Prism Design Lab – Artists Among Us with Dare Coulter ; 2026-27 Operational Support
- Seawell Elementary School PTA – Seawell Folkmoot: Reviving a Community Folk Arts Festival
- Sisters’ Voices – Salary Support for Elementary Assistant and new Executive Director
- The ArtsCenter – Bad Art Club: Creativity for All at The ArtsCenter ; AIR Program
- The Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History – Supporting Community Artists and Local Talent at the Annual Northside Festival
- PlayMakers Repertory Company – PlayMakers Share the Show
- Voices Chapel Hill – Support for Accompanist
2026-27 Artist Project Grant Recipients
- Alana Bennett – Adaptive Arts Collective: Inclusive Creative Workshops for Neurodivergent Youth & Young Adults
- Bridget Pemberton-Smith – Therapeutic Drum Circles for Diverse Groups of People in Orange County
- Erik Valera – YOU BELONG BY DESIGN
- Erim Akpan – Low-cost interactive theater performance at the ArtsCenter that makes people who feel powerless, feel powerful
- Freddie Bell – On the Studio Wall
- Jennifer Yourkavitch – Expanding Arts Coverage in The Carrborean
- Bluefae Studio – Pattern Design on Paper: Hands-on Workshops at Muse Gallery
- Liza Wolff-Francis – The Language of Intertwining Arts
- Marcela Slade – Sladesign Fashion/Art Show
- Nerys Wendon Levy – Culturally diverse performing artists at the 27th Mildred Council Annual Community Dinner at McDougle Schools
- Nicholas DiEugenio – Gut Instinct: To Beethoven Rather Than to Seem
- Patricia Sullivan – Word on the Street: A Hillsborough/Orange County Literary Arts Festival
- Peaches Kawamata – Developing free family-friendly community Shakespeare play
- Perrin Marie – HOOPLA Tea Party
- Rachel Moon – Free mending your clothing classes at The ArtCenter
- Sol Ramirez – The 1, 2, 3 Puppetry Puppet Slam
- Tre. Charles – A Tre. Charles Performace
ArtsOrange Arts Grants are annually funded by the North Carolina Arts Council, a department of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, and the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.
For more information about ArtsOrange Arts Grants, visit www.artsorange.org/grants or contact Katie Murray, director of the Orange County Arts Commission, at 919-245-2335 or kmurray@orangecountync.gov.
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