Closing the arts education gap in rural Alabama: How to apply for funding from the BBCF
Since the Black Belt Community Foundation first partnered with the Alabama State Council on the Arts in 2005, the pair have distributed over $1.7 million in arts funding throughout the Black Belt.
That includes the grants worth up to $3,000 each that are up for grabs this cycle.
Past funding has supported an after-school program in Wilcox County where at-risk kids are encouraged to keep learning outside of the classroom, a nonprofit that preserves the rich tradition of quilting in Gee’s Bend, the annual Selma Jubilee and theater programs throughout the state.
These past recipients demonstrate the way art and history are directly linked in the Black Belt — a poor stretch of counties in the state named for their unique soil that have been home to world-changing events and heroes alike.
Still, finding monetary backing for the arts in rural Alabama every year can be difficult for groups trying to get their programs off the ground, as well as those that are well-established.
“We know that there is a gap. When I think about it, it seems like the funding has been cut for so long that I don’t know that it’s the first thing to get cut anymore. It’s just not been there,” BBCF President Felecia Lucky said. “We try to make sure we're good storytellers of where investments are made in the arts for our region and what happens because those investments are made.”
The BBCF and the Alabama State Council on the Arts work to be the solution, or at least provide a little bit of help. They annually distribute grants in varying amounts to programs that provide arts-related programming in their communities.
Do you qualify for a BBCF grant?
All organizations that will receive arts grants must be based in one of the 12 Black Belt counties where the foundation focuses: Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox.
The grant can go toward in-school, after-school, community-based and summer arts education programs, or it can be used to present or produce arts programming and to attend professional development conferences related to the arts.
The BBCF is not strict on what they consider “the arts.” The foundation has funded everything from trips to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery to Birmingham, to Selma and beyond.
“A lot of people will say, ‘Well, it's not really the arts if you're doing exposure,’ but it is because for a lot of our children, they may not have had an opportunity to visit a museum,” Lucky said. “That is an investment that is worthwhile because you've then provided exposure to the arts that some demographics of folks never had before.”
If your group fits these qualifications, you must apply before 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time on April 28 to be considered.
How to apply for a BBCF grant
The process to apply takes a little more effort than just submitting an online form. All applicants must also attend at least one BBCF Virtual Grant Seeking Workshop, held via Zoom.
There, BBCF employees walk applicants through what they need to do, giving them their best shot at receiving funding.
“If you're spending all of your time writing the grant, then you're not doing the work,” Lucky said. “All you've got to do is just know the work that you want to do, know who you want to impact, and that helps us.”
Here are the remaining scheduled workshops:
Registration is required. The link to register is also available on the BBCF website and Facebook page.
After attending one of the Zoom workshops, you may apply for a grant online. If you have questions or concerns, the BBCF invites you to contact Jennifer McCohnell at jmccohnell@blackbeltfound.org for more information.
Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser or donate to Report for America.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Black Belt Community Foundation offers thousands in arts grant funding
