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Cultural Districts

Grantor:
CA Arts Council
Portal ID:
118170
Status:
Active
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

This initiative will designate up to 10 new state-designated cultural districts. The Cultural Districts program offers grants up to $10,000 over a two-year period, official state certification, technical assistance, and access to joint marketing and branding resources. The 2025 cohort designation period will run from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2030, with grant activities taking place from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027. 

Description:

The California Cultural Districts program was established through Assembly Bill 189, authored by Assemblymember Richard Bloom and signed into law in 2015. The legislation grants the CAC the authority to identify, designate, and promote areas of concentrated cultural activity. 

“California’s cultural districts reflect the extraordinary diversity and creativity that define our state,” said Danielle Brazell, Executive Director of the California Arts Council. “This program is about more than just geography—it’s about creating sustainable ecosystems where artists and cultural workers can thrive, where history and heritage are honored, and where the arts serve as a catalyst for connection and community transformation.” 

 The Cultural Districts program helps communities harness their unique cultural assets to stimulate local economies, attract tourism, preserve historic sites, and support vibrant, inclusive creative economies. Districts are selected through a rigorous, equity-centered application process that emphasizes authentic community partnerships, vision clarity, and demonstrated cultural depth. 

With applications due by August 7, 2025, the Cultural Districts program offers grants up to $10,000 over a two-year period, official state certification, technical assistance, and access to joint marketing and branding resources. The 2025 cohort designation period will run from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2030, with grant activities taking place from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027. 

Eligible applicants must be a partnership of at least three organizations—an arts and/or cultural nonprofit or collective, a local business or business association, and a local government entity. Applications and full guidelines are available now at calartscouncil.smartsimple.com.

Only partnerships are eligible to apply, ones that include, at a minimum, a cultural non-profit or artist collective, a local business/business association or a community development corporation, and a branch of local government.

Ensuring that all interested parties have a good understanding of the full array of cultural assets present in the district will be critical to its long-term success.  A comprehensive approach to cultural assets helps to ensure authenticity and the preservation of homegrown assets, a key priority of the California Arts Council.

The application and review process will have three steps, including an open call for applications, site visits for semi-finalists, and finalist selection.  A multi-disciplinary and multi-sector selection panel will review applications and provide ranks for districts to proceed as semi-finalists. Those semi-finalists will receive invitations for site visits by CAC staff. After the site visits, the panel will reconvene to discuss all the ranks and site visit notes and recommend up to 10 districts for designation.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Nonprofit
  • Other Legal Entity
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

Only partnerships including at minimum, a cultural non-profit or artist collective, a local business/business association or a community development corporation, and a branch of local government are eligible to apply. Lead applicants eligible to apply include California nonprofits, units of municipal, county or Tribal governments, and fiscally sponsored organizations.

Eligible Geographies:

Applicant organizations and fiscal sponsors must have a principal place of business in California and a California address. A cultural district is understood as a well-defined geographic area with a high concentration of cultural resources and activities. 

Designated statewide cultural districts collectively represent rural, urban, and suburban districts and will include a focus on both cultural production and cultural heritage. 

Matching Funding Requirement:

A one-to-one match is required for this grant.

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
12/31/25
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
1/1/26-12/31/27

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$100,000
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
$10,000
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
100%
The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State

Funding Source Notes:

CAC's Local Assistance funds as allocated by the CAC Council.

The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Advance(s)

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
Gabrielle Rosado, 1-916-322-6555, culturaldistrictsgrant@arts.ca.gov

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