The Arts Council of Carteret County (ACCC) applies each year to the North Carolina Arts Council to obtain grant monies to make available to Carteret County nonprofit organizations to assist with arts and cultural programming. Grassroots grants are intended to fund art projects/programs that will be completed within the grant year. Programs can focus on theater, music, dance, writing, folk-life, or the visual arts.

Funds are made available through the North Carolina Arts Council’s Grassroots Arts Program to the 100 counties in North Carolina through a population-based formula. Fifty percent of the monies awarded to ACCC must be subgranted back into Carteret County in the form of Grassroots subgrants. Ten percent of the monies awarded must be directed to multicultural arts programming offered by multicultural performers. In FY 2018-19 ACCC was able to award over $15,000 to six Grassroots subgrantees.

A panel of citizens from the community review the grant applications, assessing the overall impact of the proposed program on the citizens of Carteret County, the excellence of the program, as well as its practicality.

This program, funded by the NC Arts Council, provides the opportunity for regional consortia of local arts councils to award project grants to artists in their regions. These grants support professional artists in any discipline and at any stage in their careers to pursue projects that further their professional development. Types of fundable projects include:

• Creation of new work

• Purchase of equipment and materials

• Professional development workshops

• Travel support for expenses associated with a professional opportunity such as participating in an exhibition or a conference

• Development or upgrading of promotional materials such as brochures, DVDs, CDs, and websites

Grant amounts vary from region to region. Statewide, they range from $300 to $5,000, though most grants are between $500 and $2,000.