Eligible applicants:
- Applicants for a NEAR residency are individual artists (or collaborative duos/teams/ensembles under the leadership of a single applicant) who reside within Los Angeles County, whose community-based practices have been largely self-developed and remain primarily self-directed.
- Applicants for a CO-UP residency grant are social justice organizations (or nonprofit arts organizations who are opening/continuing a fresh partnership with a social justice organization) in any district of the City of LA. CO-UP applicants have an operating budget of at least $100,000 and no more than $1 million, as demonstrated by the applicant’s most recently filed IRS Form 990. A CO-UP applicant’s proposed teaching-artist may be an employee of a non-profit arts organization using methodologies learned at their nonprofit to offer their services outside of their hours to perform an independent residency.
Residency funds shall be used for:
- community projects to be held in publicly accessible facilities (unless special permission is provided by DCA staff for a residency to be in a limited-access venue such as a domestic violence shelter or juvenile detention camp).
- sustainable activities that are guided by a strong artistic vision, purpose, or theme;
- projects that emphasize the creative process, community participation, and result in at least one low-cost or free public presentation;
- project themes that emphasize a connection between creative thinking and skill building within cultural issues; and
- impacts which include enabling participants to understand the art form involved and to develop their creativity through it.
Host venues must be located within the City of Los Angeles and be non-arts spaces, such as social service centers, senior centers, social benefit agencies, community centers, recreation facilities, libraries, youth centers, rehabilitation centers, family resource centers, health care facilities, hotels, malls/business centers, science/research facilities, transit centers and faith-based organizations. In regard to faith-based organizations, note projects DCA does not fund proposals that are primarily religious in nature or intent, unless a special case is made that the proposed artistic services are multi-denominational in nature or intent. (Click here for an interactive map of LA City council districts. Confirm whether an address is within LA City boundaries by searching for it in the City’s Neighborhood Info tool)
Please note that residency projects may incorporate curriculum-based teaching or be organized as a peer-to-peer exchange with a number of mature artists focusing their work on a specific theme with the goal of presenting one collective project to the public.
Applicants should not be:
- individual artists who live outside Los Angeles County;
- individuals enrolled in a degree or certificate program during the grant cycle;
- past grantees who have not successfully completed their DCA contracts within the past two years; or
- applicants whose past and/or current development is chiefly affiliated with one or more non-profit organizations that provide the same or similar community services, unless applicant is applying under the CO-UP category.
DCA does not fund:
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- projects to be hosted by organizations or festivals already funded by DCA;
- projects that remunerate full-time employees, part-time employees or Commissioners of DCA;
- events that are closed to the general public (however, projects at special population facilities such as correctional or medical facilities are eligible with prior permission from DCA grants staff);
- the purchase of depreciable assets (office/electronic equipment, cameras, musical instruments, etc.);
- cash prizes, competitions, or awards, hospitality, or food costs, including travel and accommodations, unless food costs are a required nutrition element of an after-school youth program;
- projects that are primarily religious in nature or intent, unless a special case is made that the proposed artistic services are multi-denominational in nature or intent; or
- projects at public schools that do not include at least 14 hours of workshops and one after school or evening assembly to which the public is invited.