Please note that the 2023/2024 funding cycle is closed as of July 31, 2024. For more information on the 2024/2025 funding cycle, please follow us on social media, and/or sign up for our newsletter on the DCA website.
The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is pleased to open the 2023-24 funding cycle of the Public-Space Activation Fund (PAF). As in prior seasons, PAF supports for a wide range of temporary creative-engagement and/or creative enhancement projects on streets, sidewalks, and other publicly accessible outdoor spaces in LA City neighborhoods where the arts are absent or scarce. In addition, DCA is introducing a new PAF project category called International Participation and Promotion Projects, in which eligible LA City-based nonprofit organizations may request funding for collaborative presentations that showcase the best of LA abroad and support the hosting-presenting of international artists visiting Los Angeles.
DCA invites inquiry phone calls (to preface staff-mentored proposals) from: neighborhood business managers, independent artists, cultural activists, nonprofit organizations, and/or collaborative pairings of such partners under the stewardship of one lead-agent that wish to launch a feasible demonstration-project or an iteration of current project that can be sponsored within one of the following four categories:
Neighborhood Expressions (NE): Micro-grants for individual LA City artists ranging from $600-$1,200 (depending on location) to produce a free public activity or presentation hosted by an operator/manager of a venue within the artist’s own neighborhood (proposed venues may not be a conventional arts space, such as a product-design gallery, cineplex, theater lobby, etc.). Neighborhood Expressions grants are given to Los Angeles artists who wish to start a new collaboration with a neighboring café, coffee shop, retailer, health clinic, community center, indoor/outdoor market, or other nearby businesses to engage community members and neighborhood audiences. Indoor activities are allowed in the NE category but open-air activities are highly encouraged (click here for more details).
Arts and Social Wellness (ASW): “Seed funding” generally ranging from $7,500 to $10,000 for community entrepreneurs who aim lead a collaborative effort to animate an outdoor public space with a free public activities such as: live performance(s), temporary banner(s)/mural(s), candlelight vigil, cultural picnic, or mini-festival. ASW projects are framed around community-relevant themes that bridge the arts with: science, nature, environmental goodness and justice, and/or community wellness and health. ASW projects promote mental, physical, environmental, community wellness, and/or promote art+science and should be pitched under one of the two descriptions below:
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- Pop-up projects (such as cultural presentations, creative engagements/workshops, temporary installations such as vinyl murals) proposed by a team of local players who live or work in the neighborhood of the proposed project. Pop-up proposals should draw attention to relevant themes or topics and be planned in alliance with one or more local neighborhood associations. All Pop-up projects must be able to garner an audience of at least 300 people. Up to $7,500 can be requested for a Pop-up project. Projects which pay fees to ten (10) or more artists/ensembles (with 50% living or working in the neighborhood-area) are most competitive.
- Festival-style projects (such as art walks or street fairs) which aim to enliven a corridor (a single street spanning a couple of blocks or more) while building collaboration and economic development among neighborhood businesses. All Festival-style projects must be able to garner an audience of more than 1,000 persons. Up to $10,000 can be requested for Festival-style projects. Projects which pay fees to ten (10) or more artists/ensembles (with 50% living or working in the neighborhood-area) are most competitive.
International Festivals & Intercultural Foods (IFIF): Activities under this category are also categorized as either Pop-ups and Festival-style projects (see public attendance requirements above) and feature such free public events as: community picnics, outdoor festivals, pop-up performance events, block parties, outdoor food/food-truck festivals, and creative enhancements to farmers markets with live performing arts and cultural activities. IFIF projects should embrace multicultural themes and promote opportunities for cross-cultural learning and feature entertainment that can take place at a range of street-adjacent, family-friendly spaces, such as: farmers markets, public parks, school yards, parking lots, and other publicly accessible outdoor spaces.
International Participation And Promotion Projects (IPAPP): In this new category, eligible nonprofit organizations apply to carry out a specific, collaborative project outlined as an “Imminent Opportunity” posted by DCA and approved by the project host and endorsed by their municipal/regional/state or federal endorser(s) (click here to view current list of Imminent Opportunities). Projects will involve collaborative presentations that showcase a range of Los Angeles talent abroad while also supporting the hosting-presenting of international artists visiting Los Angeles. The overall goal of IPAPP is for DCA to build the capacity of Los Angeles-based nonprofit arts organizations (working alone or together) to send a performer, ensemble, or set of related groups to accomplish a DCA approved and posted “Imminent Opportunity” with respectful attention expected to the diplomatic responsibilities to interface with: government authorities, embassies or consulate officers, event sponsors, and other project authorizers.
If you believe PAF might be a good fit for your proposed idea, please call us for coaching, and consider the checklist below in assessing eligibility:
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- Could you demonstrate support from at least 2 or 3 of the following: local businesses, community groups, the neighborhood council, and/or the City council member’s Office? (Neighborhood Expressions proposals may submit a single letter of support from a partnering venue operator/business)
- Could you tell us how your project demonstrates collaborative thinking and planning, and presents a relevant theme to stimulate community engagement?
- Could you share the desired outcome in terms of: neighborhood character, cultural expression, community pride and/or future possibilities?
- Are you able to provide the names and live/work addresses of at least ten (10) or more artists (e.g. architects, chefs, craft makers, designers, dancers, media-makers, musicians, spoken-word artists — at least 50% of whom are based in the neighborhood where you plan to produce your event) who could be employed or engaged by the proposed project as fabricators of objects, presenters/performers, curators, and/or educators (ASW and IFIF applicants)?
- Are you proposing a concept or project which can attract an audience of attendees and passersby of approximately 300-1,000 persons (or 40 or more persons, for a Neighborhood Expressions presentation)?
Please review the full guidelines featured on this website before proceeding with a phone inquiry or proposal. PAF proposals are accepted online by the first Thursday of each month starting in October 2023 through July 2024. Applications must be submitted at least three (3) months in advance of a proposed event, and are generally reviewed within approximately 20 business days. Feedback is available for those who need to modify and improve their proposal. Ideas can be adjusted and submitted 2 or 3 times when seeking approval.
Thank you in advance, for your commitment to make Los Angeles a culturally vibrant place to live, work, and visit.