Note: Public-Space Activation Fund is preparing to re-open for the 2025/2026 year. Please follow us on social media, and sign up for our newsletter on the DCA website for the latest about PAF and other funding opportunities from DCA.
The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is pleased to open the 2025-26 funding cycle of the Public-Space Activation Fund (PAF). PAF supports a wide range of temporary creative engagements at publicly accessible outdoor spaces in the City of LA, in neighborhoods where the arts are currently absent or scarce.
PAF projects provide a cultural enhancement to an outdoor public space in an area where there is currently limited access to the arts. Events supported by PAF are site-related temporary projects that reach a well-defined audience (including a target audience and natural passersby), and support jobs for professional local artists who live in the neighborhood where the project is taking place.
Public-Space Activation Fund supports new ideas, pop-up concepts, and start-up projects needing outside capital in order to be launched or lifted. In partnership with local business incubator agency, Community Partners, grantees receive valuable enterprise advising and intermediary services to promote capacity building and sustainability.
Potential PAF events include, but are not limited to: community picnics, outdoor festivals, pop-up performance events, outdoor food/food-truck festivals, temporary banners/vinyl mural installations, candlelight vigils, and/or community-relevant mini-festivals.
Eligible applicants are Los Angeles-based “community entrepreneurs” (artists, cultural activists, collectives, neighborhood businesses, nonprofit organizations, and/or collaborative pairings of such partners under the stewardship of one lead-agent) who have a strong connection (such as place of work or residence) to the proposed project site (all applicants must be able to provide the exact address of their project and a letter of support from the site’s venue owner/operator). Acceptable project locations include streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public spaces throughout the City of Los Angeles. Priority will be given to applicants with eligible projects in arts-underserved LA City council districts with a low concentration of existing arts and cultural facilities, events, and organizations.
PAF is a monthly funding opportunity, where PAF applicants should submit applications 3 to 5 months in advance of their proposed event date. All planning, development, and implementation should be feasibly coordinated within this production timeline as well. Eligible PAF funding requests can range from $600 to $20,000 based on the category, geographic location, and complexity of a project (check out this city map for more information).
For more details about the Public Space Activation Fund, including application requirements, please review the full guidelines found on this website. Applicants are strongly encouraged to schedule a call with Sarena Khasawneh (Sarena.Khasawneh@lacity.org), the primary contact for the Public-Space Activation Fund, to discuss project eligibility before submitting an application. We look forward to working with you!
Thank you in advance, for your commitment to making Los Angeles a culturally vibrant place to live, work, and visit.
