Elevate

Funding Timeline

Eligible Applicants

Eligible Applicants

• 501(c) non-profit arts organization.
  • 501c non-profits arts organizations a minimum 5 years of operating history may also apply for Thrive. View the Thrive Guidelines for details.  
• An individual aged 18 or older with an annual operating budget below $500,000. * +  
• A creative business with an annual operating budget below $500,000. * +  
• Your artistic goals or creative mission is the production of arts and culture activities. This includes organizations that provide professional support to creatives.  
• Minimum of one year of operating history in the Austin metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which includes:                                                          
  • Travis, Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, and Williamson Counties.  
• Over 50% of your creative production is within the Austin 10-1 City Council districts or extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).  
• Proposed activity meets all program requirements as outlined by the Hotel Occupancy Tax.  
  • All events are open to the public  
  • Occur within Austin or the Austin ETJ  
  • Marketed to tourists  
  • Or applicant is an arts service organization  

* May apply directly or with a Fiscal Sponsor. See the Guide to Fiscal Sponsorship in English or Guide to Fiscal Sponsorship in Spanish prior to starting your application.

+ Individual Artists and Creative Businesses, which include unincorporated arts groups, may apply for up to $30,000. 

 

Ineligible Applicants

• 501(c) non-profit organizations or that are not primarily an arts organization.
• Individuals or creative businesses with annual operating budgets above $500,000.  
• Applicant organizations outside of the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
• City of Austin Full-Time Employees
• Applicants who have accepted grant funding from the Cultural Arts Fund (Thrive, Elevate, or Austin Live Music Fund) in the current City of Austin Fiscal Year 2024 grant funding cycle 

Eligible Activities and Expenses

See Additional Program Details in English (PDF,518 KB), Additional Program Details in Spanish (PDF,519 KB) for a more detailed list of eligible and ineligible activities and expenses. 

Eligible Activities

• Operations related to the applicant’s ability to produce public events
• Exhibitions
• Performances
• Workshops and classes that include a performance or exhibition that is open to and marketed to tourists.
• Public art projects that are installed on public or private property and accessible by the public (Applicants must obtain written permission from the property owner prior to submitting an application. See page 6 of the Additional Program Details in English (PDF,518KB), Additional Program Details in Spanish (PDF,519 KB) for more information). 

Eligible Expenses 

• Administrative and creative costs incurred in the preparation and implementation of cultural activities that are open to and marketed to tourist (including staff hours, contractor costs, and artist salaries)
• Space rentals
• Equipment rentals (not purchases)
• Supplies and materials
• Marketing and promotion expenses
• Insurance costs
• Subscription costs or license fees for software needed to complete contracted activities
• Fiscal sponsor fee, if applicable (cannot exceed 10% of award)
• See pages 4-6 of the Additional Program Details in English (PDF,518KB), Additional Program Details in Spanish (PDF,519 KB) for more information). 

Eligibility Questions

• Is 51% or more of your work produced or presented within the City of Austin Council Districts or extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ)?  

• If yes, has your work been produced or presented within the City of Austin Council Districts or extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) for one or more years?

• Are activities in your proposal open to and marketed to tourists? If you are an arts service organization that supports artists and arts organizations with their own public activities, answer “yes.”  

• If you are currently receiving funding through any other City of Austin department or program (excluding pandemic relief programs), please disclose.  

• If you are an Individual Artist or Creative Business, your budget history lists most recently completed fiscal year’s budget $150,000 or less 

Glossary of Terms

Here are just a few important definitions for helpful reference in understanding goals and priorities. For a full list of definitions please see the glossary of terms and definitions beginning on page 19 of the Additional Program Details. 

 

Creative Business 

A creative business is an individual or a group whose primary activities are arts- and culture-based and does not have a 501c non-profit status. Creative businesses with annual operating budgets below $500,000 can apply as an individual or arts group in Nexus and Elevate. 

 

Cultural Displacement 

Cultural displacement occurs through changes in the aspects of a neighborhood that have provided long-time residents with a sense of belonging and allowed residents to live their lives in familiar ways.   

As the scale of residential change advances, and shops and services shift to focus on new residents, remaining residents may feel a sense of dislocation despite physically remaining in the neighborhood. This may also reflect the changing racial or ethnic character of the neighborhood—not just its class composition.  

 

Cultural Erasure 

Cultural erasure is when, because of cultural displacement, key aspects of neighborhoods that allow both current and future residents to feel at home go missing. Current and future residents lose access to opportunities in the neighborhood and the scale of change erases key aspects of the neighborhood that allows residents to feel at home.  

 

Content was developed in collaboration with the City of Austin's Equity Office and industry resources. 

 

Fiscal Sponsor 

A nonprofit corporation with 501(c) status that applies for financial support on behalf of another organization or individual in order to enable the latter to receive the benefits of tax-exempt status. There are several forms that fiscal sponsorship can take, but in every case, the fiscal sponsor takes responsibility for external parties that the funding will be utilized for tax-exempt, charitable purposes as defined in the internal revenue code. See The Long Center’s 

 

Intersectionality 

The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw to highlight the overlapping vulnerabilities that are at play in shaping the life chances of some of society's most vulnerable populations, for example: women who are poor, of color, or who are undocumented.   
 
Intersectionality describes the many ways in which various forms of discriminations can intersect, creating special vulnerabilities for some. Vulnerabilities related to systemic and institutional racism are an integral part of intersectionality. 

 

Key Constituencies 

The people deeply impacted by your work, which may include your audience, community members, and/or participating artists and administrators. These ‘key constituencies’ are identified and named by the applicant.

For the purposes of this program, key constituencies that will be prioritized are community groups that are at immediate risk of cultural erasure and displacement within Austin and/or have been institutionally marginalized and under-funded by the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division. Any reference to ‘key constituencies’ in a program application and scoring rubric will be referring to the community groups that meet this definition and that has been directly identified by the applicant.

This may refer to Black/African American, Native American, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander, the LGBTQIA, and disability communities.

NOTE: Audience served is NOT the same as ‘key constituencies’ as the audience served may or may not include communities that are at immediate risk of cultural erasure and displacement within Austin and/or have been institutionally marginalized. 

Grant Awardee Commitments

In addition to application proposals, the following information will also be required.  

Reporting Requirements

A final report is due within thirty days of the final activity date. Videos on how to complete your report will be made available and supporting materials can be found in the Contractor Library.    

 

The report will require but is not limited to:  

• Proof of award monies expended  
• Audience attendance
• Proof the funded activities were executed  
• Proof that marketing requirements were met 

Past Awardees

2024 Awardees

See the full list of Nonprofit grant recipients.  

See the full list of Individual and Creative Business grant recipients.

2023 Awardees

See the Elevate Grant Awardee list (PDF, 182 KB).

Thrive, Elevate, and Nexus cultural funding programs were developed in consultation with Austin’s creative community over the past 3 years. Funding will prioritize equity through a combination of seed funding, broad sector support, and targeted investment. Read the Cultural Funding Report (PDF, 1.8 MB), El camino hacia la equidad cultural (PDF, 2.2 MB).