Grant applications available to SR arts organizations

The Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation, Inc. (SRACF) is once again sharing the wealth with its second annual Community Arts Grant Program, in which it will allocate several grants of $500 dollars or less, as well as awarding proposals up to $5,000 to Santa Rosa County artsand culturebased organizations.

The Arts and Culture Foundation will begin accepting grant applications Wednesday, Feb. 1. Total funds available for arts grants will be $17,000. All grants must be matched on a one-to-one (100 percent) basis with cash, and must be used by March 1, 2007.

The following criteria must be met for eligibility:

The applicant organization must be based in Santa Rosa County.

The applicant organization must be incorporated as a nonprofit corporation within the State of Florida.

The applicant must provide a copy of the organization’s IRS 501c3 tax exempt letter of determination if the grant request exceeds $500.

In 2004, the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners designated the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation as the “Arts Agency” of Santa Rosa County. Grants funding is limited to Santa Rosa County organizations.

“We are excited to administer this grants program to organizations supporting the arts community of Santa Rosa County,” said Mack Thetford, Arts and Culture Foundation board member. “We hope the money will go to smaller, local arts organizations and their partners which could never really compete regionally.”

Grant applications must be submitted by 4 p.m., March 1, and delivered by mail to the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation, Inc. (P.O. Box 604 Bagdad, FL 32530) or handdelivered to the Santa Rosa County Administrative Complex, Board of County Commissioners office (room 401), 5495 Caroline St. in Milton (behind McDonald’s on U.S. 90).

The Arts and Culture Foundation is also seeking nominations of individuals with a strong background in arts and culture participation within Santa Rosa County who may assist with the grant evaluation process. These individuals will be nominated to compose the evaluation committee. Nomination forms are also available online and submitted by March 1, 2006.

Grant applications will be available online at www.santarosaarts. org beginning Feb. 1.

For more information, visit www.santarosaarts.org or call (850) 983-2557