Rural Arts Grant Program

The bill creates the rural arts grant program (grant program) in the creative industries division (division) in the office of economic development, to provide grants to artists to enhance rural prosperity through the arts and creative sector. To be eligible to receive a grant through the grant program, the artist or artists must live and work outside of the scientific and cultural facilities district and work with a qualified governmental or nonprofit organization (qualified organization) that will serve as the artist's sponsor in submitting a grant application. The division is required to implement and administer the grant program and award grants from the money annually appropriated by the general assembly for the grant program. The division is also required to promulgate rules create policies and procedures for the implementation and administration of the grant program and to publish the policies and procedures on its website . The bill specifies the information that must be included in a grant application. The council on creative industries is required to review the applications and award grants based on specified criteria. Grant recipients may use the money received through the grant program for projects that advance the artistic and cultural goals of rural communities and their economies, projects that will enhance their community's culture, or projects that provide incentive for cross-community collaborations and that have the potential to contribute to the acceptance and consideration of differing perspectives. The division is required to disburse awarded grants to the qualified organization, which shall ensure that the grant money is available to the artist or artists for the purposes specified in the grant application. The qualified organization may use up to 5% of the total amount of grant money awarded for administrative costs associated with the grant. Each qualified organization that receives a grant shall, in partnership with the artist or artists who worked on the project, submit a report regarding the use of the grant money to the division after the completion of the project for which the grant money was used. The division is required to submit an annual summarized report to the general assembly regarding the grant program. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)