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The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) announced the opening of its 2023 Arts Grant Cycle on April 4. Organizations in Lowndes County may submit applications and receive virtual training to navigate the process.

The program, made possible by grants form the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, supports art-related projects and initiatives for community-based organizations from Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, and Wilcox counties.

“The BBCF aims to support organizations which engage citizens from the Black Belt region in the arts,” said Black Belt Community Foundation Communications Director Daron Harris in a recent press release. “The 2023 Arts Grant Cycle seeks to support efforts in the following categories: in-school, after-school, community-based, and summer arts education programs, presenting and/or producing arts programming, and attending professional development conferences.

Up to $3,000 in grant funding will be awarded to selected applicants to cover projects in these categories.

Grant applications are due before 12 p.m. on April 28. The foundation will host Virtual Grant Seeking Workshops for organizations interested in applying. Attendance at one of these workshops is mandatory for grant consideration.

Zoom workshops are scheduled for these dates:

• April 18 from 6-7 p.m.;
• April 20 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.; and
• April 24 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m..

For more information about the workshops, email Jennifer McCohnell at jmccohnell@blackbeltfound.org. The application link will be available during each workshop and on the BBCF website at www.blackbeltfound.org/. The information will be publicized on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BBCF2004.

A representative from each applying organization must attend at least one workshop to apply for a grant. To register for a workshop, please visit www.bit.ly/2023artsbbcf.