Introducing California’s 2025 state arts grantees

SACRAMENTO, CA - The California Arts Council (CAC) announced today the grant recipient organizations contracted for its 2025-26 program cycle.

A total of 679 awards for nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout California will be disbursed across seven different programs, including a second year of funding for the State-Local Partners program awarded in the previous fiscal year. These grants comprise an investment of more than $19.5 million in support for the state's arts and cultural landscape and creative workforce.

"Arts and culture are a powerful tool for community connection, well-being and a critical pilar of our state's creative economy," said California Arts Council Executive Director Danielle Brazell. "This year's investment of $19.5 million in grant funding is provided in every corner of the state. Funding to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations ensures the public has access to high-quality artistic and cultural programming reflective of the people of California. This funding is a vital investment in the state's creative workforce, furthering that the power of art and creative expression can continue telling the stories of our communities. Congratulations to all grantees!"

"On behalf of the Council, I would like to thank Governor Newsom and the Legislature for this critical funding, ensuring the arts remain an important force in sustaining our democracy," Council Chair Roxanne Messina Captor said. "The Council is often faced with the difficult task of balancing the overwhelming need for arts funding with the total amount allocated to fund, but we are incredibly proud of our collective work to assert and support priorities that expand our resources as far as we can. As we look ahead to the CAC's 50th anniversary in 2026, this robust investment sets the foundation for another five decades of cultural growth, civic engagement, and artistic excellence across California."

Grant awards and outreach for the season emphasized the Council's three previously identified priorities for 2025-26 local assistance funding: organizations serving historically and systemically underserved communities located in the lower two quartiles of the Healthy Places Index (HPI); first-time CAC grantees; and small organizations with total revenues of $250,000 or less.

CAC grant programs are administered through a multistep, public process. Following an open call for applications, submissions are adjudicated by peer review panels made up of experts from the arts and cultural fields and representative of California's diverse geography; racial, ethnic, and gender identities; perspectives and knowledge. Rankings made by grant review panels speak to the artistic quality reflective of the creative expression of the state.

Interested members of the public, artists, arts organizations, and community leaders are encouraged to visit the CAC website to learn about future grant opportunities as details become available. Notification of grant program guidelines, applications, and technical assistance opportunities will be also published in the California Arts Council's e-newsletter. Subscribe at https://arts.ca.gov/news/artbeat.

CAC Grants Database

The California Arts Council has refined and relaunched its Recent Grants Search database available on the CAC website. Data for all awards conferred from 2017 to present day can be searched and sorted, shared via links, and exported into different formats.

The links included below are just some of the ways that data for the 2025-26 grant cycle can be accessed.

2025-26 Grant Programs and Awards

Click here for a complete list of grantees sorted by organization.

Administering Organization: Folk and Traditional Arts

Support to administer funding for artists and arts organizations' work in folk and traditional arts expressions.

Number of Grants Awarded: 1
Total Program Investment: $828,415
Database Exportable List View

Administering Organization: Individual Artists Fellowship

Support to develop and administer a regional regranting program to individual artists.

Number of Grants Awarded: 8
Total Program Investment: $4,200,000
Database Exportable List View

General Operating Support

Direct funding to arts and cultural organizations in support of ongoing operations.

Number of Grants Awarded: 236
Total Program Investment: $3,559,680
Database Exportable List View

Arts and Youth

Support of meaningful arts participation and learning in diverse settings and contexts for infants, children, and youth ages 0-25 by prioritizing programs that directly bridge barriers to access and participation.

Number of Grants Awarded: 215
Total Program Investment: $4,076,627
Database Exportable List View

Impact Projects

Support of collaborative projects that center artists and artistic practice in responding to issues experienced by California's historically and systemically under-resourced communities.

Number of Grants Awarded: 162
Total Program Investment: $3,098,558
Database Exportable List View

State-Local Partners

Support and technical assistance for county-designated local arts agencies.

Number of Grants Awarded: 1
Total Program Investment: $63,100
Database Exportable List View

State-Local Partner Mentorship

Support for the establishment by an existing State-Local Partner of a county-designated local arts agency in counties in which no such agency has currently been identified. 

Number of Grants Awarded: 3
Total Program Investment: $145,000
Database Exportable List View

Media Inquiries Only:Kimberly BrownPublic Affairs [email protected]

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The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. It supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide through grants, initiatives, and services. The California Arts Council envisions a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.

Members of the California Arts Council include: Roxanne Messina Captor, Chair; Leah Goodwin, Vice Chair; Gerald Clarke; Caleb Duarte; Vicki Estrada; Roy Hirabayashi; Alex Israel; Dorka Keehn; Phil Mercado; Nicola Miner; Rick Stein. Learn more at https://www.arts.ca.gov.

The California Arts Council is committed to increasing the accessibility of its online content. For language and accessibility assistance, visit https://arts.ca.gov/about/about-us/language-communications-assistance. To read this announcement in Spanish, please use the website's Google Translate tool by clicking the "Translate" link in the upper righthand corner of this page.

El Consejo de las Artes de California se compromete a aumentar la accesibilidad de sus contenidos en línea. Para obtener ayuda con el idioma y la accesibilidad, visite https://arts.ca.gov/about/about-us/language-communications-assistance. Para leer este anuncio en español, utilice la herramienta Google Translate del sitio web haciendo clic en el enlace "Traducir" situado en la esquina superior derecha de esta página.