A new grant opportunity is bringing organizations and artists together for collaborative art-driven campaigns

The Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture unveiled the Central Coast Creative Corps (CCCC) Program.

The CCCC is providing a new grant opportunity funded by the California Arts Council open to 501c3 nonprofits, tribal governments, and government agencies in the Central Coast Region.

Twenty-three awards of $140,000 will be offered through the Pilot Program for organizations to hire a local artist or culture bearer to develop art-driven campaigns addressing public health, climate resilience/emergency preparedness, civic engagement, or social justice.

“By bringing artists to the community development table, this program invites everyone to create new approaches for understanding and caring for ourselves, each other, and the environment,” Office of Arts and Culture Executive Director Sarah York Rubin said.

Artists are required to commit to collaborating with an artist or culture bearer for a one-year period from Sept. 2023 to Aug. 2024 with an additional three-month period for project exploration and design.

Hannah Rubalcava, Grants and Contracts Manager for the Office of Arts & Culture, will be helping facilitate free informational workshops about the program on March 29, 2023, and April 13, 2023.

“We’ll be working directly with grantees about what it means to work with a socially engaged artist, and how that collaboration can be so powerful,” Rubalcava said.

The workforce development pilot will be providing organizations with $100,000 to compensate an artist for work on the initiative. Another $20,000 will be allocated for artist-community engagement, including art supplies and materials while an additional $20,000 will be given to the organization for program administration.

Communities that demonstrate the highest levels of need will be given priority indicated by the California Healthy Places Index which can be found here.

Applications are due May 1, 2023.

CCCC is produced in partnership with the county-designated arts agencies in the Central Coast Region: Arts Council for Monterey County, Arts Council Santa Cruz County, the San Benito County Arts Council, the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council, and the Ventura County Arts Council.

Artists are encouraged to join the directory at www.centralcoastartists.org.

For more guidelines for Santa Barbara County-based organizations, visit www.sbac.ca.gov/creative-corps.