Heads up Dallas artists and arts groups. The city’s Office of Cultural Affairs will be giving $225,000 to fund projects through September.

It’s a new series of grants called the Cultural Vitality Program.

Applications are being taken for grants of up to $20,000. The Cultural Vitality Program was started with city money budgeted for this fiscal year, said David Fisher, interim head of the OCA. It doesn’t replace other cultural funding programs.

The program includes three separate initiatives:

Cultural Equity Initiative:  Grant winners’ projects will: increase city wide access to art and creativity; Connect people of diverse cultures, ages and economic means to arts experiences; Invest in artists and arts opportunities rooted in under-served communities.

Audience and Neighborhood Engagement Initiative: Grant winners’ projects will:

• Connect and develop audiences for both established and emerging artists and organizations
• Inspire and develop new appreciation for and participation in the arts
• Develop new ways to connect artistic opportunities with potential participants
• Help foster the arts as a life-long meaningful and cultural experience
• Increase engagement in low-income, ethnically diverse, or historically under-served arts non-profits
• Use diverse or unexpected spaces for arts engagement.

Sustainability and Resilience Initiative: These grants are designed to help arts non-profits remain healthy.

A letter of intent is due April 1^st and a completed application is due by April 15^th.