Town of Chapel Hill Arts & Culture Award Program

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A new arts & culture opportunity

Arts & Culture Award Program

Are you a local nonprofit organization with a great idea for an arts or cultural project? Want to collaborate with a local artist to create something amazing for our community? If so, check out the Town’s Arts & Culture Award program! This new program aims to inspire creativity and celebrate community while fostering inclusion, experience, and understanding.

You can apply for funding for the following types of projects:

  • Community festivals and special events
  • Public art (e.g. murals, sculptures, installations)
  • Arts experiences (e.g. workshops, classes, performances, exhibits)

Town Arts & Culture Program awards may not be used to subsidize ongoing organizational operations.

Applications for 2025-2026 projects coming soon!

2024-2025 Award Winners

B3 Coffee

$5,000 Award

Project summary: A series of 10 artist-led workshops for people with disabilities and their allies. Workshops will be followed by at least one disability–themed art showcase featuring the art created by workshop participants.  

Bridging the Gap

$7,500 Award

Project summary: A series of workshops with High School Students exploring how to build youth coalitions and creatively, powerfully, and visually communicate their message. Participants will brainstorm, select materials, and learn fabric dying and printing skills to create banners and build giant puppets that amplify their message. “Chapel Hill Children’s March” will participate in upcoming Town events.

 

Chinese School at Chapel Hill

$3,500 Award

Project summary: Free community festival for everyone to experience traditional Chinese arts and culture, including Peking Opera, paper-cutting, calligraphy, painting, and music. The Spring Festival will take place in Chapel Hill at a location TBD. 

Hannah Ruth Foundation

$5,000 Award

Project summary: Conduct Living Legends 4.0, a 6–8-week oral history preservation project for local Black youth and elders. Youth will learn about oral history techniques, conduct research, and create video recordings. Community celebration will showcase the video and participants, and recordings will be made available online afterwards.

Inter-Faith Council (IFC) for Social Service

$7,500 Award

Project summary: Expansion of IFC / Bridges Art Therapy “Art Hive” program to include shelters in Chapel Hill. Art Hives are monthly sessions where people come together as community to create art. An art therapist facilitates the program by providing art supplies in a safe and inclusive space.

Orange County Rape Crisis Center

$5,000 Award

Project summary: A series of (4) Zentangle workshops for participants to experience empowerment, grounding, and mindfulness with community in a safe and inclusive space. The artist-facilitator will construct a collaborative art piece assembled from participants’ work and display it publicly as a symbol of the triumph of spirit over hardship and the bonds of community. 

Prism Design Lab, Inc.

$10,000 Award

Project summary: Organizers will work with local artist Tarish Pipkins, aka Jeghetto, to bring his puppetry performance of 5P1N0K10 (Spinokio) to the students of all Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Middle Schools.