Community Partnership Grants

Community Partnership Grants is sponsored by New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc.. The Community Partnership Grants program provides funding to schools, artists, and arts-based nonprofit organizations throughout Louisiana for music and art education programs, cultural events, new artistic works that interpret Louisiana culture, and other projects supporting the Foundation's mission.

The Foundation believes that diversity in art and cultural expressions is crucial and that the creative expressions of historically underrepresented communities and people are fundamental to Louisiana's arts and culture. They specifically recognize that historically underrepresented groups, artists, and non-profits have been excluded from funding opportunities due to both explicit discrimination and implicit biases.

Applicants may submit one application per grant cycle in one of five categories, including Jazz & Heritage Presenting, which supports hiring Louisiana-based performers for festivals and public cultural events, and Media: Documentation & Creation, which supports the creation, documentation, or exhibition of artworks that reflect, interpret, document, or preserve Louisiana's indigenous culture.

Community Partnership Grants - The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. Community Partnership Grants Since 1979, the Jazz & Heritage Foundation has invested proceeds from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell directly into the community with grants to fund projects that support the Foundation’s mission.

Through the Community Partnership Grants program, the Foundation provides grants to schools, artists, and arts-based nonprofit organizations throughout the state. Over the last decade, more than $17 million in grants have been distributed to Louisiana communities.

In each grant cycle, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation reviews hundreds of requests for funding of up to $7,500 to support music and art education programs, cultural events put on by Louisiana-based nonprofits, new artistic works that interpret Louisiana culture, and other projects that support the Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s mission.

2025-2026 Grant recipients The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. promotes, preserves, perpetuates, and encourages the music, culture, and heritage of communities in Louisiana through festivals, programs, and other cultural, educational, civic, and economic activities. Our vision is to make quality arts programs accessible throughout Louisiana and support the artists and nonprofits that create them.

We see deeper public awareness and broadening appreciation for the fine arts; better arts education reviving school environments; wider access to the arts fostering understanding among cultures; and artists and arts organizations enhancing the quality of life for all Louisiana communities.

Community Partnership grants are available to the following groups: 501c3 nonprofit organizations; Louisiana nonprofit organizations Individuals (may only apply in the Louisiana Cultural Equity Arts and Creation category) Institutions of higher education in Louisiana K-12 public, private, or parochial schools in Louisiana Federally recognized tribal communities or tribes in Louisiana The Donald Harrison, Sr. Museum is a small community based one.

The continuous support of the Jazz & Heritage Festival Foundation has been immeasurable in the museum’s ability to document, preserve, and present the indigenous cultural expressions of New Orleans to diverse audiences. We are most grateful for the funding of projects and programs that serve elders and children.

Additionally, the application and reporting process are obviously designed to be inclusive and not burdensome to organizations and individuals who are from and work in communities that birth and nurture the unique cultural expressions that make New Orleans, New Orleans. – Big Queen Cherice Harrison-Nelson