Teaching Art Together Grant is sponsored by Kentucky Arts Council. Provides funding for short-term artist residencies in Kentucky schools to enhance arts education for pre-K through 12th-grade students.

Teaching Art Together Grant - Kentucky Arts Council Teaching Art Together Grant Application Deadline: September 1, 2026 Grant Period: October 1, 2026 - May 29, 2027 The Kentucky Arts Council strongly encourages you to read and understand the grant guidelines before accessing the application.

The Kentucky Arts Council strongly encourages you to read and understand the Teaching Art Together Grant guidelines and instructions before accessing the application. Like all programs of the Kentucky Arts Council, the Teaching Art Together Grant is guided by the arts council’s core values. Successful applications will embody these core values, and all applicants are strongly encouraged to read and reflect upon them before applying.

Panelist Assessment Rubric GO Smart Application Portal Teaching Artists Directory To support teachers in bringing professional teaching artists into Kentucky classrooms for one- to ten-day (four- to 40-class sessions) teaching artist residencies.

To involve students and teachers directly in the creative process during an artist’s residency, and to integrate the arts into daily instruction through links to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Visual and Performing Arts or Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (literary arts). To provide teachers with tools that will enable them to incorporate the arts into their classrooms after the residency is completed.

Any teacher at a Kentucky public or private school that supports pre K-12 th grade. Any representative of a Kentucky nonprofit organization with full-time staff providing pre K-12 instruction to minors, such as juvenile detention centers or residential group homes. If you are unsure of your eligibility, contact the program director.

The Teaching Art Together Grant enables teachers to implement artist residencies in their classrooms. Teachers and artists work in partnership to design and implement the residencies.

Residencies may be focused on a specific artistic discipline or explore cross-curricular pairings such as dance integrated into a math lesson/curriculum, new media integrated into a science lesson/curriculum, etc. Juried teaching artists may partner with schools wishing to create, perform and exhibit student work in public locations, such as hospitals, libraries, medical plazas, and other community spaces; however, the instruction, engagement, and implementing arts-based curriculum are the primary purposes of this grant.

One- to Ten-Day Residency Criteria Teaching artists are paid $ 80 per hour/session and each day cons ists o f no more than four class sessions totaling no more than four hours in length per day . Assembly performances may be substituted for classes with a limit of three assemblies per day . E ach day must inc lude at least one in-class session for a core group of students.

Core group : A core group is a class of students that meets with the teaching artist for a class session each day of the residency and receives a deeper learning experience as the teaching artist and teacher scaffold instruction for this group throughout the residency. The artist must meet with a minimum of one and a maximum of four core group(s) each day. Core group sessions can include one assembly during the residency.

In a ten-day residency, you might have up to eight core groups, each meeting with the artist five times. Non-core group : Non-core groups allow for flexibility in scheduling and can increase the number of classes participating in the artist residency. Non-core groups may spend one to three class sessions, which may include an assembly performance, with the artist.

Professional development (PD) : PD may be provided at a maximum of three hours per every 20 hours (five days) of the residency in lieu of an equivalent amount of class time. This time can include planning between the artist and the teacher as job-embedded professional training. $80 for every class session of a 1- to 10-day teaching artist residency (maximum four sessions per day).

The grant amount ONLY covers the artist fee . The artist fee is $80 per session /hour of the residency ( up to $320 per day ) . The applicant school or organization is responsible for costs associated with any supplies or materials required to implement the residency, per diem, and any culminating events, such as performances or exhibitions after school.

These expenses should not be included in the application but should be discussed with the artist before applying . Additionally, if teaching artists are also employed by the school district, such as a substitute teaching position , etc., please check with the district before applying to prevent conflict in funds dispersal.

Grant funds will only be released to the artist after the final report is completed by the applicant (see instructions below). The report must be submitted within 15 days after the conclusion of the residency. All artists must be selected from the Kentucky Arts Council’s Teaching Artists Directory .

No more than two Teaching Art Together applications will be accepted from one school or organization per fiscal year. No more than 40 days of residencies may be awarded to one teaching artist per fiscal year. Classes may not be combined to exceed more than 29 elementary students or 31 high school students with the artist during any one class session.

Teachers may not leave artists alone with students for any reason. Residency hours may not be used for before or after-school programming (except for PD — up to three hours per every 20 hours of the residency). If a school would like to include a culminating assembly after school or other evening program, the school must negotiate the rate of pay with the artist outside of this grant.

However, a culminating assembly scheduled during school hours may be included in the residency. As soon as possible after Board approval Program agreement form due 14 days after notification Use of grant funds may begin Use of grant funds must conclude 15 days after completion of residency Applications will be reviewed using scoring criteria that correspond to the following performance expectations.

Refer to the Panelist Assessment Sheet for more details. Applications should address each of these criteria and show that the proposed artist residency will meet them. A good exercise is to turn the criteria into a question, e.g., “How will students be engaged in the creative process?

” The criteria are divided into three categories and assigned values of 10 points each, totaling 100 points. 1.

Planning and Implementation (50 points) Student engagement in the creative process Preparation for the residency Teacher engagement during the residency Parent and community engagement Residency ties to the Kentucky Academic Standards for the Visual and Performing Art ( check out these standards at a glance ) or to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (Literary Arts) 2.

Measuring Impact (30 points) Clear and measurable student learning goals (What do you want students to be able to do after the residency?) Assessment of student learning outcomes Strategies for continued learning after the residency 3.

Accessibility and Fairness for All (20 points) Residency programming designed to foster a culture of belonging (i.e., provides all students with opportunities to have an arts experience that might otherwise be inaccessible to them due to socioeconomic challenges, geography, etc., and cultivates a fair learning environment where all students and adults feel respected, valued, and affirmed in their interests, skills, social identities, heritage, values, and backgrounds).

Instructional strategies and resources to engage students with disabilities Obtain approval : Arrange for your administrators (e.g., district superintendent and principal) to approve the proposal and sign your application by the required deadline date. Select and contact an artist : All artists must be selected from the arts council’s Teaching Artists Directory .

Develop a residency plan : Teachers and artists work in partnership to develop and finalize the residency plan, including the class schedule. Complete the application : Applications for this program are made through the GO Smart online grant system . Before beginning the application, carefully read all instructions included in this document.

Detailed application instructions are provided below. The application must be submitted online by 11:59 p. m.

Eastern on the deadline date. Following the deadline, each application will be reviewed by the program director, who may contact the applicant if clarification is needed. The information below is available through the school or district finance officer.

IRS tax-exempt determination letter: The letter can be obtained from your finance officer. It indicates the tax-exempt status of your school or organization as a nonprofit or public entity. A sample letter is available from the arts council staff upon request.

This letter should also include your school’s federal identification number (FEIN). 501(c)(3) incorporation date. Note: this date may be on your IRS tax exempt determination letter.

Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) . Note: the FEIN number may be on the IRS tax exempt determination letter. Unique Entity Number (UEI) Accessing and Completing the Application Creating a GO Smart Profile Before beginning the application, you will need to create a profile, including a username and password at GO Smart .

For this program you will need to create an “organization” profile. Do not select “individual” profile. Store your username and password in a safe place to ensure that you can access your account later.

You can use this profile to apply for this program year after year and update it as needed. If your school or district has already applied to the arts council and has a profile, do not create a duplicate profile . Contact the arts council if you need assistance accessing an existing profile.

Enter the information of the person responsible for the application (usually yourself). This will also be the person the arts council contacts with any questions about the application. The Kentucky Arts Council does not maintain username and password information.

If you forget or lose your username or password, open the application, click “Login” and use the prompt to reset your login information. Enter the full legal name and corresponding information of the school, district, or organization. Please contact your financial officer for the 501(c)(3) date of incorporation.

The financial officer can also provide you with the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). Applicant discipline is “non-arts/non-humanities. ” You can look up your federal congressional district here , and your state legislative districts here .

Once the profile page has been submitted, you will be redirected to the arts council’s grant management system. To begin your application, select “Current Programs & Applications. ” As you work through the application, save every page before moving to the next.

Failure to save each page will result in the loss of information. Use the page links on the left side of each application page to navigate between pages or use the “Previous” or “Next” buttons at the bottom of each page. Use the PDF button at the bottom of most pages to view the application as the panelists will view it.

Use this response field to explain the context of your school or organization and how the proposed residency will fulfill some need. Many panelists are recruited from out of state, so do not assume that all will be familiar with local issues and culture. For every day of a residency, there must be four class sessions of contact time with the artist.

The schedule may include core and non-core groups as well as professional development for teachers (for 20+ sessions and not to exceed three hours total). For type of activity, choose “school residency. ” Select the applicant/project discipline as the artist’s discipline, if several artists are going to participate in the residency (exclusive to 20+ hour residency sessions) choose “multidisciplinary.

” For % of arts education choose 01, “50% or more of funded activities are arts education. ” Other Required Information Some fields are set in the application document and cannot be changed. Amount Requested: Enter the amount the arts council will grant, not including any extra funds provided by your organization (e.g., for a four-hour day residency the amount would be $320.

For a 20-hour residency the amount would be $1,600). This section will determine your application’s score, so explain how the proposed residency meets each of the performance expectations in as much detail as possible. This is an electronic form through a service called DocuSign.

Please request that your district technology department safelist this domain so that these important emails arrive in your inbox and not in your spam folder. You can click to sign the document directly in your web browser and do not need to download or print anything. You will be prompted to enter the email addresses of your Superintendent (or equivalent administrator), Principal, Contact Person, and Artist.

After you sign and click “Finish,” the form will automatically send itself to the next signatory. Submitting the signature page does not automatically submit your application — you must return to the application and click “Submit. ” Application Review Process A panel of educators, arts professionals and other individuals with relevant experience will review and score all applications according to the program performance expectations.

Applicants may monitor the panel meeting and listen to the panelists’ deliberations via video conferencing. The arts council will send notification of panel dates and virtual meeting arrangements to applicants after the application deadline. Step 2: Arts Council Board Meeting The panel’s recommendations are forwarded to the arts council’s governing board for approval.

If your application is approved, the arts council will send a notification of approval via the email provided in the application. A Grant Agreement Form (GAF) for the total amount funded will be sent directly to the teaching artist named in the application. The GAF must be signed by the teaching artist and the teacher must submit the final report within 15 days after the residency concludes.

Once the arts council receives the signed GAF from the artist and the completed final report from the applicant, the Kentucky State Treasury will remit payment directly to the school district . It is the responsibility of the Board of Education to pay the residency artist the full amount of the residency , using the arts council’s grant award. Your artist must be paid within 15 days of completion of the residency.

If issuing the artist’s check is contingent on your board’s approval, please initiate the appropriate paperwork early enough to ensure that payment to your artist(s) is made within the required two weeks . Grant agreements cannot be altered without prior approval from the program director. If residency dates must be rescheduled or canceled for any reason, notify the program director immediately.

Failure to do so may jeopardize future funding. Grants are for the period and activities specified in the approved application. Funds must be spent or committed for activities taking place within the period stated unless an extension has been approved by the arts council in writing.

Legislative and Mayoral/County Judge Executive Letters Applicants approved for Teaching Art Together Grant(s) are required to send a letter to each of their state legislators ( see sample here ) and forward copies to the arts council. Additionally , please send a letter to the mayor of your county seat or to your county judge executive . Grant recipients may download the Kentucky Arts Council logo .

The acknowledgment line for the Kentucky Arts Partnership program is the following : “The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports this artist residency with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. ” Arts council staff can offer the following support to ensure that program standards and goals are met: Assistance in developing a residency plan.

Consultation regarding applicant eligibility. Technical assistance with submitting the application or final report. Assistance locating or implementing accessibility resources.

All Kentucky Arts Council grants are contingent upon budgetary action by the Kentucky General Assembly and upon annual receipt of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) . The Kentucky Arts Council welcomes your questions. For more information please contact: