Applications now being accepted for NH State Council on the Arts grants

The N.H. State Council on the Arts is now accepting applications for its Fiscal Year 2026 grant round, with nine grant categories designed to meet a wide range of purposes and needs across the state.

“In 2025, the Arts Council is celebrating 60 years of supporting the arts in New Hampshire, including through our grant programs,” said Adele Sicilia, director of the N.H. State Council on the Arts. 

“Of course, grant funding helps support the types of programming that you’d expect, like performances and art in public places,” she continued. “But it’s our ability to support less high-profile initiatives – including bringing arts into healthcare settings, providing qualified artists to lead special projects in schools and working to ensure traditional art forms pass on to the next generation – that deliver the arts to people who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to benefit from them.”

For Fiscal Year 2026, funding will be available for the following grant programs:
-    Youth Arts Project grants; applications due April 18, 2025
-    Artist in Residence grants; applications due April 25, 2025
-    Public Value Partnership grants; applications due April 25, 2025
-    Arts in Health Project grants; applications due May 2, 2025
-    Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants; applications due June 13, 2025
-    Conservation License Plate grants; Letter of Intent due May 2, 2025; applications due June 20, 2025
-    Arts for Community Engagement Project grants; applications due June 27, 2025
-    Folklife and Traditional Arts Project grants; applications due June 27, 2025

Specific requirements for each grant vary, but, in general, funded projects must begin after July 1, 2025 and be completed within twelve months. 

Applications to an additional funding program, Artist Entrepreneurial grants, will be reviewed quarterly throughout Fiscal Year 2026. Due dates for this program are April 4, August 2 and October 31, 2025, plus February 6, 2026.

Qualified artists are also encouraged to apply to the Arts Council’s artist rosters. The Arts Council maintains three juried rosters to assist organizations and schools to find professional, qualified artists for their programs in the areas of Arts Education, Arts in Health, and Traditional Arts and Folklife.

More information about N.H. State Council on the Arts Fiscal Year 2026 grants can be found at nharts.dncr.nh.gov/grants.

Funding for N.H. State Council on the Arts grants comes from both state and federal funding, including from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The N.H. State Council on the Arts, a division of the N.H. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, enhances the quality of life in New Hampshire by stimulating economic growth through the arts, investing in the creativity of students, making the arts accessible to underserved populations and preserving heritage arts. Learn more about the N.H. State Council on the Arts at nharts.dncr.nh.gov.

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