Cultural Affairs Office

Press and Communications

June 10, 2020 -- The Mayor is calling for Houston’s best ideas to endorse for the national Our Town grant program.

The National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town grant is interested in projects that bring arts and culture to impact community priorities such as public safety, health, blight and vacancy, environment, job creation, equity, local business development, education, civic participation, and/or community cohesion. Successful projects will improve the livability of communities, create opportunities for all and empower residents. Matching grants range from $25,000 to $150,000, with a minimum cost share/match equal to the grant amount.

“Art plays a significant role in the resiliency of our city at any time, but especially now,” said The Mayor. “Working across sectors to continue making Houston strong is essential for citywide solutions and we are excited about artists and organizations bringing their best ideas for this opportunity with the NEA Our Town grant.”

The Our Town grant program supports creative placemaking projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places with the arts at their core. Our Town requires partnerships between arts organizations and government, other nonprofit organizations, and private entities to achieve livability goals for communities. This grant provides an opportunity to embrace the expanding role culture plays in our community.

The National Endowment for the Arts limits the number of Our Town grant applicants per city and requires a letter of endorsement from The Mayor. Applications that respond to the City’s Resilience Plan and/or Complete Communities will be most competitive for an endorsement.

For more about the Resiliency Plan and Complete Communities visit: www.houstontx.gov/mayor/Resilient-Houston-20200402-double-page.pdf and www.houstontx.gov/completecommunities.

To be considered for endorsement, applicants should submit their concepts with confirmed artists and partners no later than June 22, 2019 to Cultural.Affairs@houstontx.gov. Applicants should consult the Our Town grant program website, which includes guidance and resources including case studies for developing successful projects: www.arts.gov/grants-organizations/our-town/introduction.

Successful applicants will receive the required endorsement letter to include with their final submission to the National Endowment for the Arts, due on August 6, 2020.  Additionally, the NEA’s Art Works grant program has an upcoming July 9, 2020 deadline.

To learn more about the City’s cultural programs visit, www.houstontx.gov/culturalaffairs and follow The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs on Facebook and Instagram @HoustonMOCA.