The 2011–2012 grant guidelines for organizations are now available on the North Carolina Arts Council’s website at www.ncarts.org, and the application deadline is Tuesday, March 1, at 5 p.m.

For the first time, all applications will be electronically submitted, including work samples and support materials. A paper submission of the application will no longer be required.

Every year the Arts Council awards grants to support and sustain the state’s arts organizations and to provide citizens access to a wide range of arts offerings and experiences.

To be eligible to receive grants, organizations must have been producing quality arts programs for at least two consecutive years.

The Arts Council invested close to $7.4 million in grants for arts programming in all 100 counties in the state during the 2010–2011 fiscal year. Roughly every $1 spent by the state is matched by $18 from private and non-state funds, giving residents an excellent return on their money.

The N.C. Arts Council provides a wide array of rich arts experiences for residents and visitors of the state through grants to nonprofit organizations. These grants support exhibitions, concerts, theater and dance productions, festivals, literary reading series, artist residencies in schools, operating support for established arts organizations, community public art projects and documentation of folk and traditional arts.

Organizations interested in applying for a grant should review the guidelines available on the Arts Council’s website at www.ncarts.org and contact the staff member listed for their area of interest. Staff members are available to help organizations make their applications as competitive as possible.

For more information on the N.C. Arts Council or application instructions for the organizational grants, visit www.ncarts.org or call 919-807-6500.