Oakland, CA – Applications are now being accepted for two programs serving Oakland’s arts and cultural communities: the Neighborhood Voices for Festivals Grant Program and the Public Art Program Pre-Qualified Artist Roster.
2025 Neighborhood Voices for Festivals Grant Program
Neighborhood Voices for Festivals grant applicants must be Oakland-based, and all activities must be presented in Oakland between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025. Interested nonprofit organizations may access the grant guidelines and applications at City of Oakland | 2025 Neighborhood Voices for Festivals (oaklandca.gov). The submission deadline is Thursday, August 22, 2024, at 5 p.m.
The Neighborhood Voices for Festivals grant program aims to support community-based festivals and events that bring Oaklanders together to create and support a sense of belonging within a community, foster social connections that lift our spirts, feed our community well-being and offer visions for our collective future othrough festival culture.
The program will award grants of up to $20,000 to Oakland-based non-profit organizations creating festivals in Oakland. Grantees will be required to demonstrate a funding match of 1:1 for the City funding. Festivals are defined as a wide variety of in-person events that are free and open to the public, ranging from small-scale and first-time festivals to large-scale and established festivals. To assist applicants, informational webinars will be presented on Tuesday, August 6. Details on the webinars and recording of a past webinar are available at City of Oakland | 2025 Neighborhood Voices for Festivals (oaklandca.gov).
Public Art Program Pre-Qualified Artist Roster
The Oakland Public Art Program is releasing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to invite emerging and experienced California artists to apply for inclusion in a Public Art Prequalified Artist Roster. The Public Art Program Artist Roster will generate a pre-qualified list of artists to create art projects commissioned by the City in association with capital improvement projects throughout Oakland. Interested artists may access the application at www.oaklandca.gov/publicartroster. The submission deadline is Friday, August 16, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Artists selected for the prequalified artist roster will be used by Public Art Program staff to recommend artists to create public art projects for a range of city-funded improvement projects. Improvement projects include but are not limited to various streetscape projects and city facilities including parks, libraries, fire stations, and recreation facilities. The Public Art Prequalified Artist Roster will be the primary source for selecting newly commissioned artists. For more information about the RFQ and to view the application workshop webinar recording, please visit www.oaklandca.gov/publicartroster.
“Oakland’s artists and cultural community are what make our city vibrant and unique,” said Oakland Cultural Affairs Manager Roberto Bedoya. “These opportunities promote economic development and public safety and while also celebrating the array of diverse communities that enrich and enliven our city."
About the Cultural Affairs Division
The Cultural Affairs Division is housed in the City’s Economic & Workforce Development Department. The division includes the City’s Cultural Funding Program, which provides approximately $1 million annually in grants to support the arts; the Public Art Program, which commissions and supports public art across Oakland; professional development programs for artists and arts organizations; and volunteer advisory bodies of the City.
For more information, please visit City of Oakland | Arts and Culture in Oakland (oaklandca.gov)
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