Florida: African American Cultural and Historical Grant

In partnership with the Division of Historical Resources, the Florida Division of Arts and Culture has launched the African-American Cultural and Historical Grants program. Legislatively created by Senate Bill 2500, the program has up to $30 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds available for capital project grants. The grants will support projects that construct or improve facilities that lift up the “contributions, culture, or history of African-Americans” and align with the ARP’s directive to respond to the public health emergency and its negative economic impact.

To ensure that funding for this two-year program quickly reaches those who need it, the program will follow an expedited process and build from guidelines that are similar to the annual cultural and historic grant processes already in use. Recognizing the disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities with low income, applications must report on whether the project will take place in a HUD Qualified Census Tract. Grants require only a 50% match of funds above $500,000, with a limit of $1 million in total state funding. No match is required for requests under $500,000.

To further ensure the grants are reaching the communities that could most use them, nearly half of the criteria for evaluating grant applications rely on demonstrated need for the project, project impact, and community support. The grants will prioritize new construction in locations with cultural significance that do not have existing facilities, projects that would enhance facilities named for significant African Americans and projects that would restore facilities on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information about the grant program, contact Florida Division of Arts and Culture Grants and Contracts Manager Teri Abstein.