Intercultural Collaboration Seed Grants

Opened to RIEAP alumni and the current cohort

This application is currently closed.

  • The Rhode Island Expansion Arts Program (RIEAP) Intercultural Collaboration Seed Grants provide funding opportunities that promote intercultural collaboration. RIEAP offers funding and organizational assistance to community-based, culturally diverse arts and cultural organizations. It is supported by a collaboration between the Rhode Island Foundation, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), and Rhode Island Council for the Humanities

Description of Opportunity

  • RIEAP seeks proposals from current and alumni grantees of the RIEAP for projects, programs, or planning that bring together people and organizations across cultures to share cultural ideas, traditions, and heritages. RIEAP Intercultural Collaboration Seed Grants support creative and innovative partnerships and collaborations that strengthen our state’s cultural ecosystem, create sustainable connections between cultural organizations, and come from Rhode Island’s diverse communities. RIEAP will distribute a total of $30,000 and will offer awards between $5,000 and $10,000. Projects must include at least one partner organization, in addition to the lead applicant, who is a current RIEAP cohort member or grantee alumni (check out the list here).

Process and Dates: This application is currently closed.

Intercultural Collaboration Seed Grant RFP sent out: TBA

  • Applications due: TBA

  • Notification of Application Approval: TBA

  • Project Timeframe:

Where to find and submit applications:

For questions on the Intercultural Collaboration Seed Grant (ICSG) and the Youth Development Grant (YDG), please contact: Elena Calderón Patiño, Director, Arts and Cultural Sustainability Program, RI State Council on the Arts Elena.Patino@arts.ri.gov 401.222.6996.

Youth Development Grant

Opened to the current cohort only

This application is currently closed.

Research on arts education and youth development emphasizes that positive youth outcomes are the result of high-quality and rigorous programs that engage students in the arts while promoting a healthy, creative ecosystem in the community. The Rhode Island Expansion Arts Program offers youth development grants of $1500 to the current cohort to start or sustain a youth development program. Each organization will be required to write a grant proposal for these funds. RIEAP grantees have established successful youth development programs that teach students classical and traditional dance, music, and other art forms. Through youth development programs, students learn more about their cultural identity, build leadership skills, and ensure their traditional heritage lives on for many more generations to come.  The deadline to submit a youth development grant proposal will be announced in the spring.

The following are some examples of past grant proposals:

  • The India Association of Rhode Island (IARI) encourages their youth to practice traditional dances and music to participate in various IARI cultural programs.

  • The Laotian Community Center developed a youth development program that teaches the youth how to become dance apprentices and teachers.

  • The Colombian-American Cultural Society created a program that engages the youth in learning about the many different styles of Colombian music and dance from the three main regions; Andean, Atlantic and Pacific.

  • The RI Cape Verdean Heritage Subcommittee created a class that teaches the youth batuku; the oldest genre of both music and dance on the Cabo Verde Islands.