Panel Review for CAC Grants

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture invites grant applicants and the community to learn more about our panel review process.

Valley Art Center

2027 Project Support Panel

Arts and culture experts from around the country will evaluate the applications of nonprofit organizations in Cuyahoga County that completed the application for a CAC 2027 Project Support grant. All Project Support requests will be reviewed and evaluated in writing by a panel, and results and panelist comments will be made available on the CAC website later this fall. Learn more about our panel review process below.

2026 Project Support Panel

Panel Guide

Panel Comments

Panel Review Process

How are organizations and projects selected to receive grants?

As the public funder for arts and culture in Cuyahoga County, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture strives to uphold its values of stewardship and trust in all of its work, especially in its panel review process. Each fall, CAC convenes an expert panel of diverse arts and cultural professionals from outside our region who represent a wide variety of arts and culture organizations of all sizes. They are recruited and carefully vetted by staff. Panelists are charged with evaluating eligible applications through a written review online.

Before

Preparation is essential to the success of the entire application review process. CAC takes seriously our role in preparing panelists to serve as an extension of our team. Before the panel review meeting, CAC trains and sets expectations for panelists.

During

Panelists will individually complete a written assessment of eligible applications; the results of these panels will be made available on the CAC website following Board approval of recommended grants.

CAC’s staff administer the panel process. Staff and board members do not take part in the scoring of applications.

After

The minimum score for funding will be determined based on the amount of funds available and total request amounts. Applicants who demonstrate weak evidence that the funding criteria are met will not be recommended for funding.

Once the panel's work is complete, CAC staff notifies applicants of their score and whether they will be recommended for funding. Recommended grant amounts will be determined by the amount of funding allocated by CAC’s Board to the Project Support grant program, the applicant’s panel score, and the total amount requested by all eligible applicants. Then, CAC’s Board of Trustees meets to review and approve the panel scores and grant amounts. All grants are subject to CAC Board approval. This meeting is open to the public, and applicants are invited to attend.

After the application review process and panel review are complete, CAC seeks and uses applicant and panelist feedback to help us improve our programs each year.