72 Organizations to Compete for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) Grants; Second Grant Program Announced 17. September 2007 Administrator News Release Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) announced today that 72 local arts and cultural organizations are eligible to compete for its initial program, a three-year General Operating Support (GOS) grant. The eligible applicants are from communities throughout Cuyahoga County and represent organizations of various arts and cultural disciplines and budget size. “We are very pleased with the diversity of disciplines, range of budgets, and number of applications we received for our first grant program,” said Catherine Boyle, executive director of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. “This is the first step in a competitive process and significant work went into completing the detailed applications and preparing materials for review. The applicants came from high quality organizations that help make this community a rich cultural center.”The organizations ranged in size, with annual budgets from under $25,000 to over $39 million per year. Of the 72 eligible applicants, over one-half (38) were from smaller community-based organizations with annual budgets of less than $500,000, and over one-third (25) have budgets of less than $200,000.The 72 applicants will now move on to the Grant Application Panel Review to be held October 15 and 16 at the Myers University Club Ballroom. A panel of nine arts and cultural professionals from outside the state will review and score each application in a public meeting. Applicants scoring 75 points or more will be approved for three years support through a GOS grant.Also this week, the CAC Board of Trustees announced its next program, Project Support (PS) grants. Boyle noted that eligibility requirements for the PS grants are less restrictive than GOS grants and that the PS program is designed to support high quality arts or cultural projects or programs in the county. The program is open to a wide range of nonprofit organizations with a history of presenting arts or cultural programs or activities to the public.A summary of the PS guidelines are available on the CAC website (cacgrants.org) for review and comment through the end of September. The CAC board of trustees expects to ratify the PS guidelines at its October meeting.The Cuyahoga County Commissioners established Cuyahoga Arts and Culture(CAC), a Regional Arts and Culture District and a political subdivision of theState of Ohio, in June 2005.In November, 2006, voters in Cuyahoga County approved a tax on cigarettes to fund arts and culture in Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and CultureCAC is one of the largest local public sector funders of arts and culture in the country. It is the second Regional Arts and Culture District in the State of Ohio and the first with a dedicated revenue stream. Funding for CAC’s grant programs are generated solely through the excise tax and is based on the revenues collected from it.A primary purpose of CAC, established by the board of trustees through adoption of its bylaws in April 2007, is to make matching grants to nonprofit organizations located in Cuyahoga County that have a primary mission of arts or culture or that have a proven history of arts or cultural programming.The mission of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture is to promote and support arts and culture in Cuyahoga County by making grants, using public funds, to secure the excellence of our established arts and cultural sector and promote access to, and participation in, quality arts or cultural experiences for all residents.Press Release 091707 PDF