The Arts Commission examined significant proposed changes to the city’s grant programs for artists and creative organizations. Key changes include consolidating Thrive, Elevate, and Nexus funding programs under unified guidelines for applications and scoring. The new structure aims to address equity and access concerns within Austin's cultural community. Proposed eligibility tiers categorize applicants based on type, with funding caps adjusted by organization size and experience. Applications will be evaluated using a point-based system that considers various factors, including creative work and public engagement.
The Thrive, Elevate and Nexus programs each target a different segment of Austin's creative community: Thrive is designed for larger nonprofit arts organizations with a track record and dedicated space; Elevate supports mid-sized nonprofits and arts groups; and Nexus provides smaller, one-time grants to individual artists and collectives.
Unified Guidelines: Thrive, Elevate and Nexus programs would operate under a single set of guidelines to streamline applications, scoring, and administrative processes.
Applicants would be grouped by type (e.g., nonprofit with space, nonprofit without space, individual artist), with different funding caps ranging from $2,500 to $250,000 based on size and experience.
All applications would be evaluated using point-based systems covering creative work, organizational capacity, public engagement and resiliency. Bonus points could be available for applicants who haven't received recent city or federal funding.
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