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The 2024 R1 application portal is now closed.
The next deadline to submit an application is 11:59 p.m. on June 1, 2024. Find more resources, an FAQ, and details below!
SAGA Grants at a Glance
- SAGA will award a total of $153,000 in support to artists, businesses, and organizations in 2024.
- Eligible requests for any amount up to and including $10,000 are accepted three times yearly with deadlines on February 1, June 1, and October 1.
- Please read the Guidelines, FAQs, and Application Instructions (below) for more information, and before you apply.
- The funding period is for one year. Grants are non-renewable.
- SAGA invites applications from artists, arts service organizations, large and small organizations and collectives, community-based arts programs and organizations, and culture and heritage groups based in the Spokane region.
- Supported arts disciplines include but are not limited to visual, performing, literary, ear-oriented, media arts, and folk/traditional arts, and more.
2024 SAGA Grant Deadlines
Round 1: February 1, 2024 (11:59 pm). Awards announced April 1.
Round 2: June 1, 2024 (11:59 pm). Awards August 1.
Round 3: October 1, 2024 (11:59 pm). Awards announced December 1.
SAGA Grant Information
Please read our Frequently Asked Questions, Guidelines, and Application Instructions before you apply! Please direct any questions to our Director of Grantmaking at grants@spokanearts.org.
Discover Past SAGA Winners
SAGA GranteesSAGA Grant Writing Resources
SAGA ResourcesSubmit Your Application Here
SAGA ApplicationHistory of SAGA
The SAGA grants program launched in January 2017. The program was made possible by community members and arts advocates, who spoke passionately in public forums and city council meetings regarding the need to increase the capacity of our arts economy.
Spokane has a unique cultural, artistic, and creative scene, and the city recognized that Spokane needs individual artists, organizations, and local businesses to stay and grow in order for our city to thrive.
Directing a stable funding source to be invested in local arts organizations and individual artists continues to make Spokane a more appealing place to live, work, and visit, and investing in the creative economy has already shown dividends. We look forward to sharing our grantees’ success stories with you!
The City of Spokane is so excited to see the launch of SAGA. We voted to approve this funding for Spokane Arts in early 2016 because we understand that a successful creative economy makes for a more successful Spokane!— Ben Stuckart, City Council President
Statement of Equity
SAGA grants exist to bolster the work of all artists in Spokane by providing grant funding and other resources to artists, arts organizations, collectives, and heritage groups of all disciplines. We provide funding and resources regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, mental and physical status, or age. Ensuring artists of all backgrounds are included in our cultural narrative is central to having an accurate and fair depiction of who we are as a people.
SAGA Strategic Goals
Transparency
We are excited to offer a richly detailed portrait of the projects and activities of our grantees.
The application process, the selection of projects to fund, and the unique stories of our applicants and grantees are important to share.
Equity
Ensuring that artists of many backgrounds are included in our cultural narrative is central to having an accurate, fair depiction of who we are as a people.
SAGA aims to contribute to the development of equitable and sustainable long-term partnerships.
If any applicant is in need of accommodations for the application process, please contact the Grants Administrator at grants@spokanearts.org for assistance.
Accountability
We track data to help measure the impact of SAGA’s grantmaking, and leverage the results to fuel advocacy. We use a holistic approach, utilizing our resources to help elevate our grantees.
This includes sharing their successes, failures, and risk-taking ventures.
SAGA Selection Panel Members
Each new granting year, SAGA seats a new selection panel of five to six individuals from the Spokane community, who review and determine awards for qualifying applications over the course of the year. The panel remains anonymous during the granting year, and is composed of one city arts commissioner, one member of the Spokane Arts governing board, and three or four members of the community with experience in the arts. With administrative support from the staff of Spokane Arts, funding allocations are made three times a year with award announcements made on April 1, August 1 and December 1. Together, they grant over $100,000 annually to artists, collectives, and arts organizations working in the Spokane region.
2023
Selection panelists:
- Emma Noyes (Spokane Arts Commission)
- Kate Hudson (Visit Spokane)
- Olivia Evans (The Root Experience/Alliance for Media Arts +)
- Kelly Brown (Friends of Manito, Manito Park Art Festival)
- Ken Ngyuen-Scott (Ceramics Artist)
- Jaiz Boyd (Spokane Unlimited)
2022
Selection panelists:
- Dylan Le (Spokane Arts Commission)
- Karen Stratton (Spokane Arts Board of Directors)
- Brittan Hart (Recent Whitworth Publishing graduate)
- Alexander Gibilisco (Manager of Equity and Inclusion Initiatives at Spokane City Council)
- Marsha Marcuson (Avenue West Gallery)
2021
Selection panelists:
- Weiling Zhu (Spokane Symphony, Spokane Chinese Association)
- Patty Tully (Baby Bar music venue owner/Spokane Arts Commission)
- Joyce Cameron (Retired/Spokane Arts governing board)
- Mike Malsam (Art Hour/Spokane Public Schools)
- Frankie Ghee (Musician, Writer)
- Nicolas DeCaro (Apostrophe Art Collective)
2020
Selection panelists:
- Carly Cortright (City of Spokane/ Spokane Arts governing board)
- Shantell Jackson (Artist)
- Erin Sellers (Theater Student, Gonzaga University)
- Jeff Ferguson (Photographer)
- Madison Bush (Museum of Arts and Culture/Spokane Arts Commission)
- Nicholas Sironka (Batik Artist)
2019
Selection panelists:
- Amy Cabe (Visit Spokane/ Spokane Arts governing board)
- Diego Sanchez (etailz, Inc.)
- Juan Mas (Purple Crayon Pictures)
- Laura Bracken (Laura Bracken, LLC)
- R. Skyler Oberst (Seekr)
- Katie Patterson Larson (Art Salvage/Spokane Arts Commission)
2018
Selection panelists:
- E.J. Iannelli (Arts Commission, Theater Critic)
- Cary Boyce (Spokane Public Radio)
- Nathan Huston (Giant Nerd Books)
- Randi Madison (Ammonite Ink)
- Dean Davis (Spokane Arts governing board, Photographer)
- Rickey “Deekon” Jones (New Developed Nations)
2017
Selection panelists:
- Derrick “D.O.” Oliver, (Providence Hospital)
- Kevin J. Twohig, (Spokane Public Facilities District)
- Elizabeth Hooker (Downtown Spokane Partnership)
- Shalon Parker, Ph.D., (Gonzaga University)
- Shawn Vestal (The Spokesman Review)