State Grants Available to Tri-Counties Artists

The California Arts Council’s Individual Artists Fellowship is open to artists in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties until 5 p.m. on Monday, June 1, according to the state program page and a KCLU report. The fellowship offers unrestricted awards of $5,000, $10,000 and $50,000 to artists and culture bearers across disciplines, including writers, musicians, dancers and filmmakers. Arts Council Santa Cruz County is administering the program for the six-county Central Coast region, which also includes Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties. Local arts agencies in each county have been helping promote the application and answer questions ahead of the deadline. ### Which artists in the Tri-Counties can apply before the deadline? Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo county residents are eligible if they live within the Central Coast service region listed by the California Arts Council. The state says artists must apply through the regional administering organization that serves their county and may submit only one application in one region. For the Central Coast, that organization is Arts Council Santa Cruz County. (kclu.org) Sarah York Rubin, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture, told KCLU the fellowship is not limited to visual artists. “It can be writers, it can be musicians, dancers, filmmakers,” Rubin said, describing the program as “a much broader bucket.” KCLU said the Tri-Counties outreach is aimed at artists in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. (arts.ca.gov) ### How much money is available, and what are the fellowship tiers? The California Arts Council says the program has three tiers: Emerging Artist Fellows receive $5,000, Established Artist Fellows receive $10,000 and Legacy Artist Fellows receive $50,000. The state describes the awards as support for artists at different career stages, from those beginning to make work public to artists with a long body of work and social impact. (kclu.org) KCLU reported that “hundreds of thousands of dollars” are available through the fellowship program for local artists, and the station said grants can reach $50,000. Arts Council Santa Cruz County said in its application toolkit that the funding is unrestricted, meaning fellows can use the money to support their creative practice rather than a narrowly defined project budget. (arts.ca.gov) ### Who is running the Central Coast program? Arts Council Santa Cruz County said the California Arts Council selected it as one of eight organizations statewide to lead the fellowship. The Central Coast program covers Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura counties, according to the council’s press release and application materials. Sally Green, deputy director of Arts Council Santa Cruz County, said in an April press release that the regional partnership was intended to help artists across the Central Coast access the state-funded fellowships. (kclu.org) The press release said partner agencies include the Arts Council for Monterey County, San Benito County Arts Council, San Luis Obispo County Arts Council, Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, and Ventura County Arts Council. (arts4mc.org) ### What kind of work does the fellowship support? The fellowship supports “individual artists and culture bearers across all disciplines,” according to the application toolkit. The California Arts Council says the program is meant to uplift artists, highlight their excellence and acknowledge their role in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. (arts4mc.org) Tamara Liu, grants manager at Arts Council Santa Cruz County, said in the Central Coast press release that organizers tried to keep the application simple and provide support across the region. KCLU quoted Rubin saying the money gives artists room “to do the next thing they need to expand their work in the arts.” ### Where do artists go now, and what happens after June 1? June 1 at 5 p.m. is the application deadline for the Central Coast fellowship, according to KCLU and the application toolkit. (content.artscouncilsc.org) Arts Council for Monterey County directed applicants to the Arts Council Santa Cruz County fellowship page for the application and said county partners were offering office hours during the application period. (arts4mc.org) August 31, 2026, is the award notification date listed in the toolkit, and the fellowship term is scheduled to run from Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2027. Artists with questions are directed in the toolkit to contact Arts Council Santa Cruz County at grantsprogram@artscouncilsc.org. (content.artscouncilsc.org) (kclu.org)