The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville (CCGJ), in partnership with the City of Jacksonville, today honored 60 artists identified to receive $10,000 grants each through the first-ever Individual Artists Grant Pilot Program in Jacksonville. The artists were celebrated at a press conference at City Hall.
As the city’s official Local Arts Agency (LAA) by city ordinance, the Cultural Council stands as the preeminent cultural organization in Northeast Florida. This new grant program leverages the Cultural Council's extensive 30+ year partnership with the city, as well as its extensive knowledge of the cultural sector. This investment significantly expands the Cultural Council’s grant-making scope and fiduciary stewardship within the city, aiming to enrich the creative sector and provide an economic ripple effect to all residents and businesses in Jacksonville. The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville currently manages the Cultural Service Grant Program that provides the city approximately $114 million in creative economic impact.
“When I was elected, I convened an Arts, Culture and Entertainment (ACE) transition committee to advise my administration on how we could best support arts and culture, in our city” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “The ACE committee was clear in its recommendations that we must support individual artists so that they can live in Jacksonville and pursue their creative endeavors, and I could not have agreed more. Our hope today is that the Artist Grant program creates an ecosystem for growth that will encourage Jacksonville-based artists to stay, and new artists to come to the city.”
“As champions for Jacksonville’s creative sector and vibrant cultural landscape, we believe in the transformative power of arts and culture, mutually enhancing economic growth and quality of life for our city,” said Diana Donovan, Executive Director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. “This first cohort of the Individual Artists Grant Pilot Program represents best-in-class talent that is already here in our city. It is essential that we retain our talent and attract others to Jacksonville. When funding is kept local and invested back into the ecosystem, it activates local businesses and cultural tourism, drawing people to our city. We look forward to seeing the progress made over the course of the next year while they have the extra support to fund their creative contributions to our quality of life as a city.”
The program is designed to assist practicing, professional artists in any medium or discipline residing in Duval County, and includes creative entrepreneurs and cultural workers who work directly, primarily and to the benefit of individual artists such as curators, producers, and presenters. Awardees will also receive coaching and professional development training through September 30, 2025.
More than 300 applications were submitted and reviewed by a third-party Artist Grant panel, comprised of professional artists, community members and leaders with subject matter expertise, extensive area knowledge, and demonstrated experience in stewarding grant funding. Each application was meticulously reviewed according to the ordinance-mandated guidelines and established scoring rubric and went through a rigorous selection process.
“It’s been a pleasure to serve as the Chair of the Artist Grant panel for this exceptional new grant opportunity for individual artists and cultural workers,” said Jason Peoples, Executive Director of the Jacksonville Arts & Music School. “We have an incredible team of working professional artists across all artistic fields right here in our community, and with this grant, the Cultural Council is supporting many of them on a one-on-one basis, providing guidance and mentorship along with funding for their ventures. Today marks an exciting step forward for Jacksonville.”
For the full list of awardees, visit culturalcouncil.org/artistgrant.
About the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville (CCGJ): The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville aims to enrich life in Northeast Florida by investing in Arts and Culture. Founded more than 50 years ago, the Cultural Council operates as a private, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization and is designated as the official Local Arts Agency (LAA) by ordinance for the City of Jacksonville. It is governed by a volunteer board of directors and provides a range of services to ignite the creative economy and to address the ever-changing needs of the arts and cultural sector and broader community. Learn more at culturalcouncil.org.