The City of Austin is no longer accepting applications for the Elevate Grant. Applications will open again in 2024.
Visit the Cultural Funding page for other cultural funding opportunities.
The Elevate Grant offers $10,000 to $75,000 grants for arts organizations, individual artists, and creative businesses that produce culturally vibrant and diverse artistic content. Grant funds may be used for creative, administrative, and operational expenses incurred in producing creative activities and events for the people of Austin and its tourists.
2023-2024 Elevate Grant Awardees
With almost 500 applicants, over 300 of the top scoring applications were reviewed and scored by a panel. After the panel review, the top 200 scoring applications were recommended for funding. Final award amounts were based on the requested amount and panel score. Read more about the grant in the Elevate Grant Guidelines (PDF, 550 KB).
Thrive, Elevate, and Nexus cultural funding programs were developed in consultation with Austin’s creative community over the past 3 years. Funding will prioritize equity through a combination of seed funding, broad sector support, and targeted investment. Read the Cultural Funding Report (PDF, 1.8 MB), El camino hacia la equidad cultural (PDF, 2.2 MB).
- Organization Finalists
-
Company Name
Award Amount
AFTV5
$30,000.00
aGLIFF
$50,000.00
Agni Foundation for the Arts
$50,000.00
ALL RHYTHMS
$50,000.00
American Artists Project
$30,000.00
American Short Fiction
$30,000.00
Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre
$30,000.00
Anthropos Arts
$50,000.00
ARCOS
$30,000.00
Art From the Streets
$30,000.00
Art Spark Texas
$30,000.00
Artly World
$30,000.00
ATX Theatre
$30,000.00
Austin African American Book Festival
$75,000.00
Austin Bat Cave
$30,000.00
Austin Chamber Music Center
$30,000.00
Austin Classical Guitar
$30,000.00
Austin Creative Reuse
$30,000.00
Austin Emerging Arts Leaders
$30,000.00
AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL
$30,000.00
Austin Film Society
$30,000.00
Austin Foundation for Architecture
$30,000.00
Austin Gay Men's Chorus
$30,000.00
Austin Intercultural Network
$50,000.00
Austin Jazz Workshop
$30,000.00
Austin Jewish Film Festival
$30,000.00
Austin Music Foundation
$30,000.00
Austin Opera
$30,000.00
Austin Playhouse
$30,000.00
Austin Polish Society
$30,000.00
Austin Rainbow Theatre
$30,000.00
Austin Russian-speaking Theater Company (ARTC)
$30,000.00
AUSTIN SHAKESPEARE
$30,000.00
Austin Soundwaves
$50,000.00
Austin Tejano Music Coalition
$30,000.00
Austin Unconducted
$30,000.00
AUSTIN VISUAL ARTS ASSN
$30,000.00
Austin-Oita Sister City Committee
$30,000.00
Beat 4 Beat
$30,000.00
Beerthoven
$30,000.00
Big Medium
$30,000.00
Black Makers Market
$50,000.00
Blue Lapis Light
$30,000.00
BRAVE Communities
$75,000.00
CAPITOL BROADCASTING ASSOCIATION or KMFA Classical 89.5 FM
$30,000.00
CENTER FOR WOMEN & THEIR WORK
$50,000.00
Chorus Austin
$30,000.00
Clifford Antone Foundation
$30,000.00
Co-Lab Projects
$30,000.00
Collide Arts
$75,000.00
ConnectHER
$75,000.00
Contracommon
$30,000.00
Creative Action
$50,000.00
Dance Waterloo
$30,000.00
Deaf Austin Theatre
$30,000.00
Deaf Film Festival
$50,000.00
Density512
$30,000.00
DORF
$30,000.00
Early Era Collective
$50,000.00
East Austin Creative Coalition/EACC
$75,000.00
Eastside Kings Festival
$30,000.00
Epistrophy Arts
$30,000.00
Exploded Drawing
$30,000.00
Fisterra Projects
$30,000.00
Folklore y Ritmos de Panama
$75,000.00
Forklift Danceworks
$50,000.00
FUSEBOX FESTIVAL
$50,000.00
Future Front Texas
$75,000.00
Girls Rock Austin
$75,000.00
Golden Hornet
$30,000.00
Ground Floor Theatre
$50,000.00
Groundwork Music Project
$30,000.00
Home Street Music
$30,000.00
HONK!TX
$30,000.00
HOPE Events Inc DBA HOPE Campaign
$75,000.00
Hyde Park Theatre
$30,000.00
Hyperreal Film Club
$30,000.00
I.A.M.
$30,000.00
In The Dew of Little Things
$30,000.00
Indian Dance Endeavor of Austin
$30,000.00
ISHIDA Dance Company
$75,000.00
Jarrott Productions
$30,000.00
Kala Darpan
$30,000.00
La Fenice
$30,000.00
Leap of Joy
$30,000.00
Lifelong Learning with Friends
$30,000.00
LOLA - Local Opera Local Artists
$30,000.00
LuluFest
$30,000.00
Made Media Group
$50,000.00
MASS Gallery, Inc.
$50,000.00
Me Arts
$50,000.00
Motion Media Arts Center
$75,000.00
New School of Music
$50,000.00
One Ounce Opera
$50,000.00
Panoramic Voices
$30,000.00
Performa/Dance, Inc.
$50,000.00
Prizer Arts and Letters
$30,000.00
Rancho Alegre
$75,000.00
River City Pops
$30,000.00
Rude Mechanicals A Theatre Collective aka Rude Mechs
$30,000.00
SAGE Studio & Gallery
$30,000.00
SAIVA
$30,000.00
Salvage Vanguard Theater
$30,000.00
School of Indian Percussion and Music
$50,000.00
ScriptWorks
$30,000.00
Shakti Moves Dance Company
$30,000.00
Song Rise Arts
$75,000.00
SPECTRUM THEATRE COMPANY
$75,000.00
TALA
$75,000.00
TAPESTRY DANCE CO
$30,000.00
Tejano Music Alliance of Texas
$50,000.00
Texas After Violence Project
$75,000.00
Texas Book Festival
$30,000.00
Texas Folklife
$50,000.00
Texas Music Museum Inc.
$50,000.00
Texas Strings Camp
$30,000.00
The Tiny Minotaur
$30,000.00
THINKERY
$30,000.00
Unlisted Projects
$50,000.00
Uprise Circus
$50,000.00
VACAT
$30,000.00
Violet Crown Players (The)
$30,000.00
Waterloo Greenway
$30,000.00
ZACHARY SCOTT THEATRE dba ZACH THEATRE
$30,000.00
Zilker Theatre Productions
$30,000.00
- Individual Artist/Creative Business Finalists
-
Company Name
Award Amounts
3240 Entertainment Group LLC
$17,500.00
AACP
$10,000.00
Almost Real Things
$10,000.00
Amy Bench
$10,000.00
Austin Action Fest
$10,000.00
Austin Poet Laureate
$10,000.00
Behind the Sari: Intergenerational Storytelling, Women’s Work and Immigrant Family Life in Texas
$25,000.00
Black Film Geniuses
$10,000.00
Brown Boy Productions
$25,000.00
Buenos Diaz Music
$10,000.00
Bumuo: Rebuilding the Filipino Body
$25,000.00
Cage Match Project
$25,000.00
Casa Costura
$17,500.00
Casie Luong Music (CLM)
$25,000.00
Cat.
$17,500.00
Ceia G.
$25,000.00
Chie Endo Photography
$10,000.00
Christina Cicchelli
$10,000.00
Cimarrón
$17,500.00
ColdTowne
$17,500.00
Colectivo IN SITU
$25,000.00
Cut and Deliver
$10,000.00
Cycles Production
$10,000.00
Dorian Layssard and Criancas De Capoeira Angola
$25,000.00
East End Eclectic LLC
$17,500.00
Eterno Scroll
$10,000.00
Fallout Theater
$17,500.00
Fat Bottom Cabaret
$10,000.00
Fearless Squirrel Productions LLC
$17,500.00
Fiesta Austin, LLC
$17,500.00
Future Traditions Fest
$17,500.00
Give One Studio LLC
$17,500.00
Gothess Jasmine
$17,500.00
Greater Tomorrow Youth Art Program
$25,000.00 Huapangos sin fronteras
$17,500.00
In Tow, LLC
$17,500.00
Itacate Cultural
$10,000.00
J.C. King - Elevate - PPSI - 2023-2024
$10,000.00
Javier Jara
$25,000.00
Jbk universe llc
$10,000.00
jkjk
$10,000.00
Khristián Méndez Aguirre
$25,000.00
Las Ofrendas DBA Frida Friday ATX
$25,000.00
Leela - An Indian Community Theatre
$10,000.00
LNS Crew Productions
$17,500.00
Luis Ordaz Gutiérrez
$25,000.00
Malika Boudissa
$25,000.00
Mary Jane Garza
$25,000.00
Mauricio Callejas
$25,000.00
MD studio
$17,500.00
Mercury McKnight
$25,000.00
Might Be Magic
$17,500.00
Modesta Trevino
$17,500.00
Neighborhood Molino
$25,000.00
New Manifest Theatre
$17,500.00
p1nkstar
$17,500.00
PJ Raval, LLC
$17,500.00
PRIMAL WOUND LLC
$10,000.00
ProyectoTeatro
$17,500.00
Radiant Child Media
$10,000.00
RichesArt Gallery
$25,000.00
Santa Cruz Theater
$17,500.00
Socially Immersed
$10,000.00
Strange Wisdom Entertainment, LLC
$17,500.00
Tammie Rubin Artist
$17,500.00
The Austin Belly Dance Convention
$17,500.00
The Levite Laboratory
$25,000.00
THE LOVE OF CHINA SCHOOL OF CHINESE DANCE
$17,500.00
The Mall
$10,000.00
The Projecto
$10,000.00
The Texas Burlesque Festival
$10,000.00
Torko Rover
$10,000.00
Tribute to the Mexican-American Orchestra
$10,000.00
Upasna Kakroo
$10,000.00
ZM3 Live Productions
$10,000.00
- Appeals Process
-
The City of Austin Cultural Arts Division of the Economic Development Department (EDD) has adopted an appeals process for declined applications. Declined applicants who requested funds in Elevate or Thrive may appeal only for the reasons listed below.
- Review panelist or staff error - incorrect information by the Cultural Funding staff or reviewers at the time of scoring, despite the presence of the correct information as part of the original application.
- Conflict of interest - influence of evaluation panel or Arts Commissioners who willfully failed to disclose conflicts of interest.
The applicant must be able to show a link between one of these circumstances and a low score or negative reviewer comment. Dissatisfaction with the denial of an award or with the amount of the award is an insufficient reason for appeal.
The following are NOT subject to appeal
- The subjective opinions of application reviewers
- The scores assigned in the application review process
- Award amount
- Issues of eligibility, guidelines, or policy
Grounds for appeal are based on the panel review process; therefore, there is no appeal process during Year 2.
The appeals process is a review of decisions reached on an application as submitted. New application information and later application clarification are not considered. Outlined below are the four steps of the appeals process.
1.Submit Appeal Request Form Submit Appeal Request Form no later than 10 business days from the date of the City funding notification letter. Please submit your request by September 22 at 11:45 PM Central Time.
2.Determination of eligible appeal criteria If it is determined to have met the appeal criteria, the appeal will move forward to Appeal Hearing.
3.Appeal Hearing The appeal will be forwarded to the Arts Commission, where an Appeal Working Group will be formed. The appeal hearing will be scheduled within 30 days of the formation of the Appeal Working Group.
The Working Group may be composed of:
• Arts Commissioners, who will serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the Working Group,
• Members of the review panel that reviewed the application,
• Cultural Art Division Manager or designee, and
• If appropriate, other community members appointed by the Arts Commission.A maximum of three (3) appellant representatives may attend the meeting. After review of the originally submitted appeal form, the Appeal Working Group will prepare a recommendation to the Arts Commission for consideration at its next scheduled meeting. A copy of the Working Group report will be provided to the appellant and the Arts Commission. All appeals recommendations will be submitted to the Arts Commission for their consideration. The appellant is welcome to attend the Arts Commission meeting where the recommendation will be voted on. They will be notified in writing of the Arts Commission’s final decision. The decision transmitted to the appellant is final. Only one appeal consideration per application is allowed.
4.Appeal Funding is Approved
The Arts Commission and staff will consider the following factors in determining a successful appeal award amount:
- at a level commensurate with other similar contracts,
- at a special level based on City priorities,
- at a reduced level based upon the current status of the activity, or
- at an adjusted level based on funds available.